Photography with an occasional poem
When you least expect it, the clouds line up in their own distict shapes, and the sun turns the sea to a pool of molten metal. Although we were on our way up to Mount Etna, this sight could not be overlooked, and at least it makes a change from the touristy travel photos.
When we were in Sorrento, the hotel was up a steep hill and out of the town. But at least the view was nice. There is a word I am trying to recall (alzheimers?) that describes the mood of this sort of image, but it has totally gone from my shrinking brain.
I have previously posted the classic view of the old pier at Swanage, but this angle is often overlooked. With the tide at this level you can see how the wooden supports have rotted away over time. I just wonder how much longer they will be there.
There may be another posting gap, as I am due to go to Italy for a couple of weeks. Hopefully I will come back with a few images to share along with the normal holiday snaps. Fingers crossed…
THe island is just off the coast of Tenby in South Wales. It is known for its fort, which was built in 1859 to defend against the pesky French. It is open to visitors, and is accessible at low tide. I have never been to the fort – too many steps for my old legs. The dark shadow below the fort is actually a passage you an paddle or swim through to the other side.
While the rest of the family went and played crazy golf, I took the chance to have a slow wander around the harbour without running the risk of boring everyone else senseless. I understand this is one of the frustrations of having someone in the family who keeps stopping to take photos. The tide was low enough for me to get down to sea level rather than having to shoot from the harbour wall, and the reflections in the sea, distorted by the gentle breeze, took my eye.
Nope, my mistake, I meant Watchett. Watchett is a small harbour town on the Somerset coast, on the edge of Exmoor. It has a lighthouse, so that is good enough for me. Compositionally I guess this photo is inverted to the rules, with the lighthouse being a minor player in the scene, but I am defending the decision by saying the two mooring points create a leading line. Well, that is my excuse.
Normally I am not a fan of sunsets, but on this evening I made an exception. The sun is setting over the Gower Peninsula in Wales (I do go other places), and in the foreground is Worms Head which marks the most westerly point on the peninsula. Worms Head has nothing to do with worms, it comes from the Viking word “Wurm” which means dragon, and you can possibly see that the shape resembles a sleeping dragon. Ah… maybe that is why the sky was so fiery?
Well the answer is yes. In the last 15 minutes of the last boat trip on the last day, we managed it. I was resigned to never seeing a breach – after all David Attenborough’s crew can sit for three months and see nothing – but finally they played. What is more remarkable for me is that this dolphin was nearly a mile away and I could easily have missed it even being there. I may have mentioned before, but I love this camera.
Not a lot of landscape photography this week, as we went to Cardigan Bay looking for dolphins. Cardigan Bay has the largest concentration of dolphins in the UK, however, they can be a nightmare to photograph, and to track as they move through the sea. But, as the saying goes, the more photos you take the luckier you get. Now the question you have to ask is whether I managed to get one of the classic shots of a dolphin leaping and arching from the water. We will see…
End of next week we are off to the seaside hunting for dolphins. Not hunting in the sense of Japanese factory ships, but in the sense of looking for. So I thought I would get in the mood with an image from a sunny day on a quiet beach. I like to think the cyclist was using this route as their regular commute to and from work. If you have been reading my blog, you will know this has been edited in the style of the Adamsky effect.