Rock Studies - Photography Week 10 (2017)

The weather conditions conspired against my short trip to Cornwall with high winds for one of the free days and mizzle for the rest of the time.

Trying not to be put off by poor weather I headed for Dollar Cove near Gunwalloe only to be pelted by sea foam carried on the wind. The beach looked like an industrial quantity of soap powder had been tipped into the sea. Undeterred, I moved to plan B, photographing the rock formations on the beach with my back to the wind:

This second set was taken on the following day in the mizzle at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth:

Both sets demonstrate the array of colours that can be found in the coastal rock formations in Cornwall. Even in poor weather conditions, it is one of the most absorbing and enjoyable subjects to photograph.   

Dollar Cove - Photography Week 30 (2016)

Continuing the theme from my previous post are a selection of detail and intimate landscape photographs from Dollar Cove near Gunwalloe, Cornwall.

In this first set I have concentrated on a section of the rock where the layers have been subjected to geological folding:

This next set concentrates on the lines in the rock:

The last two images step back from the close up detail providing more context to the composition:

Dollar Cove - Photography Week 18 (2016)

On previous visits to Dollar Cove I hadn't managed to line up the low tide point and sunset at the same time so I was intrigued to see how the compositions might change in these conditions.

Unexpectedly though, I lost the light at the crucial time. The sun dropped behind a cliff placing the cove into shadow with at least 30 minutes to sundown. I can now see on TPE (The Photographer's Ephemeris) that this will occur through the summer months reducing the effectiveness of this venue until September.  

The trip wasn't a total write off and these were some of the results. The shots are in time order from about 5:30pm to 7:30pm:

Shot 1 - the light is generally too bright  
Shot 2 - strong shadows which can change the compositional approach and in this case forcing a crop
Shot 3 - the sunlight is diffused behind a cloud and the result is a little flat
Shots 4 & 5 - low sun with a light shadow - my preferred lighting conditions
Shot 6 - for illustration purposes only, the sun dips below the cliff losing about 30 minutes of low light. 

Whilst waiting for the light to change, I filled the time with a some rock studies including the patterns created as the bedrock dried in the sun:

Gunwalloe - Photography Week 12 (2016)

Whilst waiting for sunset at Gunwalloe in Cornwall, I spent a bit of time documenting the surroundings at both Dollar and Church Coves.

Nestled behind the cliff that separates the coves is St Winwalloe's church which dates from the Middle Ages (1,2). From the top of the cliff there are views towards Poldhu and beyond this to Mullion Island. The large white building on the cliff is Poldhu nursing home:

 Looking the other way is Dollar Cove (also known as Jangye-ryn):

The geology on the Dollar Cove side is particularly interesting due to exposures of slate which show some intense folding. Also there is evidence of rare fossilised plants (3) although with my untrained eye I couldn't locate them with certainty.

To illustrate the geology at Dollar Cove I have included some images from a previous visit in January 2016:

(1) http://www.iwalkcornwall.co.uk/walk/poldhu_cove_to_cury

The church giving Church Cove its name is said to be on the site of the monastery of St Winwaloe - a 6th Century Breton, and appears as the manor of Winnianton appears in the Doomsday book. It's also possible that the saint was matched to a similar-sounding name, as beside Gunwalloe is Chyvarloe, from the Cornish, chy war logh meaning "house on the lake". Gunwalloe could have similar origins such as goon war logh which would be along the lines of "downs by the lake".
The current church was restored in 1870 but dates from the Middle Ages. The detached tower is thought to be the oldest part, dating from early mediaeval times. The church was extended in the 15th Century and the bedrock next to the church was excavated in preparation to add a tower to the church itself, but this was never carried out.

(2) http://www.chct.info/histories/gunwalloe-st-winwaloe/

(3) projects.exeter.ac.uk/geomincentre/03Porthleven to Polurrian.pdf