Kynance Cove - Photography Week 16 (2017)

A lovely spring afternoon and evening at Kynance Cove. There was a particularly golden sunset which was best exploited from the cliffs above the cove using the yellow gorse flowers and lichen covered rocks for foreground interest:

Just about visible in the foreground of the last image is a small blue/ violet wildflower which I believe to be spring squill. Earlier in the afternoon I took a close up for identification purposes and then a couple of wide angle shots showing the flower growing on the grassy banks of the cliffs:

Another coastal flower that I needed to identify was common scurvy-grass which was very abundant on the cliffs but one I had not come across before:

I had planned on visiting Pentreath Beach whilst I was at Kynance Cove but was put off by the erosion of the path leading to down the cliff-side. A couple of people did make it down despite the warning signs - one of these can be seen in my record below. Also in this shot is Lion Rock (at the end of the cove). Generally, rocks that look like people or may be animals tend to pass me by but on this occasion, and from this angle,  I can see the lion likeness.

The geology at Kynance Cove continues to fascinate me and when the tide allows there is a natural tunnel of polished green and red serpentine which connects one part of the beach to another. It is hard to get exposure right in a tunnel but these are some examples of the colours in the rocks:

Looking up from the beach is the eroding cliff-face:

The cove includes an number of stacks and tidal islands:

Finally, this was the last shot of the day. The sun had already set and there was a pleasant afterglow:

Kynance Cove - Photography Week 41 (2016)

On one of the few fine weather days during photography week 41 (10th to 16th October 2016), I made the trip to Kynance Cove. And, despite the time of year, there were plenty of people on the beach and some were brave enough to go for a swim. This meant waiting for the wide angle shots until the beach had cleared:

Later on the cliffs there was a pleasant afterglow - the sun had dipped behind cloud on the horizon losing about 20 minutes of direct sunlight:

Earlier, as the tide was retreating, the late afternoon sun was reflected back from the cliffs onto the wet sand creating a golden glow. I tried to capture this with a number abstract compositions. The square format images were taken with a compact camera using its naturally wide depth of field. The landscape / portrait versions were taken with a DLSR and a telephoto lens. This option provided a more creative depth of field but posed questions about selecting a point of focus and, now looking at the results, whether the out of focus areas are actually too districting:

Finally, some sand patterns on the beach:

Kynance Cove: Day 2 - Photography Week 23 (2016)

The previous evening I had seen a number of interesting wildflowers in Kynance Cove. The light wasn't right to capture these so I decided to make a further visit in brighter conditions. I also wanted to take a closer look at the serpentine rocks on the beach at low tide.

When researching Kyannce Cove for my blog post 7th June 2016, I was aware that it was home to several rare or uncommon species of wildflowers. One mentioned was the Bloody Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum): a reddish purple flower with distinctive red veins and a red style:

Also mentioned was the Burnet Rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia):

Whilst scouting around I captured this more common Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) and a Common Catsear (Hypochaeris radicata):

Thrift (Armeria maritime) is very common on the Cornish cliffs this time of year but this is the first time I had really looked closely at the individual flower heads - beautiful:

Also close to where I took the long exposure the previous day was this Early Purple Orchid (not totally sure on the ID of this one):

Apart from the wildflowers I had an opportunity to walk on the beach at low tide and in particular the tombolo which connects the Asparagus Island to the mainland. Sitting in the middle is the imposing Steeple Rock:

The rocks on the beach are Serpentinite, a rare exposure of the Earth's mantle pushed to the surface 300 million years ago as two continental plates collided. Up close they have a distinctive mottled green and red appearance:

In my previous posts I had challenged the notion of Kynnance Cove being a pretty cove and preferred my description of beauty inspired by the power of nature. Having now spent time on the beach at low tide I can certainly see why visitors flock to this part of the coast on a summer's day - it is pretty. That said, the landscape photographer in me will tend to favour the wilder and more dramatic conditions!