Nansidwell - Photography Weeks 9 & 40 (2016)

Earlier in the year I skipped four weeks of photo processing in favour of posting more current images. Despite the good intention, it wasn't long before I was behind again and, as we enter December, I am still processing October's images.

Included in the latest week's photos are a set of images taken at Nansidwell, a small cove in between Maenporth and Mawnan Smith in Falmouth Bay (labelled Bream cove on several online maps). As I started to write the post, I was reminded of a half-forgotten image taken in early spring and, searching through the catalogue, I found it was in one of the skipped weeks. Better late than never, here it is:

It was chance capture taken from the road that leads to Nansidwell. I had seen the rainbow as I parked and, walking back along the lane, I eventually found an opening with a field of daffodils. In some ways I find it more satisfying to look at images out of season. I think it has something to do with not being able to get out and repeat, or better, the photograph - the time, the season, has well and truly passed.

More early spring was evident on the day with this primrose growing on the pleasant wooded path down to the beach at Nansidwell:

Whilst on the beach, I concentrated on the rock formations as foreground interest but the photography was quickly curtailed by rain - if I remember correctly:

The conditions for the images taken in October were fairly similar, dull with frequent showers. This time I focussed on the detail of the rock formations with the following results:

Nansidwell - Photography Week 30 (2016)

Photographing details is an absorbing activity that diverts the mind away from everyday life and immerses it into the search for nature's patterns. When completed there is always a feeling of being refreshed or, borrowing a technology term, reset.

These are a selection of images from a 'resetting' photography session at Nansidwell Cove in Falmouth Bay. The first set is from a section of rock face including a number of closer compositions in a square format:

The second set concentrates on the craggy nature of the cove with lichen and barnacle covered rocks:

The final set explores the many exposed seems of mineralisation which contrast well with the dark grey mudstone layers:

In other areas of the cove the sections of rock appear more crumbly and pastel coloured as captured in this single image:

Nansidwell - Photography Week 2 (2016)

Nansidwell (Bream Cove on the map) is situated in Falmouth Bay between Maenporth and Mawnan Smith in Cornwall. It is a small rocky cove with some sand and shingle which is accessed by a pleasant woodland walk from the road.

From a photographic point of view, the cove faces broadly eastwards and into the morning light. At the other end of the day the beach is cast in shadow quite early as the sun dips behind the coastal cliffs.  To one side of the beach is a flat shelf of rock which can be accessed when the tide allows. On top of the shelf are a number of rock pools and course grass areas:

During my time at Nansidwell I was fortunate to have an interesting shaped ship in the Bay which I used as a background focal point form most of my compositions. I believe the ship to be a construction maintenance vessel called the MPI Enterprise from the Netherlands (found on shipspotting.com) - as I have said in previous posts, photography is often the spark for a range of random enquiry and information!

Also fortunate, after some heavy showers, was the appearance of a rainbow. I particularly like the big sky shot over Falmouth Bay with the rainbow appearing over St Anthony's Head lighthouse at St Mawes:

When photographing rock formations it is helpful to have any natural lines pointing into the picture. This tends to produce an enhanced compositional impact often referred to as lead-in lines or perspective. I tried to use this effect in a number of compositions particularly towards the end of the day as the tide was coming in: