I must have taken hundred of shots in this location in the last year or so, many with the lighthouse in the background. Whilst I try to look for new angles and compositions it is often the lighting conditions which makes each visit unique.
On this occasion it was highlights on sea spray that caught my eye. The sun had just dropped below some heavy cloud sitting over the lighthouse and every time a wave hit the rocks the top of spray moved into the sunlight. A shutter speed of half a second was used to freeze the moment but still get a sense of the sea's movement:
Prior to making these shots we had walked along the cliff path to the Knavocks with many signs of spring along the way including, pink thrift, and primroses on the cliffs looking down into Mutton Cove and towards Godrevy Lighthouse. A herd of seals can also be seen in one of the shots of Mutton Cove:
Back at Godrevy Rocks the sun was struggling behind a bank of thick cloud. One of my favourite views of the lighthouse includes a section of cliff with contorted layers of Devonian mud and sandstone. The extent of the geological folding is particularly evident in direct sunlight:
Where the tides wash over the rocks the sediments form wave-like patterns which are cross-cut veins of quartz. These make interesting abstract shots:
Once the clouds had moved over there was bright sunlight for the rest of the day although the lighthouse remained in shadow due to the angle of the light. To use this creatively, I exposed for a highlight on some mid ground rocks which placed the lighthouse and the rest of rocks into near silhouette. A 10 stop filter helped to even the undulating sea movement and the final image was later converted to black and white:
