472 seconds.

Selsey lifeboat station. Blue hour on an eerily calm evening. Not a breath of wind to break the spell. Only the whispered sounds of the sea gently lapping against the tripod, apologetic almost for the intrusion. A time of complete tranquility where I stood transfixed as the soft rays of the dying light eased themselves slowly through the filters and glass of the camera, painting this image bit by bit.

Better get there quick though if you want to photograph it - if you too want to connect with this beautiful structure. It may have withstood the onslaught of the ocean over many winters and presented an ethereal scene to countless photographers on a calm summer's evening but it's finally met a far more powerful foe than the currents and eddies and swirls of the sea. Bureaucracy. Farewell to another piece of our coastal heritage. It's sad, really. Might as well pull down that old building in London too, while you're at it. You know- the one the Queen sometimes stays in. Redevelop it into a giant Nandos. That's progress.

Farewell............

Technical: Nikon D810, NIKKOR 16-35 f4 VR, 472 seconds at f11, ISO 64. Lee 10 stop ND grad with 0.9 Hitech hard grad for the sky and reverse mounted 0.6 Lee soft grad to darken the base. Gitzo GT3523LS with FLM CB-48 ballhead. Cable release. Tears in my eyes.

Tags:   UK UNITED KINGDOM SELSEY LIFEBOAT STATION BLUE HOUR LONG EXPOSURE SEASCAPE COLOUR SMOOTH REFLECTION WATER COASTAL SOUTH NIKON D810 LEE HITECH FILTERS DUSK

© All Rights Reserved

Ask a child to draw a mountain range and this is pretty much what you’ll get. Strong, angular peaks jut from the earth in a series of jagged ridges, a frozen landscape that would fit well within the pages of any Tolkein-esque novel. Here on the icy shoreline, the ever changing light and tides provide a myriad of photographic opportunities for the travelling photographer.

But by far the best feature is the small, family run shop which sits just out of frame on the left. A shop where it is entirely possible to warm up with some home made cake for breakfast whilst an Icelander wearing nothing more than a T shirt laughs at your 12 layers of winter clothing. I chose the Victoria Sponge after a sunrise shoot and if you’re ever passing, I would highly recommend it. Unlike your doctor, who probably wouldn't.

Day 1 of our new tier 3 lockdown. It’s either this or macro……….

Tags:   ICELAND MOUNTAIN JAGGED WINTER SEASCAPE ICE SNOW SUNRISE VESTRAHORN COLOUR MIST COLD ROCKS WATER SHORELINE SHORE

© All Rights Reserved

I've been watching your world from afar
I've been trying to be where you are
And I've been secretly falling apart
Unseen

Aqualung, Strange and Beautiful

Taken shortly before first light, the frozen waters around Vestrahorn cracking and moving with the incoming tide as the early morning sea mist rolled across the base of the mountain. A much longer exposure than the previous image with pretty much only one chance to catch this transition before my position near the edge of the ice became untenable. Within 15 minutes, this scene had completely changed and we were shrouded in a dense white fog, all sound deadened.

It’s not perfect- I would have liked to have been a few more steps forward to separate the reflection of the mountain top from the edge of the ice flow a little more. But it was quite chilly. And I hadn’t packed my swim goggles.

Strange and beautiful.

Tags:   ICELAND VESTRAHORN WINTER FROZEN SEA ICE EDGE MOUNTAIN REFLECTION EHIR 1407 STOKKNESS PENINSULA EAST COAST SEASCAPE LANDSCAPEPHOTOGRAPHY MIST FOG NIKON D850 ND GRADS LONG EXPOSURE <3 I <3 you

© All Rights Reserved

Shooting along the coast is always a pleasure as you never quite know what you’re going to walk away with. From shots that turn out pretty much as you hoped to complete disaster, we’re always walking that photographic tightrope. And being a little rusty after lockdown just means that the disaster side of the see saw is tilted further up.
For instance, I was hoping to post from a recent shoot which involved a very long exposure and was a one shot deal because of the light. But I forgot to switch my settings from 1/60 to BULB mode resulting in 973 black frames. I wondered what the clicking noise from the camera was. And then it was too dark to realistically do what I wanted.
So here’s one from Norway instead, when I was presumably more mentally agile than I appear to be now.

Have a great week Flickrites.

Tags:   NORWAY COAST SEASCAPE WATER FLOW ROCKS BEACH GOLDEN FILTERS SNOW COLD SHORELINE SHORE JAGGED MOUNTAIN

© All Rights Reserved

Apologies for my relative lack of interaction on here recently. And a huge thank you to those who have emailed and messaged me- your thoughts and best wishes are much appreciated.

Here’s one from my last trip to San Quirico – a gorgeous morning in the Val d’Orcia as the cool night air gave way to pockets of mist and the whole valley seemed to sigh in the warmth of the rising sun.

In an increasingly complex world, sometimes it’s good to stand back & take a few moments to simply breathe.

Have a fab week, Flickrites

Tags:   ITALY VAL D'ORCIA SAN TUSCANY SUNRISE VALLEY MIST BELVEDERE CYPRESS TREES FARMHOUSE COLOURS NIKON D810 HILLS LIGHT LAYERS WARM GOLDEN DAWN ND GRADS EHIR QUIRICO <3

© All Rights Reserved