Seacape Photography at Half Moon Bay, nr Morecambe
We moved to the Lancaster area as its strategically close enough for me run my Lake District Landscape Photography Workshops but also for the obvious enjoyment of being able to walk along several seafronts within easy reach too; making it also perfect for Bespoke 1-2-1 Photography Training in Seascapes all along the coast here
My favourite locations for this individual training & workshops are various spots around Morecambe, Rossall Point, Cleverleys and obviously Blackpool
What’s clearly easy to do though is to ignore the potential right on your own doorstep - its something to do with ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ I suppose; but perhaps its better explained as ‘failing to see past the obvious’?
And this lead me to go for a Seascape Photography shoot at Half Moon Bay last week
The plan was simple enough, I’ve already photographed the southern side (left as you look out to see on a map) of the Heysham Power Stations… example…
Jetty alongside Heysham Power Stations & Harbour
And it was this jetty thing I really wanted to photograph from the other side of the harbour. Access is only possible from the beach itself though, and it requires a VERY low tide
As luck would have it, last week a very low tide coincided with sunset, and so off I went with a couple of pals :)
My first location I’d spotted were these sticky-up posts. I’d actually expected them to still be surrounded by water and hence I could shoot some Long Exposure Photography with the sea swirling around them; sadly, at such a low tide as this, the sea had long gone!
GEAR USED…
Nikon Z6ii with a Nikon Z24-70mm f2.8,
and for a very few a 10-stop ND filter so on a Manfrotto tripod
I’ll come back to these later as, when sunset approaches, they make for a far better subject
By the time I’d walked to the sea waterline, and now close enough to shoot the jetty from this northern side, I’d walked 1.1 miles out from where the sea reaches at high tide !!! Yep - that sea REALLY goes out here
What follows then is a series of jetty shots, some in B&W (some toned), and then the series I shot as I walked back off the beach
I’ve included ALL the processed shots so while many are similar, you can follow my ‘seeing’ and ‘thought’ process as I walked back responding to the setting sun behind me
WARNING - THIS PLACE IS DANGEROUS
Its at this point that I feel I MUST point out that Morecambe Bay is well known for having areas of Quicksand that has trapped, and lead to the deaths, of many people over the years. I got stuck too, and at one point I had to crawl along through sand/mud for quite a way to safety. At one point I did actually fear that I’d be phoning for the Coastguard to help!
So - DON’T GO ALONE
At this point, I’m now heading back FAST with the intention of shooting what remains of the old lighthouse(s) as silhouettes to the setting sun
However, one of the things I ALWAYS repeatedly encourage on my training sessions, and which I repeat several times a day on my Lake District Residential Landscape Photography Workshops is… STOP & LOOK BEHIND YOU !!!
It really is amazing how often as you walk away from a ‘done’ scene the simple act of stopping to look behind you will show more opportunities for photos; that may be that the light itself has changed, or simply that the angle is now different and you spot something you’d previously missed
And this is exactly what happened to me as looking FORWARDS I was merely planning a route to avoid the streams running out to sea, but looking BACKWARDS I realised how stunningly beautiful they were in reflecting the setting sun
This ‘looking behind you’ process lead to some of the best photos I could have hoped for
Here you can again follow my ‘seeing’ and ‘thought’ process as you can see how moving just a short distance left or right, and changing the composition a little by tilting the camera down or up, made a significant difference to the photos
Would you like some Bespoke 1-2-1 Landscape Photography training ???
If so, drop me an email here dave@scapesphotography.co.uk
Give me a call on 07830 085 112
Or use my Contact Form to tell me about where you think you are now and what you’re like to be better at, and we’ll get you Booked In soonest
Landscape Photography in its main three forms of Land - Sea - City is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on; the better you become the more your will…
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