I took this photo of the shipwrecked boat at Crow Point in North Devon a long time ago, way back in 2009 when I still had a Canon EOS 20D. I think having a hiatus has made me look at my library of photos with a fresh pair of eyes. I keep spotting ones that I want to process which is fun. I have decided that I am going to process a lot more of my images. I reckon that I have 25,000+ images that have never been touched or seen the light of day.

I think this photo was an ideal mono candidate. I love the textures and impact of the wreck. This boat is photographed regularly by local photographers. The thing I like about popular photography spots is the process of trying to come up with something slightly different. I’m not sure that this one is terribly unique but I still like it!

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I was looking through my beach photos for another project when I came across this one. I have a weakness for photos that show a wide area of space but only one or 2 people are in view, and this Instow photo really fits into that category. I feel it really adds a sense of scale and I don’t know, peace.

I know that on days like today when the sun was out and the weather was calm that I would have much preferred to be walking along one of the local beaches than being stuck in the office in front of a computer screen.

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Here is another photo that I took as the sun set on Winsford Hill on Exmoor. As you can see in this one the light across the grass had lost most of its’ beautiful glow that was coming from the ebbing sun. The sky though was another story and was very vibrant.

Even using the 5D mark 2 as little as I have I can already see a difference in post processing with the amount of dynamic range that is in the photos. I think I am going to have to revisit all my favourite North Devon photo spots to see if I can improve on my current photos!

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I have been waiting since Christmas to get out and properly christen the 5D. On Saturday I finally made my dash to Exmoor to try to catch sunset. I went to Winsford Hill knowing that it had some nice characteristic trees that I could use in my composition. I settled on this tree as I liked the open patch of grass around the tree and the fact that it was so uneven. I knew it should work great with the golden hour light and wasn’t disappointed.

After an issue with vignetting using the 17-40L that was even worse with my Cokin Z-Pro filters than on my 50D with Sigma 10-20 I finally got down to capturing a few keepers. I’ll blog about it when I get a chance. This photo was taken using the 17-40L and a 0.8 nd grad.

As you can see I have redecorated the blog! I hope you like it. I’m really happy with how fresh it looks compared to the old design, I hope you do too! As you can see I have made it so that I can post much larger photos. The design is responsive so it shouldn’t cause issues for anyone and should look much nicer for people using larger monitors. In the next few days I’m hoping to add a text blog section, which is where I’ll put my post about the Cokin Pro filters etc. if you have any issues with the design try a hard refresh and if it isn’t fixed let me know.

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Here is another photo that I took at Westward Ho! recently. I like the mood of this photo and the sense of motion. It was quite surreal because the wind was really strong and there was loads of brown tinted foam along the rocks on the water’s edge. I think it adds a bit of an extra dimension to the shot as it.

I’m hoping to get out and take some photos at the weekend but in case you live under a rock the UK is about to get a blanket of snow. No doubt the country will grind to a halt pretty quickly over a measly inch or 2 of the white stuff.

In other news, I am in the process of building a community website for UK photographers to share their favourite photo spots (or to find them!) It is one of those projects that I meant to start around 2 years ago but never quite got into the swing of. Hopefully it will be at a stage where I can at least open it up to users while I continue to develop it. The hardest bit will be attracting users and seeing if there is actually a demand for it, at worst it will have lots of photos of North Devon!

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If you follow me you may have noticed the lack of activity lately. I took a photography hiatus for a large part of 2012 due to a combination of studying and family health issues. All seems to be on the up now though and I’m looking forward to a very positive 2013!

I went to Westward Ho! the other day, the first time that I have ventured out with the camera in ages. I was hoping to witness a lovely sunset but the weather was pretty poor. I was determined to at least have ago and as worst enjoy a little time by the sea. It didn’t start well. Within 10 minutes of being on the rocks I got soaked by a wave almost to my knees. My feet were freezing (trainers weren’t a good idea) but I decided that after a 10 mile drive I was at least going to try to get a few more photos.

I bought a Hitech 10 stop ND filter so had a bit of a play with that, it will take a bit of getting used to so that I can fine tune long exposures. I thought I was being clever edging back up the rocks staying ahead of the incoming tide but the sea was rough. I got soaked by rogue waves twice more! On one of them I was mid exposure so found myself trying to wait for it to finish while preparing to grab the tripod and running. At one point the water was about a foot and a half below the camera as I hovered over it determined to not waste 150+ seconds of a shot!

I didn’t get any photos that I was completely happy with but it was nice to finally get out. In this photo I like the way the waves were wrapping around the boulders. I will keep my fingers crossed for better light next time although I like the mood in this photo.

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I have often looked across the water from Instow to Appledore and admired the view. More often that not a boat features highly in my Instow photos. In this case I liked the silhouette of the houses against the setting sun. Originally the shot was wider but I decided to crop it to make the roof details more obvious.

In the original photo you could see slight detail in the darkness that enveloped Appledore, but I toned it down to simplify the image.

I haven’t taken many photos for one reason another, between working on projects outside of work and family health, photography has just had to take a back seat. I’m hoping to change this very soon though! I have even bought myself a 10 stop ND filter in preparation.

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I think popular places look pretty cool when they are deserted. I think they suit moody or black & white photos. This is the amusement arcade at the seafront of Westward Ho! I found myself drawn by the missing lettering in the sign which I feel added to the deserted, empty mood.

I have been busy revising lately, learning to refine my web design skills as well as PHP. Sadly this has meant that I haven’t been out with my camera as much as I would have liked. I am looking forward to getting out soon. I went out last week and ended up drifting around Exmoor but couldn’t find much to shoot. I need to find some inspiring spots to visit before I go back. I also want to visit some of the Dartmoor features to expand my photography library and of course for enjoyment!

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I remember being quite interested in the patterns when I saw these tyres wrapped around ropes at Ilfracombe harbour. I liked the flow of the tyres as they separated the chaos of the ropes against the rigid organisation of the cobbles. I think that this type of photo really suits black and white to take away the distraction of colour while emphasising the textures.

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I took this photo in Westward Ho! on a pretty unsuccessful evening. I liked the composition in this shot due to the boulders and the way that they lead into the image. I think the photo would have been much better if the sun and surrounding area wasn’t blown out, but hey that’s photography I guess, it can’t be perfect every time and rarely is in my case. I chose to post the photo anyway as I love the texture in the boulders and how they contrast with the rest of the rugged shoreline. Even if the photos don’t come out amazing I always enjoy my time on North Devon’s beaches with my camera.

As you can see if you are a regular reader I have changed the address of the blog. The main reason that I did this is because devon-photography.com is a much more relevant domain and it was available (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t until recently). I also find that it rolls off of the tongue easier when trying to tell people my email address.  If you link to me I would be grateful if you could update your links.

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