Dorset 2023

2023 was mostly taken up with a trip to Cornwall, and another venture into the New Forest, but that doesn't mean I didn't take my camera round a few spots in Dorset.

Eype beach

Eype beach sits just outside of the town of Bridport. Its a long stretch of pebble beach littered with larger rocks from the cliffs that surround it. I went down for sunset and, after much walking back and forth, ended up near the west end where there were some larger more shapely boulders to act as some foreground interest.

I ended up stood on a slightly taller rock to try and keep my feet dry, which generally worked until this shot, when the wave came in a bit higher and got my feet wet. I also got a few splashes on the lens and had to spend a bit of time in Photoshop removing the water spots, but overall it worked out as there is some lovely movement in the waves. It was also a timely reminder of always keeping a spare pair of shoes and socks in the car.

West Bay

In June I popped down to West Bay. I was there to meet some friends, but also took the opportunity to wander the harbour and see what I could get.

I've been here a million times but rarely with my camera, and this was the first time I attempted to take a shot of the harbour itself. It was nice and still and full of boats, with a clear blue sky overhead. I didn't have my super wide lens on me so had to be particularly picky when it came to what to include in the shot. I merged three shots together into a HDR to balance out the scene a bit better.

You can't go to West Bay without heading down the new pier and looking across to the famous golden cliffs. I happened to get there as a boat came in, so quickly set up for a shot. In my haste the original image was very wonky, so much so that straightening it ended up chopping off a chunk of the boats mast. Fortunately the content aware fill tools in Photoshop allowed me to fill in a bit of sky in the top left (nice and easy since it was just blue) and fix it.

As sunset approached I marched up the horribly steep coast path to get on top of those famous golden cliffs to capture the sun setting over West Bay. There were some nice colourful flowers by the path, so I positioned myself behind them to add some foreground interest, and as the sun set the flowers and the path lit up a lovely colour, with the clouds also really interesting. There was a strong haze on the horizon which hid the sun as it dipped down so this was the only moment when all the elements came together nicely. Apart from being attacked incessantly by some very annoying flying insects it was a perfect end to the day.