The treak.
The swim.
Matty Allen.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
North Cornwall Bodyboarding Session 2
Had another fun surf yesterday. Not quite as good as Monday, but still some decent waves breaking through. Must have been about four foot but a little top heavy on the barrels with a slight onshore breeze kicking in. Weather wasn't the best for photography either but I captured a few pictures from the session which I will show below.
The treak.
The swim.
Matty Allen.
The treak.
The swim.
Matty Allen.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
North Cornwall Bodyboarding Session
Start of the week had promise of swell accompanied by offshore winds, so decided to take two mornings off work and venture with my good friend Matty Allen to a secluded reef break.
This break is fickle and only works on a small window of the tide. On a spring tide it might work for as little as 20-30 minutes which when you consider it takes such an effort to to actually get here, for most people it just isn't worth it. But for me it's the backdrop rather then the wave that makes this place really spectacular. One of the few spots where you can be in the water and feel completely isolated and at peace, even on those crowded day.
The two days where a complete contrast as well. Mondays surf was 2-3ft accompanied with beautiful weather making it perfect for photography. Tuesday was a little bigger but the swell lacked the punch that accompanied it the previous day. Weather was also awful and the whole place had a real sinister atmosphere.
I did a bit of photography from the two sessions and have some photos with some written words describing some of the highlights from Mondays trip. I'll do a separate post for Tuesdays trip.
Matty Allen, surf check. When we first arrived we weren't completely convinced it would break as it looked quite small, fortunately as the tide filled it picked up.
A few of the waves Matty got from the session.
Part way through the session Matty lost his board, which would normally be bad news because once washed up against the cliff it's vary difficult to retrieve, luckily it didn't get that far and got stuck on part of the reef.
A memorable session!
This break is fickle and only works on a small window of the tide. On a spring tide it might work for as little as 20-30 minutes which when you consider it takes such an effort to to actually get here, for most people it just isn't worth it. But for me it's the backdrop rather then the wave that makes this place really spectacular. One of the few spots where you can be in the water and feel completely isolated and at peace, even on those crowded day.
The two days where a complete contrast as well. Mondays surf was 2-3ft accompanied with beautiful weather making it perfect for photography. Tuesday was a little bigger but the swell lacked the punch that accompanied it the previous day. Weather was also awful and the whole place had a real sinister atmosphere.
I did a bit of photography from the two sessions and have some photos with some written words describing some of the highlights from Mondays trip. I'll do a separate post for Tuesdays trip.
Matty Allen, surf check. When we first arrived we weren't completely convinced it would break as it looked quite small, fortunately as the tide filled it picked up.
A few of the waves Matty got from the session.
Part way through the session Matty lost his board, which would normally be bad news because once washed up against the cliff it's vary difficult to retrieve, luckily it didn't get that far and got stuck on part of the reef.
A memorable session!
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Underwater Photography
Had an opportunity yesterday to photograph two of my friends spear fishing off a point on the South Cornwall coast. Always refreshing to photograph something a bit different and I was looking forward to the challenge of documenting the trip from in the water.
Chris and Rowan are what I would call professionals in this activity, and I quickly found out there is a lot more involved with spear fishing than simply shooting anything that moves in front of you. A key part is just enjoying the ocean and being precise in what you target for the dinner table. It's an activity which is about respecting the environment and only taking what you need, which I think is a good thing.
We must have spent about 2-3 hours in the water, and saw an abundance of sea life. Chris and Rowan had a few good catches as well including a nice size Grey Mullet, Lobster and Eating Crab.
Light was great for the trip which helped greatly with the photography although the slightly murky water did affect the pictures a bit, but I'm happy with the overall results.
Lobster catch. Lobsters and Crabs are always court by hand rather then with the spear. This one was shortly released for being slightly under sized.
Chris and Rowan are what I would call professionals in this activity, and I quickly found out there is a lot more involved with spear fishing than simply shooting anything that moves in front of you. A key part is just enjoying the ocean and being precise in what you target for the dinner table. It's an activity which is about respecting the environment and only taking what you need, which I think is a good thing.
We must have spent about 2-3 hours in the water, and saw an abundance of sea life. Chris and Rowan had a few good catches as well including a nice size Grey Mullet, Lobster and Eating Crab.
Light was great for the trip which helped greatly with the photography although the slightly murky water did affect the pictures a bit, but I'm happy with the overall results.
Lobster catch. Lobsters and Crabs are always court by hand rather then with the spear. This one was shortly released for being slightly under sized.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Case Study: Newquay
Newquay is another location on my list of places I want to document. This was my first visit here photographing the town so I didn't have any particular ideas on what I would photograph once there, but instead decided to take a stroll and see what court my eye.
It's a touristy town which is quite build up right on the waters edge, so there where plenty of photo opportunities.
Two of my favourite captures from the session below.
A worth while shoot and a place I'll be re-visiting.
It's a touristy town which is quite build up right on the waters edge, so there where plenty of photo opportunities.
Two of my favourite captures from the session below.
A worth while shoot and a place I'll be re-visiting.
Case Study: Looe
Looe has been another town I'v been visiting recently while everything has been quiet business and surf wise. On this occasion I travelled down just before dusk and captured a few shots from around the harbour and beach. Again a few keepers and additions to the Stock Library. Below are a few of my favourite shots from the session, as well as a portrait of my friend Becky who accompanied me for the shoot.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Case Study: Polperro
Polperro is a fishing village a bit further down the coast from Looe. It's a fascinating town with narrow streets, a quirky harbour and heaps of tourist gift shops. The whole town is also located in a deep valley which gives it some great atmosphere.
This wasn't my first visit here. In a previous trip I was frustrated with how difficult the lighting was. Normally I would visit a location an hour or two before sunset to get the best quality of light while the sun is low in the sky, but with Polperro being located deep in a valley the town is in shadow way before that time. So for this shoot I had to arrive earlier in the day when the light was harsh but still illuminating the town, as a result I decided to use a technique called HDR for most of these shots.
Without getting to technical, HDR is a technique where you capture two or more images of the the same scene but at different exposure. You would them combine the different exposure together on the computer to create a single image that has a full range of tones which would have been impossible with a single shot from the camera.
A good trip, which produced a few keepers.
A few of the shots from the shoot.
You can see more of my work on my website here, or on flickr page here.
This wasn't my first visit here. In a previous trip I was frustrated with how difficult the lighting was. Normally I would visit a location an hour or two before sunset to get the best quality of light while the sun is low in the sky, but with Polperro being located deep in a valley the town is in shadow way before that time. So for this shoot I had to arrive earlier in the day when the light was harsh but still illuminating the town, as a result I decided to use a technique called HDR for most of these shots.
Without getting to technical, HDR is a technique where you capture two or more images of the the same scene but at different exposure. You would them combine the different exposure together on the computer to create a single image that has a full range of tones which would have been impossible with a single shot from the camera.
A good trip, which produced a few keepers.
A few of the shots from the shoot.
You can see more of my work on my website here, or on flickr page here.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Case study: Portwrinkle
I have been pursuing a few personal photo projects lately. One of them being photographing a beach twenty minutes from where I live called Portwrinkle. It's a beautiful place which I often visit to snorkel and surf. I'v never really been able to capture it in a way I'v wanted to, so I spent an evenings here with with the aim of producing a set of seascape images for use on my stock websites and print gallery. My good friend Beckie who often assists me with my wedding shoots also joined me for this trip.
In this image I wanted to find a composition where I could show the harbour and the curve of the beach. It was difficult to get this but I managed to climb on a wall to gain some hight, and although I had to crop some of harbour out I was happy with the overall balance to this shot.
This is a composition I always crave for with my seascapes. I love to capture movement in the scene as well as depth. In this case that movement came with the foreground waves. I tried to create some depth using the pier wall and rock as foreground with the distant headland to add some scale and depth.
Altogether a really fun and productive shoot. If you enjoyed looking at these seascape pictures I have more of my work in my gallery on my website: www.mattstansfield.com.
In this image I wanted to find a composition where I could show the harbour and the curve of the beach. It was difficult to get this but I managed to climb on a wall to gain some hight, and although I had to crop some of harbour out I was happy with the overall balance to this shot.
This is a composition I always crave for with my seascapes. I love to capture movement in the scene as well as depth. In this case that movement came with the foreground waves. I tried to create some depth using the pier wall and rock as foreground with the distant headland to add some scale and depth.
Altogether a really fun and productive shoot. If you enjoyed looking at these seascape pictures I have more of my work in my gallery on my website: www.mattstansfield.com.
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