Letting nature decide

The very idea of rain showers around dawn at this time of year has me out of the house well before first light. Rapidly changing weather is my idea of photographic fun, so I head for the beach. I have no particular subject in mind, so I just keep walking in the hope that something interesting will begin to happen. When it does, then the location chooses itself.

  

© 2026

Blow the wind southerly

It's a balmy 11ºC, and the wind is from the south when I set out in the pre-dawn along the south coast. I'm going nowhere in particular, but I'm keeping a watchful eye on the sky as it shows some promise for some good pictures. Half an hour before sunrise I stop at a favourite spot and wait...

© 2026

From blue to golden

Days that have rapidly changing weather conditions are my favourite for outdoor photography. Today, in the twenty-minutes before sunrise, what started out as anything but promising gradually began to hint at something interesting, before pulling off the deal at the last moment by becoming totally captivating.

© 2026

The blues before sunrise

Overnight rain gave way to clear conditions before dawn, and the wet planking on a local pier took on a deep hue that reflected the sky. The blue hour can be a colourful spectacle, and it's becoming a favourite time to shoot, especially in the morning.  

Last Thursday's Storm Goretti (named by Météo-France, as the brunt of the gale was to be felt there), put paid to the notion of shooting with a different lens every day for a week. Maybe I gave up too easily...

© 2026

The Overstrand

Colourful private beach huts on The Overstrand, Boscombe beach, Poole Bay, in the warm glow of the rising sun.

Photographed with a 24 mm lens.

© 2026

On the cheap

Day three of shooting with different lenses, and so far they have all been prime optics. On this occasion I'm using the much overlooked 50mm f/1.8. They're small; light; fast; sharp; and cheap, and if that's not five good reasons to own one I don't know what is.

© 2026

 

Going long

Built between 1962 and 1964, the fifty-three-metre high Albany flats dominate Bournemouth's East Cliff. Lit by the first rays of sunlight, they are the subject of today's lens: a 300mm telephoto.

© 2026