Over the hills and far away

If this isn't an Indian summer, then I don't know what is. Temperatures are well above the seasonal average, and the stiff breeze blowing over the Isle of Purbeck is noticeably warm. But that's not why I'm here.

Today, it's a feasibility study of the photo kit I intend to shoot with during the coming months. It's the usual arrangement of a camera body and two lenses, but now with the added weight of a tripod. A travel tripod, that is. I rarely use one, as carrying one any distance quickly becomes an encumbrance because of its weight - and to some extent, size. Travel tripods are small and lightweight, but any tripod to a landscape photographer is useless if always left at home. Hopefully, this will solve the problem.

I'm not mentioning any brand names as everyone will have their own needs and preferences, but it turns out that one that folds down to just under 50 cm in length, weighs-in at 1.4 kg and is of carbon fibre construction, ticks all the boxes for me when walking the local hills.

© 2026

The Agglestone Rock (aka Devil's Anvil)

A visit to the Agglestone Rock, approximately one mile (1.6 km) from the village of  Studland, Isle of Purbeck, is listed as one of the twenty-five things (is that all?) to do in Dorset before you die. Well, in that case I scrubbed that one off my list decades ago as I've photographed it on numerous occasions before I even became aware of that.

The 400 tonne tertiary sandstone block on Godlingston Heath used to be anvil shaped, but it toppled onto its side in 1970 due to erosion, and has has remained that way ever since.

Local legend (isn't there always one?) has it that the Devil threw it from The Needles at the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, with the intention of hitting either Corfe Castle, Bindon Abbey or Salisbury Cathedral. In any of those cases he proved to be a very poor aim as he missed all three by some margin.

Today's visit reveals the effects of a heath fire; something that was all too frequent during the summer heatwaves when heathland and forests became tinder dry through lack of rain. Whether through natural causes or deliberate action, the burnt areas are already beginning to recover.

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Nine Barrow Down

I'm not sure if what I'm getting at the moment qualifies as an Indian Summer, but it's 21º C outside with glorious sunshine. In fact, I couldn't ask for better conditions for landscape photography. Today, I'm walking Nine Barrow Down on Isle of Purbeck from east to west. The weather was forecast to be changeable, and the scudding clouds are creating ever changing light: my kind of light. 

 2026

Oh, to be in England, now that photo season's here

The five widespread heatwaves that plagued the UK during the hottest summer on record - along with their persistent (and featureless) azure skies - have come and gone. Temperatures have dropped to a manageable twenty degrees celsius or so; the days are becoming noticeably shorter and the skies have returned. Photo season has arrived.

This week I have planned three trips to the Downs on Dorset's Isle of Purbeck. They are a favourite location for photography, with stunning views on offer in all directions. In addition, the weather forecasts look promising. Today's visit is to Ballard Down (featured above), ending at the beginning (or ending - depending on which way you are travelling) to UNESCO's Jurassic Coast and Old Harry's Rocks.

Today, it's all about light, shade, and polarising filters.

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It was twenty years ago today...

When I started this blog, it never for one moment crossed my mind that it would run as long as it has. Okay, today's image* may (or may not) be particularly inspiring - but then again, nor was the image I posted to celebrate the tenth anniversary, but it's twenty years ago today that I became a photographic presence on the internet.

*Ongoing development of Premiership football team AFC Bournemouth's stadium.

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The race is on

My local football club, apart from finishing at its highest ever position in the Premiership (sixth) has, for the first time ever in its 127-year history, qualified for European football* next season. 

No, really. Once considered by some to be a club with no real ambition, it came to within a whisker of becoming extinct during the 2008-9 season before staging a meteoric rise to top flight football in the English League just six years later.

The ground - Dean Court (currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes), was totally rebuilt in 2001, and has a present capacity of 11,300. However, plans have recently been approved to develop the site, which will include the demolition of the south stand and the filling-in of all four corners of the ground to increase the crowd capacity to nearly double.

Working on a Bank Holiday, the race is on to get some of that work finished before the start of the next season in August... and European competition.

*Europa League

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Blue carpet

                                                                       Bluebells in King's Woods, Challock.

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Something a little less theatrical

Today marks the start of British Summer Time, and that means first light is now back to a more civilised moment - at least for the time being. The sky turned a fiery red as sunrise approached an hour later than yesterday, and although photographed de rigueur, I opted for subtlety rather than drama for this post.

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Water, water, everywhere

Water: apart from being vital for all known life forms, is also very photogenic. It's one of the reasons I spend so much time shooting seascapes. Overnight rain had already began to evaporate on the Ekki decking of a local pier by the time I arrived, which nicely outlined the individual boards. The blue sky, its reflection, and the warmth of the rising sun did the rest.

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Only me as a witness

There's a strong northwest wind blowing, and that nearly always means rapidly changing weather; great for outdoor photography. I have no predetermined location in mind for shooting this morning, but one or two gaps in the pre-dawn sky give me hope that I might get some usable light at the beach. Surprisingly, my local pier gates were wide open to all comers as I pass by at 05:30 (two-and-a-half hours earlier than usual), and that gave me the option of shooting along the surf line from an elevated position at sunrise.

The gusting winds of the past thirty-six hours or so have blown the beach smooth; I just need some light. Experience, and a watchful eye, tells me I just have to wait - and not for very long, Obligingly, the cloud breaks in the right places and I start to get something good, and because of the early hour I'm the only one there to see it.

© 2026 

Spring, and spring tide

It's Spring in the northern hemisphere (the vernal equinox was yesterday), and a spring tide - they have nothing to do with the season; they happen every month - at sunrise lures me to the beach. For the most part I try to avoid contrails in images, but this morning they add some much needed detail to the sky.

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Making it work

The visual transition into spring is well established now, but winter appears to be doing its best to reprise its role. The wind is gusting, and temperatures are just a couple of degrees celsius above freezing as I leave home in the pre-dawn gloom.

There's no cloud whatsoever this morning when I arrive at the beach. Photographing the sun rising into a clear blue sky never really works it for me, so today I look to shoot something that's more evocative than depictive.

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Seasonal change

It's just under three weeks until the clocks are put forward an hour, and British Summer Time (BST) begins. I'm already beginning to lose the sunrise over the sea as the seasons change - as well as the event happening earlier and earlier. Soon, seascape photography for me will be over until the autumn.

On the plus side the beaches are virtually deserted at this time of day, so I don't have to worry about any unwanted elements drifting into shot.

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Ad nauseum (well, not strictly true)

Every sky you see is unique; the sea never looks the same two days running. I will never get tired of photographing such mornings. 

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Yesterday's weather, today

I missed my vocation in life: I should have been a meteorologist. A cushy number (and decent money, I would guess), with potential candidates for such an occupation needing (I suspect) to be in possession of the unswerving ability to fashion unrestrained speculation as to what the weather might be for any given day, then simply pass those approximations on to the general public. What could be easier?

Yes, hyperbole, of course (and said with tongue firmly lodged in cheek) as the Met Office does a sterling job most of the time, but when forecasts are more than twenty-four hours out it does make the advance planning of photo shoots difficult. 

What I got this morning should have happened yesterday, but clear conditions and the gorgeous light fifteen minutes before sunrise - and all on a falling tide, more than made up for any inaccuracies incurred by the UK's national weather and climate service.

© 2026

Alluring light

A sea haze, and the pastel shades created by the soft pre-dawn light lure me on to a local pier eleven minutes before sunrise. The swimmers in the middle distance are there at 7 a.m. every day of the year, come what may.

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Am I bothered?

Even in the depths of a UK winter there are signs that Spring is not far off. Snowdrops have been in bloom for a couple of weeks, while crocus and daffodils are putting in early appearances in local parks because it has been so mild in the south. 

I've been lucky this season compared to most of the country, which is still being disrupted by storms and flooding through heavy rain, but leaden skies are still very much the norm when it comes to outdoor photography. Not that it bothers me much, as long as there's the occasional thinning of the cloud base to make things interesting.

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Brief, but spectacular

Today's weather forecast - although largely accurate in predicting heavily overcast skies and rain, missed out the bit where there would be roughly twenty minutes of colour, followed by about four minutes of sunshine.

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At the ready...

Photographed in the early morning light, the stone arches at the western end of Bournemouth's Undercliff Drive date from November 1907; the year it opened. The spaces in between were available for use to the public at large, but in recent times they have become enclosed to serve the paying customers of a UK fast food restaurant chain.

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Urban crawl

There are some areas of towns and cities that can change considerably over a short period of time, while other aspects change almost imperceptibly. Many of those smaller changes are often masked by another business that replaces a previous one, but some are abandoned and left to decay, bearing testament to advancements in  technology. 

The increasing popularity of smartphones in the early 2010s had a major impact of the longevity of the above establishment, and those like it worldwide.

 

© 2026