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I almost missed it. Too long lingering up on top of the cliffs at Carn Gloose for a composition that was never going to work ended in a mad dash to get to the position I'd intended to be in when the light was doing what I'd hoped it would. Five minutes later and I might have been waiting until the spring before having another crack at it.
I've noticed that one or two of the YouTube photographers I follow were taking snaps on their phones of compositions they'd spotted and making a note to return when the conditions would complete the image. After all, timing is everything. I'd spotted this view as I'd returned to my car on an earlier visit at the end of May to shoot another nearby cottage that I still haven't shared here - although there's a story to that one so I'll get around to it if I could stop producing new material for five minutes.
Dutifully I followed the advice of my influencers and popped a snapshot into a folder entitled "compositions" on my phone before checking the Photo Pills app to find out when the sun would be setting between the cottage and the Brisons. Late September - so either 19 or 26 September to be precise as there's not quite enough time to get here after work as the nights close in. On 19 September there was no sunset to speak of, added to which the place was being rented by some late holidaymakers who were thoughtlessly enjoying their surroundings and unnecessarily populating the shot.
So yesterday I returned, caught between here and Porth Nanven, which sits on the other side of the headland to the south. Such was my indecision that I found myself parking directly between the two on top of the cliff, where I spent some quiet time in the car listening to the Saturday afternoon football commentary on the radio and washing down a hastily assembled banana sandwich with a thermos full of coffee. I then retired to a sunny spot on the rocks overlooking the enormous buttresses of granite that lead down to the sea below, where a lone kestrel hunted and hovered as my only company. The granite crops are known as castles here, although some of them are so enormous, enduring and grand that they remind me of gothic cathedrals. Far out to sea beyond the Brisons I could clearly make out the Isles of Scilly, almost thirty miles away. I've never been, but Lee's wife briefly worked there - she once described the islands to me as two thousand alcoholics clinging to some rocks. Sounds like fun.
Seduced by all of this, and the radio commentator's drooling enthusiasm at the ability of Everton's new star James Rodriguez to thread a forty yard pass through a very narrow defensive gap found me up on top too long, when the shot I'd come for was so clearly on the cards. Three hours after arriving I decided the shot I was attempting wasn't going to work and that if I didn't get on with it I was going to miss the one I'd planned several months earlier.
At least it wasn't going to take me long to set up when I got there, but the idle dawdling turned the last act into a bit of a dash. Even though our visitors were still there I decided it was now or never and threw on the ten stop to add to the drama. When I say "threw on," it wasn't quite as straightforward as it should have been. If a couple of weeks ago you read "Tales of an Old Dog," where I related the various misadventures of my wide angle lens you may be aware that it only takes a filter with some gentle persuasion - followed by some rather more urgent brute force. At least the lens is getting used again - it's the only one that would have worked here.
I have to say I'm quite happy with this one. I've never had a problem with going to somewhere to stand before scenes that a million other photographers have already pointed their cameras at - I do that all the time. After all, why wouldn't you shoot Buachaille Etive Mor, or the Ogwen Valley, or Skogafoss if you're in those locations. Of course you would - you could hardly ignore the beauty of them. But the reason why I'm quite pleased about this shot is that I'm not certain whether anyone else has spotted it before. Maybe I saw it first.
So that final comment will no doubt result in half of you reaching for your phones to call your lawyers before sending me links to your own shots of this peaceful scene. I'll get me coat then.
I'm not really looking to sell my work but this one has generated some interest, so I've put it on my Picfair page for download or print if anyone is interested.
dom-haughton.picfair.com/pics/012149653-the-cottage-at-th...
A beautiful landscape from Utah's badlands. The storm brewing nearby provided some really cool light
FANAL FORREST | MADEIRA
What a fantastic location. A forest of up to 500 years old laurel-trees, where you're not really hoping for fog... you more or less expect it to be there. The clouds are driven from the north up the mountains and tend to hang in this forrest.
For sure, you won't get this conditions every time, but we were lucky enough to get the perfect mix of clouds, a bit of wind and not too much rain up there.
And to top this, we stumbled upon this lonely bull, standing on a small clearing and feeding on the laurel-trees. We could hear the cows around us moo all the time, but in the thick clouds, we couldn't see them, until "his majesty" came into sight.
Pico do Arieiro | Madeira Island
Madeira really is an Island for the early birds. You either start to the most eastern part, to get the perfect sunset, but you need to start a good 2 hours before sunrise at least... maybe you prefer the soft light and hope for morning mist in the Fanal forest or like in this picture, you wanna try your luck and hope for a sky full of clouds were you drive through right before sunrise to get this shot.
As you can see, there are always some souls trying to witness this majestic feeling and watching the sun rise through the clouds, as you watch from above.
And YES, it's absolutely worth it starting your day, when most islanders are still asleep.