Shane Venem
Davenport Pier Long Exposure
Some great clouds appeared over the area today, so after work I decided they looked good enough to climb down the cliff to the Davenport Pier. At the top, there used to be a big cement slab that jutted over the top of the cliff and you would have to duck under it as you climbed down. Someone sawed it off since the last time I was there. I'm not sure why, but there's that much less to grab onto at the top. There's just a piece of rebar and a hunk of rail now.
If you want to shoot here, take my advice and bring at least 50 feet of rope. You can tie it off on a pipe at the top of the cliff and throw it down the "trail" so you have something to grab onto. Almost no one ever goes down the "trail", so there's no convenient foot or handholds. And what you grab onto is just as likely to come off in your hand as not. If you fall, you'll be in pretty bad shape. If you're lucky. It's a long way down.
Once I got down to the beach, conditions were excellent, unlike the last time I shot here, when the surf had me on the run. It was very peaceful with the surf only reaching the base of the first pier from time to time. As the sun set, I thought there would be a lot of color. It didn't quite turn out as I had hoped. There was some nice color, but it was fairly muted.
I started out with a couple of long exposures, of which this is the best.
I'll post one or two regular exposures later on, I think.
Davenport Pier Long Exposure
Some great clouds appeared over the area today, so after work I decided they looked good enough to climb down the cliff to the Davenport Pier. At the top, there used to be a big cement slab that jutted over the top of the cliff and you would have to duck under it as you climbed down. Someone sawed it off since the last time I was there. I'm not sure why, but there's that much less to grab onto at the top. There's just a piece of rebar and a hunk of rail now.
If you want to shoot here, take my advice and bring at least 50 feet of rope. You can tie it off on a pipe at the top of the cliff and throw it down the "trail" so you have something to grab onto. Almost no one ever goes down the "trail", so there's no convenient foot or handholds. And what you grab onto is just as likely to come off in your hand as not. If you fall, you'll be in pretty bad shape. If you're lucky. It's a long way down.
Once I got down to the beach, conditions were excellent, unlike the last time I shot here, when the surf had me on the run. It was very peaceful with the surf only reaching the base of the first pier from time to time. As the sun set, I thought there would be a lot of color. It didn't quite turn out as I had hoped. There was some nice color, but it was fairly muted.
I started out with a couple of long exposures, of which this is the best.
I'll post one or two regular exposures later on, I think.