Dunstanburgh Castle

(Click on image for larger version)

(Click on image for larger version)

After missing the amazing sunset light I decided to take the plunge and get up for sunrise. I clambered over some drunks who would never had known I'd left, if I hadn't have dropped my phone from the top bunk, swear, tread on numerous body parts of another human who slept below me and tripped as I left the room. Once waking everyone up, a short walk to the castle was needed.

I had slightly mis-calculated the sunrise time so I was there a good hour early. This meant I was able to negotiate the wet, volcanic rocks in complete darkness until I found a spot that looked promising. I waited for the sun to rise left of shot, with the half moon still present in the sky.

I waited for a big wave and clicked the shutter when the sunlight through the wave could be seen.

In my landscape workshops I always say to use "lead-in-lines". In the majority of my landscape images I use this technique to subtly direct the eye towards the main focal point of the image. In this case, I positioned myself so that the breaking waves in the foreground would create an imaginary line up to the castle (the main focal point). The barrelling wave on the left also produces a line from outside the frame leading into the castle.

I had my tripod's legs wedged between the rocks hoping it would stay stable enough as the waves crashed against it. In order to get this shot I had to be thigh deep in the North Sea. Luckily, I selflessly decided to wear my best friend's favourite pair of jeans (sorry Oli) so it worked out nicely...for me.

Nun's Cross - Dartmoor

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A shot I found in my archives from last December.

This abandoned farmhouse is, in my books, the most inhospitable place in the UK. It is constantly wet, it is always windy and it never fails to rain/hail when I visit. However, I keep finding myself driving back whenever I get the chance.

This location favours a winter sunrise which is at a fairly inoffensive time of around 8am. A 45 minute drive and a 20 minute walk is needed to get in position before the sun rises.

I skidded down the ice covered lanes and reached the car-park, ready for the short walk to the farm. It registered -2 degrees from the temperature gauge in the car, however with the wind-chill factor it felt around -15 degrees, ever so slightly warmer than my girlfriends damp, student bedroom.

I placed my camera about a foot away from the old gate so that the farmhouse fitted in-between the slates and took 3 shots from left to right to form a panoramic format.

As the sun rose, the low contrast, winter light shone briefly onto the farmhouse which made it stand out from the dark, moody sky.