Holywell Bay Sunset july 13th 2014

After a great day at Tintagel  i have left Jan and the "Bodmin Beasts" back in the caravan and  have driven down to Holywell beach, which is about 18 minutes drive to hopefully photograph the sunset.  after parking in the national trust car park i have walked through the dunes and waded across the stream onto the beach , there is a strong inshore wind and the waves are crashing in big time :)   its now just after 8 , a bit early i think   Ooops

                                           I have shot a few shots with 400mm lens

this is what the surfers come to Cornwall for :)     But not tonight , its deserted here and the sound of howling wind and crashing waves is deafening.  its high tide right now and the waves should start is calm down.

As the sun starts to go down i start shooting ,i have had to wait about 40 minutes before any colour starts showing.   this image is only 1/4 second , but just enough to give nice movement on the shallow water in the foreground.  the sky is really interesting tonight :)

Getting some nice colour now, i don't think its going to be a great sunset but at least its going to be interesting one and better than a few nights ago .

The sky is looking more interesting by the minute , i have rushed around to the left and waded across the stream outfall, which is Very cold!  I'm trying to get the sun behind the rocks to shoot better, after 10 mins or so i notice the sky momentarily lighting up!    its very difficult getting any exposures with the bright sun, but managed this 2 frame merge shot.   a separate 4 second frame for the smoothed sea and a 1 second frame for the sky with a 2 stop nd grad .

Moving back along the beach as the tide starts to go out  the sun is almost disappearing now , making shooting difficult .   but love how the sun is illuminating the seaweed in front of me .

its 9.40 and  about 15 minutes after the sun has gone down , the sky has turned a lovely orangy red  , a 20 second exposure has smoothed out the shallow water and reflecting the gorgeous colours.   Yay!

 

Half an hour later , and numerous attempts of panorama shooting, the cool blue sky eventually takes most of the colour away 

1st panorama taken at 9.50pm

 

 
                                                  and just after 10pm for the last one

            walking back up the beach , time for one last image with Gull rocks framed in silhouette

                               What a superb day in Cornwall , what will tomorrow bring?

Tintagel Cornwall holiday july 13th

Saturday morning in Cornwall and its wet !    we need to find a Tesco or somewhere to get provisions but until it eases off a bit we will stay in the caravan making plans of where to go this week .
About 4 o'clock the rain has stopped and we are driving into Newquay to go shopping , unfortunately the road the sat nav is trying to take us down is closed!   in fact after ages driving around in circles trying to find another way around All the roads are closed!    We cannot get to Tesco!      by accident i have just found Sainsburys on my phone and have parked in here , it seems today is the last day of a week long festival and a parade is going around the streets closing all the roads.
We take a quick look down at the harbour but it is dull and overcast so no pics worth taking , after stocking up with food its back to the van to plan tomorrows trip , the weather is looking great so Tintagel castle is our destination .

The following morning the sun is shining and blue sky greets us   :)
A 40 minute drive to Tintagel and we manage to squeeze into the small car park , only 2 spaces left. Phew!
We have just walked down a steep path down to the visitor centre to get tickets to go over onto the island ,There is a landrover service taking people up and down for a couple of quid but we are not that old!    lol     

 There is a steep section of steps up to the first castle but we bypassed this and are going straight over the bridge and up to the castle ruins.

                                                                     the ruins :)   lol

                                                         a good lookout post

                                             Mol is posing nicely with me for a change

                        There is not much left of the castle  considering how thick the walls are!

 

Must be first time Both the Terrible Twosome (aka  Bodmin Beasts) have co operated for a photo :)

                             Chester just had to go and nearly fall out of this hole!!!!!!   haha

                                     Mollsters turn to pose, she is doing this well today  hehe

 We have found a great spot in the sun on top of the headland to eat lunch , fantastic views all around  , but Moll is more interested in our food :)         Luckily she hasn't noticed the mountain goats!!!!!

              I have just spotted a few more mountain goats down below the cliff top Jan is standing on :)
amazing how they get up and down the sheer cliffs here!

                                                             Here i am shooting Mol

                                                            The resulting image :)

                           Waves are crashing against the cliffs now as the tide is coming in

Its a stunning coastline looking towards Pert Isaac in the distance , where we are going later in the week :)

                                                            posing next to a sea stack :)

                                                   She is really showing off today   lol

                            What a view!           all the way up past Boscastle and Bude

Castle ruins , wonder what actually happened to all the castles over the years after they were abandoned.

Its a long way up there , we have decided Not to climb up!  wouldn't be fair on the dogs!   hehe
so back over the bridge and take the left path down to the cove seems a better idea for Us :)

                   Its a beautiful cove , dogs on lead i believe though. so down to paddle Beasts :)

                                                                Having fun in the sea :)       

                          Time to explore the cave , Moll is not too happy going in here though

O dear , dam people throwing stones into the sea , she is going mad to get to them !   arghhhh

They are both having fun anyhow , i am going to go over to the end rocks to take a few pics, Jan is sitting down on the rocks watching me ........

I have just taken this and the Beast has pulled me off the rock into the stream entering the cove, my feet are soaked!!!!   thanks Mol       she is straining to get to stones being thrown in and her collar attachment has just broken!!!!!!   

After seemingly ages trying to catch her, she has been running up and down in the surf chasing stones!!!!!!      i have encouraged her into the cave where i have cornered her and caught her!  what a bad Mollster!
a final shot of the waterfall down the cliff before heading  back to the visitor centre and the very steep climb up to the village .

                                                                       one last image

its been a great day , very warm and complete contrast to yesterdays drizzly rain most of the day , the forecast for the week is changing and looks like going to be dry for the rest of our stay down here   Yay !
                                    tonight im going back to Holywell for the sunset :)

Cornwall July 11th pt1 Holywell bay Sunset

I seems only last week we came back from Tenby , it was actually 3 weeks ago lol   any how the Terrible Twosome , or as they will be called for this holiday "the Bodmin Beasts" have been loaded in the car , caravan packed and we are on our way all the way down to Newquay for the week :)

 After just over 6 & 1/2 hours we have arrived at the camp site , well its just a sloping bit of field actually!    but a superb view :)  and near to the beaches :D           Mollster is happy after the long journey.    and Chester takes up residence in ...........

                                                                    a reclining chair :D

 After dinner we are going to drive down to Holywell Beach which is only about 18 minutes drive  , hopefully might get a sunset tonight .
After parking in the national trust car park we walk across the dunes , cross the bridge and walk onto the beach, the tide is on its way in i think.

  Stunning warm evening on a beautiful almost deserted beach!   I love the ripples in the sand  lit by the low setting sun :)

  A few minutes later the light starts turning warmer :)   a long exposure of 91 seconds  smoothes out the incoming tide over the ripples.

 Bodmin Beasts are having loads of fun in the sea   , now my turn to start photographing the sunset .

       Jan is keeping the "beasts" ocupied while the sun lights up the cliffs behind us ..

I am now shooting long exposures with the incoming tide coming over the very shallow rippled sand , 91 seconds exposure on this one with a 10 stop nd filter.

                                                                         Here i am :)

              One of Jans series of "Find Phil" images  haha     more to come in the following week

the Beasts are tired now , while i am still shooting but the sun is not going to colour up much tonight as cloud has steadily built up :(

          Love the effect of the water slowly moving over the sand ripples   9 seconds for this one

                                                         54 seconds as a comparison.
         silky smooth water and more colour from the setting sun, pity all the cloud has ruined sunset

Time to go now , the weather is not looking good tomorrow for most of the day, but we have to go shopping in the morning so not too bad .