Plover Scar Range Front Light.

Plover Scar Range Front Light, River Lune, Lancashire., originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I was really quite pleased with this shot of the lighthouse at the mouth of the River Lune between Heysham and Cockerham Sands. I had walked all the way out to it a couple of weeks previously to find that the light was so washed out that the capabilities of my S5 to resolve punchy images from less than ideal lighting were no match for the grey monotone that was the sky and the one photograph I produced that day was no more than a reference shot, serving to remind me to go back when there was some contrast in the sky.
The second time I visited, I was able to walk out further towards the lighthouse as the tide had ebbed further, but more importantly, the light made the hike from Cockerham worthwhile.
The sun played on the stonework as I splashed around in the mud with my monopod, trying to get Heysham Power Station and the skyline on the third lines, while the clouds provided a theatrical backdrop for the lighthouse.
Eventually, after an hour of this top entertainment, I walked back up to the sea wall and returned to where I had parked the car.
This was landscape photography at its best. A strong subject, great lighting and a bit of exercise.
Job done.

August in Arnside

Arnside Clouds, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

To paraphrase Victor Meldrew, I simply don't believe the way that this August, just like last year, has been more like the monsoon season in Borneo than summer in the UK. My garden has gone bonkers, the roads have been rarely dry enough to ride my motorbike and I am seriously fed up with photographing everything under a moody dark sky with towering clouds.
Take the shot above for example. To be fair, I wouldn't have even bothered posting it on my Flickr stream without the sky, but I would really like just for once to have a reason to put a circular polariser on my camera.

Wyre Wreck

Wyre Wreck 5, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Time off work has provided me with many things in the past. The chance to relax a little. The opportunity to have some time to myself, to reflect on the past year, or on my plans for the future. More importantly in recent years it has given me the time to visit places and photograph them.
I have an extensive and comprehensive list of places I want to photograph. Some of them are places I have been to before, some I have photographed in the past but many are parts of England that I think might give me an interesting shot or two, but which I have never set eyes on.
So how do places get on to my list? One way is if I see a photograph taken by someone else there that inspires me. But there is a certain danger in this, as it is surprisingly difficult not to take the same photograph oneself. Even with a different lens, different light and a whole different pair of eyes looking through the camera I have more than once unwittingly plagiarised someone else's photographic work.
And I have had it done to me. Once.
So the chance to spend a little time photographing the wrecks on the banks of the River Wyre behind Fleetwood Fish Docks was something I approached with some reservations.
There are many, many photographs of these boat remains on Flickr, Pbase and on individual websites. Perhaps the best, and the first I saw, are on David Nightingale's website www.chromasia.com .
So I was quite pleased with this shot. Not because its better than anyone else's. Just because its sufficiently different. to say something new about the place. Not a whole page of something new, nor even a paragraph. But just a couple of words.
And that, for me anyway, is enough.