Exploring More of Start Point
Discovering More
I'm spoilt for choice when it comes to locations on the south Devon coast to watch and photograph the sunrise. One of my favourites is Start Point and I've captured numerous photographs from this distinctive coastal location. While the photographs I've captured feature a variety of different weather conditions, most of them all have one thing in common. They've all be taken from roughly the same spot.
The view that I normally capture at Start Point. Read the blog post for this image here.
The spot I like is high up on the peninsula looking down towards the lighthouse and out to sea. This is a great view, but I've always believed that there are other compositions to be found. I did make one brief trip further south-west along the coast one evening and I really liked the side-on view of the peninsula and the lighthouse. I've been meaning to go back for some time.
I would go to Start Point more often but it is a bit of a trek to get there. As the crow flies it's not far but by car, it's about an 80-minute drive from home and not always on the greatest of roads. As part of my personal commitment to do more exploring in 2020, I decided that I would make the effort to not only explore the views further down the coast but to also check out Mattiscombe Sands (which is only a short walk from Start Point).
At this time of year, the sunrise time isn't too late in the morning but also not too early that you need to get up at 3 am. With the weather conditions looking OK I decided that it was time to head back to Start Point. I contacted with my friend and super talented photographer Andy Campbell who was more than happy to join me on my latest adventure.
Old Location, New Views
Arriving at Start Point on the 21st of February, I was tempted to head straight to my favourite viewpoint and bag a safety shot but I managed to pull myself away and move further down the coast. I soon found a viewpoint I liked and started taking some photographs. The view gave me a side-on look at the peninsula and lighthouse and it looked dramatic. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photographs to share with you from that viewpoint as the light was pretty dull and none of the resulting images processed particularly well. It is a viewpoint I will be back to though so expect to see an image from there soon!
I then took a walk a little further down the coast again and though it is a similar view to the previous one I just described, this view has the addition of some jaggy foreground rocks which I like. I am happy to share a couple of those photographs but for me, that viewpoint will come alive as a sunset location when the light hits that peninsula and the rocks. I will be coming back to photograph that spot again as well.
Start Point Sunrise #1, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S at 36mm, f/13, 0.6 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 CPL and ND Grad.
With my recce mission of Start Point complete, me and Andy took a walk along to Mattiscombe Sands. The sunrise had been long gone by then so we weren't going to be taking any photos but from what we could see there is a lot of potential at that location given the right tide. Another location marked for a future visit!
Start Point Sunrise #2, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S at 28mm, f/13, 0.8 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 CPL and ND Grad.
Though my visit to Start Point was a short one it was a successful one. I wasn't expecting to get great images that morning, but I did want to check out some new viewpoints of Start Point and Mattiscombe Sands for future visits. So, in that sense, it was time well spent. Plus, I got to catch up with my friend Andi. Even when the conditions aren't great, if you've got a friend along with you it can still be a lot of fun.
I'll be heading back to Start Point again as soon as I can so stay tuned to my blog for more photos, blog posts and even a video!
Are there any locations you are planning to photograph this year that you haven't before? Let me know what is on your hit list in the comments below.