A Return to The Cobb in Lyme Regis

I've been photographing The Cobb in Lyme Regis for nearly a decade now. It's a location I keep returning to, but why? As a landscape photographer I'm drawn to the natural beauty of wilderness and the coast. However, The Cobb is a human-made structure and mostly made of stone. It therefore doesn't fit into the category of natural beauty but yet it remains a compelling subject to photograph.

The Cobb has three aspects to it that make it worth photographing. Firstly, is its shape. Rather than being a straight structure that juts out into the sea, it's distinctive S-shape snakes out into the sea. When photographed from certain positions with a wide-angle lens, that S-shape can provide a very strong foreground subject.

Next is the east to west direction the structure runs. This makes it an ideal subject to photograph during winter when the sunrises from the southeast. Light from the morning sun will bath the structure in glorious orange light, further highlighting the shape of The Cobb.

The last thing that makes it worth photographing is its coastal location and how the sea interacts with it. On calm days the water gently surrounds The Cobb making for wonderful longer exposures. Perhaps my favourite time is when the waves crash up against The Cobb. Freezing a wave as it hits the structure with a short exposure or capturing the trails of water flowing off The Cobb with a longer exposure can make for some really exciting photographs. On those windy days there is a very real risk of getting wet or your camera gear is damaged, or even worse. It can be a dangerous place, so caution is always advised.

However, the morning I captured these photographs, everything was calm, and I experienced a lovely sunrise.

**Cobb Sunrise #1, Lyme Regis, Dorset** - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/22, 30 seconds at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.

Every visit to The Cobb gives me a slightly different photograph. That's why I'll probably still be photographing it in another 10 years. You just never know what you’ll come away with.