Myself and another photographer decided to call in at Stiffkey Saltmarshes.
Some of our fellow photographers had visited this location recently and reported that the sea lavender was in full bloom and looking very good.
We parked up and wandered along the path to the usual location where the three wooden bridges can be seen, then we each started to look for our own compositions and shots.
On first sight, the lavender looked past it best but as we got closer to the water, it still looked good.
Before rushing to the bridges, sea lavender and pools of water, this scene caught my eye.
I tried to think more carefully about my composition, and in the edit I’ve tried to accentuate the sweeping curvature of the image.
I think it’s a strong image, but being picky, the reflection of the bridge is touching and overlapping that mound of mud in the middle. Dang it, it’s a fail! 😳
A position slightly higher up on the grass bank to my left would’ve struck perfection. By the time you’ve read this, I will have flogged myself with a cat o’ nine tails, like the monk in The Da Vinci Code film.
From this spot, I turn around behind me to see this lovely scene.
The cloud is great, so is the reflection, and we have the bridge in the distance (albeit it’s overlapping another), and a little sea lavender in the foreground.
The expanse of water is fab but it doesn’t seem to work in an image, and I can’t explain why – it’s perhaps the way the water enters the shot.
It’s a lovely scene with the eyes, but not with the capture.
I move around a little more, and we chat about how we think the sun isn’t going to last very long as there’s a huge low dark cloud over the horizon.
I walk onto the marsh and across it to see if I can get something different to my last two summer visits.
This next shot works better, and writing this blog makes me reflect more carefully about what I’ve shot, and whether or not the images ‘cut the mustard’.
What does mustard have to do with excellence I hear you bellow?
It’s not clear exactly why we say ‘cut the mustard’. Some have proposed literal derivations, such as cutting down (harvesting) mustard plants. Others have suggested connections to the phrase pass muster, when a soldier gets approval after troops are assembled together for inspection.
I spent quite a bit of time in this vicinity, and various compositions and orientations.
Laughably, I knocked the tripod while taking a shot, and I quite like the following ‘unintentional camera movement’ shot.
Next up was one of my favourite shots of the evening.
I spotted this water pool that I thought looked like a heart shape.
It’s not amazing but there’s a bridge in the background (albeit tiny) and a half-decent sky.
This shot will be my Instagram post from this shoot.
My final shot was of a different water pool of not particular recognisable shape… maybe a kidney?
And that was a wrap!
We ambled back to the car, had a quick debrief and made our way home.
I am glad I visited here again because I had it in my mind that I’ve done it before, and no need to come back. However, coming back made me look for, and try different things.
Stiffkey saltmarshes will very likely be a regular annual visit.
Onwards and upwards…