We arrived in St. Ives and unpacked our stuff.
The accommodation was a very spacious three storey townhouse within ten minutes walk from the harbour.
Botallack Mines
We called in at a famous location for photographers, namely Botallack Mines.
We had a good wander around the clifftop and had plenty of energy before we started by having tea and cake at the café near the car park.
This scene is very popular with photographers but usually visited in Winter when stormy seas mean waves crash against the rocks.
On such a bright sunny day, I couldn’t do much except capture it in front of me and maybe zoom in for a bit more detail.
I tried a wider aperture shot getting these flowers in the foreground with some hint of what was in the background.
Some views taken in are below.
Port Nanven
This next location was on my “must do” list because I had read in the Fotovue book that the beach here had large stones that look like dinosaur eggs.
We arrived late afternoon after driving down the single track road to the car park right on the edge of the beach. It’s a long and winding road and not one I’d fancy doing in the peak season months.
We only needed to walk a few paces to see the beach and Kathryn didn’t fancy climbing over the rocks so I put my boots on and off I went.
The rocks were slippery but I managed to get across and fired off some shots. There were some very irritating midgies in the seaweed at the bottom of the rocks but I really enjoyed the opportunities for compositions here.
My first was rather uninspiring though and lacked any appeal.
I walked further along and quite liked the way the sea water was rushing into the rocks like a funnel.
I the found a concrete path which would take my slightly higher up and onto a rock ledge. This was the best spot so far so I thought carefully about trying to compose something good.
My first few shots had far too much of the rock ledge on so I zoomed in, got the filters out to smooth out the water.
I had spent a long time here and from the signals Kathryn was sending me, it was time to pack up and get back for some supper.
As I walked back, I couldn’t help but try and get some closer, potentially abstract shots of the rocks, and this next shot was my favourite.
As I got back to a bench where Kathryn had been waiting, she recommend I capture the scene from where I had just walked back from so I got set up and took my last shot.
I packed up and we went back to the car. A couple of camper vans had arrived and as I glanced back, I spotted a couple from one of the camper vans had set up a table and chairs to enjoy a drink a watch the sunset go down.
As we left consciously wanting to get some supper, I wish we had brought a pack up with us as I would’ve loved to spend more time at this location, and the sunset looked like a good one.
Porthmeor Beach
Next day, we wandered down to St. Ives and further along to Porthmeor beach via St. Nicholas’ Chapel which is high up on a hill overlooking the sea.
The chapel is closed up but apparently it dates back to medieval times and was used as a lookout to spot smugglers.
It was a very sunny and hot day so I used my magnetic ND filters to take some ICM shots on the beach.
This next one has had a high key edit applied.
Godrevy Beach
Next day was a very late trip out to Godrevy Beach.
At this location, you park on the top of the cliff in a large car park.
We wandered down some steps and I could see a decent shot across the rocks to the lighthouse with a couple of chaps fishing.
I had several attempts as I was shooting handheld with magnetic ND filters.
We went back up the steps and along the clifftop where I only got one acceptable shot.
And that was our lot.
Falmouth
Next day, we went to Falmouth which was on Kathryn’s list.
We wandered around town, had a Cornish pasty (got to be done when in Cornwall) which was average.
We then wandered down to the harbour where I thought I’d try some more ICM shots.
I’m not sure about these shots but it was fun shooting them.
I also grabbed a shot of some young guys jumping off the harbour walkway into the water.
St. Michael’s Mount
Next day, we headed down to St. Michael’s Mount, a very famous location with a causeway that is only walkable at lower tide.
I and thought about doing a sunrise here but the tide times were not favourable.
As we parked our car, we could St. Michael’s Mount and wandered along the beach to see the causeway, or at least a bit of it.
I took my first shot with this lady in it as she was glancing out to the mount.
While I was considering some other shots, Kathryn walked up the causeway and to the little island on the right.
The lady had gone back to the beach, and even if the five or more minutes, I was noticing the tide coming in very quickly, and it would threaten to cut us both off from the beach.
Luckily, Kathryn appeared from the little island and I was able to shout to hear to hurry up.
We ended up having to take our shoes and socks off. And roll up our trousers to get back to the beach. The speed of the tide really took us by surprise.
Walking further along, we stopped at this concrete jetty and I grabbed a shot of the ferry coming in.
We walked further along through town and found another lane and set of steps down to another part of the beach.
I was wandering around trying to force something creative from the rocks, with the shot below my best effort.
We walked back to the car as our penultimate day had come to and end.
Porthmeor Beach (second visit)
For our last day, we decided to have an easy one and wander down to St Ives harbour.
As it was Friday, the place was heaving with people and we walked along the harbour and decided to go back to the Tate Museum at Porthmeor which would take us back to the beach.
As we wandered around the beach, I spotted some lovely patterns in the sand.
I also captured some moving water in little puddles.
I captured the reflection of the Tate Museum in the water pools in the sand.
Finally, I could see some surfers in the distance so wandered closer to the sea to try and grab some actions shots.
And that was a wrap.
Our Cornwall holiday was over but lots of places visited and a few decent captures.
Onwards and upwards…