warm and high up

29th March 2018, Embleton Bay, 8am

A chilly breeze and a noisy sea but we were quite warm wrapped up and in the sun up on our perch.

Meanwhile down on the sand are these odd looking shoe prints.  I've seen them on the beach before so I'll find out who's feet they are at some point...

A face in the sand

30th March 2018, at home, 3pm

Looks like March is going out the way it came in with some rotten weather and cold easterly winds that seem to have blown all month.

This photo seems to sum it up.  The collared doves have paired and mated and done all the normal spring things despite the winter weather raining on their feathers.

footsteps

28th March 2018, Embleton Bay, 8am

Quiet and peaceful on the beach

28th March 2018, Newton Point, 11am

Out for a run alongside a shining sea

shiny

27th March 2018, Low Newton, 4pm

A wet day but we had a decent walk around Newton Point and down to Low Newton enjoying the shiny sands.  A kipper wind was blowing a smoky smell all the way from Craster a few miles south.

ropes and catches

26th March 2018, Embleton Bay, 8am

A fine sunny morning.

beach life in a day

25th march 2018, Beadnell Bay, 6:45am (BST)

The clocks went forward last night so the sunrise was 6:54 instead of 5:54.  The sun doesn't care either way.  The bedside clock said 6:30 but when I got out to the car it hadn't been changed so it said 5:40am which suddenly made it feel very early!

A theme I keep coming back to is to include life in my landscapes - human figures give a sense of scale and even if you don't speak to them, they always have a story to tell. It's always a pleasure to have birds in a composition. It reminds me of their fragile place in the landscape. I saw two people on the beach this morning; a dog walker and a jogger and I saw many birds but photographed the Whooper swans heading North for the summer and the Sanderlings busying along the sunrise shoreline.

In between these 'busy spells' it was just me and Daisy and the big empty beach.

Sanderlings

A passing dog walker walked by...

...and went on their way.

If you zoom in you can see the distinctive yellow beaks of Whooper swans.  They're heading North to their summer breeding grounds in Iceland

mirror calm

24th March 2018, Embleton Bay, 7am

Sometimes, when the sea is very calm, there is a glassy texture to the ocean surface.

These two shots are quite different as one is straight in the direction of the sun (which was behind a dark grey, but unthreatening, cloud)

24th March 2018, Embleton Bay, 3pm

A long and hearty walk on a bright, sunny day with a lovely cool breeze.  The first outing of the summer hat!  The morning's silver had been replaced by blue.

Amazing to see this summery looking sight on Newton Haven given what the sea has been like recently

exit stage left

23rd March 2018, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

Last night's rain passed over and headed off to the NE leaving a partition of blue meeting grey across the sky.

moods

22nd March 2018, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

"This world abounds in beauty and light and Nature yields an 

everlasting inspiration which is gained only 

by true admiration of herself in all her moods."       

Joseph Forsyth Johnson

I had a chat with a publisher of photography books the other day. He explained that my photography is of no interest to him as it's all taken in the same part of Northumberland. For me the sea is endlessly fascinating and by photographing in pretty much the same place every day the changes in the many moods of nature are all the more apparent. Here are some portraits of this morning's calm sea (which you'll never see in print)!

looks like summer, feels like winter

21st March 2018, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

We walked right up past the castle and then back down to the beach and got there as the sun came out.  The sun made the beach look very warm although i was still wrapped up in all my winter layers.

These 180deg panorama use the incredible technology of the phone.  They do diminish the scale of the view though.  The sea looks like a tiny puddle in the middle of the view.

sunny at last

20th March 2018, Embleton Bay, 8am

A quick walk around the beach before today's guided walk.

These cement sandbags were part of a pillbox at one time.  They've been uncovered by the recent high tides and high seas.  Standing this way up they look like a contemporary sculpture.  swords into ploughshares...

20th March 2018, Chatton, 10am

Up at the prehistoric carvings with two lovely HPB guests for a guided walk today.  The sun was low and revealed the carvings beautifully.

Even "TV rock" was quite visible under its cover of lichen.  Normally I have to persuade people that there's something here.

20th March 2018, Newton Point, 4pm

At last a day warm enough to sit outside and walk Daisy without 5 layers of thermal clothing.