THE INTIMATE LANDSCAPE 8 : Coastal Rocks -By Tony Worobiec

One of the great joys of living in the UK is that our coastline is so wonderfully varied and accessible. Nobody lives further than 70 miles from the sea which is why it continues to prove such an attractive lure for so many photographers. There are of course many “honey-pot” locations scattered along our coast (living in Dorset it is something I am constantly reminded of), but the purpose of this series of blogs is to encourage you to adopt a personal approach to your photography.

When shooting coastal landscape, the temptation is to point the camera towards the horizon, but there is merit in taking photographs which completely exclude the sky. If we develop this idea further, we should be able to find worthwhile images down at our feet, or possibly in small nooks and crannies that are not normally rich pickings for photography. Look carefully at seemingly inconsequential elements such as marks in the sand or low-lying rocks and you will discover elements that serve as a microcosm for the whole. This can prove to be a deeply satisfying, almost contemplative aspect of photography, as it requires you to work slowly. Once you discover an exciting area, scrutinize it carefully, checking out potentially worthy bits of detail. It is easy to get lost in a world of the miniature.

ILLUSTRATION 1 . “Rockpool, Bigbury, Devon”.

One of the great advantages of shooting “intimate landscapes” is that they often lack an apparent scale, which allows the viewer to imagine a location much larger than it actually is. This location is about 4 feet at its widest. For this genre of photography, put away your wide-angle lenses; you will be far better served using a standard or even a long lens. You need to develop an instinct for the “abstract”, and this works far better when the entire image appears sharp, so the closer you are to the subject, the smaller the aperture needs to be. Using a tripod certainly helps, but sometimes that simply proves impractical. If you are required to hand-hold your camera, try and ensure that the back of the camera, (what we use to call the “film–plane”) is absolutely parallel to the surface you are attempting to capture. Get this right and you should be able to get away with an aperture of just f11.

This image was taken just before dusk; the sun was setting behind me, which is beautifully reflected in the pool of water. The bluish tinge to the surrounding rocks is a consequence of them being photographed in shadow which offers this wonderful contrast between the orange and blue. A feature I have come to appreciate when photographing coastal rock formations is how varied they can be. Whether rock is granite, limestone or sandstone can offer quite unique qualities to whichever location you choose to explore.

ILLUSTRATION 2 “ A Frosty Morning In Wareham Forest”.

When photographing ponds, try to imagine you are photographing mirrors. They are wonderful places that illustrate the immediate environment.  Taken on a Summer’s evening, I was attracted to the clarity of the reflection of near-by conifers.  I often find that images of this nature work well when presented as a square format which offers a discipline when taking “loosely” designed shots. Aside to the reflection, I was also drawn to the wonderful gradation of colour faithfully reflected in the water; the white flecks in the distance are bog cotton.

ILLUSTRATION 3 “Spittal beach, Northumberland.”

This charmed part of the Northumbrian coast features some of the most amazing rock formations I have ever witnessed. Unlike many rock formations that tend to be located in the cliffs behind the beach, these are to be found on the beach, so you will need to check the tide. Ideally get there as it is receding. The rock is sandstone, but what adds to the variety of colour are the minerals that leech from nearby cliffs. The rocks themselves are not much higher than 18 - 24 inches above the sand level, so the majority of your photographs will be taken looking directly downwards. A useful tip someone once offered me was to take a small shoe-brush with you; nothing to do with your personal appearance, but often these rocks will be covered in coastal debris such as small pebbles, sand and seaweed. Carefully brush this away and it will save you time needlessly cloning out unwanted distractions when processing your image. Sandstone is a relatively soft rock and is subject to erosion resulting in these beautiful linear designs. The area in the middle of the picture was filled with sea-water which has created this wonderful “lens-effect”.

ILLUSTRATION 4 “Cluster of images.”

An exercise I frequently do when developing an “intimate landscape” project is to cluster them together. It is too easy to convince yourself that the images you have taken aren’t as good as you initially imagined, but once you see them grouped together in this way, you appreciate the unique characteristics that help bind them together. This approach offers so many opportunities. First, if you were thinking of having a book published, then a sequence of highly related images would certainly help to introduce a sense of cohesion. Similarly, if you were considering having an exhibition of your coastal work, grouping together highly related images could prove extremely useful. Finally, if you are a member of the RPS and you are considering applying for one of their distinctions, a cluster of images such as this might very prove to be the springboard that sets you off in that direction.

ILLUSTRATION 5 “Isolated rock on The Dingle Beach, Ireland”.

Whilst the central tenet of this blog is to encourage you to look away from the horizon and down at the ground, occasionally it is possible to maintain an intimacy whilst at the same time photographing the entire beach. In this example I was conducting a workshop on this enchanted location in Ireland and encouraged each of the attendees to “adopt” a rock. The idea was to carefully study the effects that are created as the tide recedes, leaving in its trail a beautiful lace-like pattern. Timing was absolutely critical! Essentially, I spent time looking down at this rock and worked out that it takes two seconds for the water to fully recede, which in turn governed my choice of shutter-speed. We are all familiar with wonderfully iconic locations scattered along the coast, but somehow there is more personal satisfaction when isolating a feature that photographically-speaking is unique to you. That is the essence of “the intimate landscape”.