A trip up the coast - Light Painting Flamborough

Date Posted: Dec 11, 2011

Flamborough is a coastal village just north of Bridlington on the North East coast of England. The coastline is immense with huge dramatic cliffs, bays, caves and lots of rocks! Topped with a nice white Lighthouse, the chalky white cliffs are great place to explore and an amazing place to Light Paint.

Although I haven't visited for a few years, I'm no stranger to the coastline of Flamborough. My grandparents would regularly take me for long walks along the cliffs and relaxed days in the secluded Thornwick Bay with its nice mixture of sandy and rocky beaches, cliffs to climb up and caves to explore in. I loved every minute of it - this was always one of my favourite places as a kid. I have some really happy memories of this area so it was really nice to re-visit as the memories came flooding back.

I opted to stay over in Bridlington for a night giving me the opportunity to get down to the coast during the day and check everything out. I always like to check out a location during the day, something especially important at a place like this. The cliff-tops had eroded a bit since last time I'd visited which had changed some of the access routes. I soon found my way to where I wanted to be and made mental notes of all the dangers as well as spotting potential locations to shoot.

Returning in the evening once the sun had set, I easily found my way down into the bay. The moon was shining and this turned out to be one of my most enjoyable nights of Light Painting I've had. I was, however, a little disappointed that low tide was quite high therefore I was unable to access many of the places I'd have liked to. Some of the best caves were filled with waves and access into other bays wasn't possible. This didn't stop me having a great time, and just means I'll have to return at later date!

All of these images were taken in a single exposure after the sun had set. The moon was the only natural source of light, long exposure times under the full moon allowed the images to look like they were taken during the day. Photoshop has not been used to modify any of these images.

Hope you enjoy the images, some of which are a nice break from my usual style. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.