Yorkshire Coast Tripod Travels workshop report

​Alex Hare and I had a thoroughly enjoyable and successful workshop weekend on the Yorkshire Coast in early November, where we were joined by a super group of clients: Paul, Laura, Babs, Nick and Nigel. Very sadly our sixth participant was unable to join us at the last minute, due to illness. Our group size is limited to six - with two tutors, this allows us to give everyone as much attention as they would like or need and also ensures no overcrowding in tighter spots! We stayed at the North Star hotel at Flamborough Head - very well looked after there - the rooms are spacious and comfortable, the staff very friendly and the meals are excellent - if a bigger cooked breakfast exists, I’ve yet to see it. We all gathered on the Friday evening, with a couple of clients arriving just before doors were locked! But they had come a very, very long way! ;)

Everyone was up and ready to go well over an hour before sunrise and we travelled the short distance to Flamborough Head lighthouse, walking to a spot that overlooks the dramatic cliffs and sea stacks and, at this time of year, the rising sun. We were lucky to enjoy some really decent conditions for our shoot. I managed to sneak a quick photo of some lovely pink, fluffy clouds shortly before sunrise (above) but our main efforts with the group concentrated on shooting the sea stacks themselves - we will be sharing some of their pictures in due course. After the best part of three hours, we were all starting to feel frozen through and the sun was getting a little high so we headed back to the hotel for a well deserved breakfast. The original plan had been to go to Spurn Point for the rest of that day but with the road having been washed away (again!) we decided to head north for Saltwick Bay and Whitby.

With a low, outgoing tide, we had a great choice of subject matter at Saltwick Bay, working on both classic seascape shots as well as exploring some more abstract options. Some of the shapes in the shale sea bed at Saltwick really are amazing - although we felt a balloon ride might have been the best way to get a really good angle on some of them:

As the afternoon passed, some more dramatic cloud formations started to appear and made for some interesting options around the wreck of Admiral Von Tromp. I had my husband’s little Sony RX100 with me, which was great for taking quick handheld shots to demonstrate compositional ideas for some of the group (above and below).

Our last stop for the day was Whitby - where we headed for the north pier - as ever, it was a little busy but it is a location that offers so many options, over and above the classic pier shots.

We worked on some long exposure techniques - always a bit of a challenge on the bouncy wooden boards of the pier; and again we explored some more abstract options. As so often, the view out to sea offered some super opportunities, with rain clouds passing by:

After working on a number of compositions taking in the pier and harbour lights, we completed a very full and happy day of photography, travelling back to the hotel in time for a shower, drinks and meal. No early night for any of the group and, after the meal, we shared a few photographs and then did a brief working session on Lightroom. Definitely a full and tiring day but it was great to have such an enthusiastic crowd and, as always seems to be the case, the rapport and jokes were top form! We went to bed expecting to wake up to clear skies but, meeting downstairs at 6am, we discovered the forecasters were a little out. It was cloudy, wet and windy! Great credit to the group - it would have been easy to duck out but everyone was happy to head out and see if we could make the most of the conditions.

Knowing that the groynes at Bridington beach would offer a good subject matter for moody skies and an incoming, near high tide, we drove the short distance there and got very lucky with the weather. The rain stopped (over us at least) but we had plenty of interesting weather out to sea and made the most of our luck. Back for another hearty breakfast, followed by another brief Lightroom and Photoshop session. The forecast had now caught up with itself, the sun was out and the clouds conspicuous by their absence. So we headed inland a little to explore a few options with the wonderful larches in Dalby Forest - a tree that lends itself to strong sunlight as well as more moody conditions.

We experimented with a bit of ICM (intentional camera movement) - although we felt Paul’s new name for it - “whizzy whizzy” was really far more descriptive! ;) We also looked at trying to isolate smaller areas of the trees and surrounding vegetation with telephoto lenses. As always, I find myself preferring the 'straight' shots!

Our final stop, towards the Pickering end of the forest, saw the clouds building up again and us chasing some wonderfully intense light as it swept across the forest. We really had been very lucky with the conditions and it was a fitting end to thoroughly enjoyable weekend. We were conscious that some of the group had a long drive back - but were glad to know that everyone arrived safely and nobody fell asleep at the wheel after two action packed days!