Mike Page Mountain Light Photography: Porlock Weir

Back in September, Sharon and I took our son back to university in Wales - quite an ordeal in the end given the circumstances, but a great opportunity to do some photography together, particularly as I'd just bought her an Olympus E-M10 Mk IV for her birthday. Even though I've lived more than 60% of my life now in Germany, there's still an un-severable connection to the country I grew up in. I'm currently applying for (dual)German citizenship, but despite the years, despite the madness that is Brexit, I'm still British at heart.

My parents now live in Somerset, but I grew up in the chalk downs of Wiltshire, seven miles from the ancient stone circle of Avebury. Our village had its own white horse carved into the overlooking downs, though it's looking a bit worse for wear at the moment. We sandwiched a visit to Tenby in Wales (Part II of this series) between staying at my parents home and visiting friends near where I grew up.

This first part of my Homage to Home is dedicated to the south-west of England, focusing on the delightful town of Lyme Regis on the south Dorset coast and one of the fossil centres of the country, lying on the Jurassic Coast, the area around Yeovil, a trip to the wild north Somerset coast on the Bristol Channel and a visit to my old stomping ground at Avebury.

Montacute Panorama || Olympus 7-Shot Panorama 25 mm, f/8, 1/125 s, ISO 200

I'd forgotten how different the quality of light is in the UK compared to central Europe; it's a lot more diffuse and in early autumn the sun is a lot lower. It may sound trivial, but it does present a subtle challenge when photographing.

These two posts are going to be very picture-heavy and word-poor, for which I make no apologies. Feel free to leave any comments below.

Lyme Regis

Three-quarters of an hour from my parent's place, Lyme' is our go-to coastal town in the UK. With the picturesque Cobb, the painted beach huts and a wonderful town complete with fossil shops, tea shops, picture galleries and enough eclectic dress shops to keep even my wife happy, what can go wrong? There are a couple of decent pubs too at the Cobb, meaning that you can comfortably make a day of it and wait for sunset, which rarely disappoints.

Tide's Out || Olympus 100 mm, f/4, 1/200, ISO 200

Down at The Cobb || Olympus 16 mm, f/8, 1/80 s, ISO 200

Lyme Beach Huts || Olympus 8 mm, f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 200

I've had the shot above in mind for a while. Whilst I'm reasonably happy with this version, I think next time I'll have to use my fish eye lens; I wanted to get the bend of huts as an element of the photo and it hasn't really worked here.

Golden Wave || Olympus 100 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 s, ISO 200

Catching the rays of the setting sun. Although we've seen more spectacular surf at Lyme' in the winter storms, this was still a decent swell. I love the way that the wind catches the surf and the curve of the wave acts as a mirror to the sun. The water is quite brown here though, especially when you compare it to the beautiful colours we were getting on the Pembrokeshire coast, but you'll have to got to Part II for those...

Yeovil and Surroundings

Although I grew up in Wiltshire, the area west of Yeovil was familiar to me growing up as a great aunt and uncle (great as in my father's aunt and uncle) lived in a wonderful thatched cottage in West Chinnock. We came here often as children, enjoying the local surroundings as well as occasional visits to The Muddled Man, the village pub, once we got a little older. I think fondness for his aunt and uncle were a large motivator in my parents moving down here when they retired and we certainly enjoy the 'away from it all' feeling we get when we visit, though going by the amount of traffic on the A303, I suspect this might be an illusion!

Montacute || Olympus 50 mm, f/4, 1/160 s, ISO 200

Montacute Highstreet || Olympus 25 mm, f/8, 1/50 s, ISO 200

Cream Tea and Post Box || Olympus 35 mm, f/8, 1/40 s, ISO 200

What could be more quintessentially English than cream teas and red post-boxes?

Path to the Light || Olympus 28 mm, f/8, 1/10 s, ISO 200

English Oaks || Olympus 41 mm, f/5, 1/400 s, ISO 200

From Ham Hill || Olympus 12 mm, f/8, 1/320 s, ISO 200

Porlock Weir

On our return from Tenby, we ventured up to an isolated part of the north coast of Somerset on the eastern edge of Exmoor. On paper, Porlock doesn't have an awful lot to recommend itself to the visitor, there's a tiny harbour, a very stony beach that's open to the elements. But it's a photographer's wet dream, as I hope you'll agree.

According to the Wikepedia entry, the name comes from Old English:

"Porlock means place of the port and Porlock Weir is its harbour. Weir refers to salmon stakes and traps that were situated along the shore."

Looking Back to Porlock Weir || Olympus 12 mm, f/8, 1/160 s, ISO 200

Porlock Cottages || Olympus 44 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 s, ISO 200

Porlock Weir || Olympus 35 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 s, ISO 200

Porlock Breakwater || Olympus 24 mm, f/5, 1/500 s, ISO 200

Stones in Breakwater || Olympus 25 mm, f/4, 1/1250 s, ISO 200

Pebble || Olympus 35 mm, f/4, 1/1250 s, ISO 200

Between the Posts || Olympus 44 mm, f/4, 1/200 s, ISO 200

Pebbles || Olympus 100 mm, f/4, 1/400 s, ISO 200

Breakwaters || Olympus 50 mm, f/4, 1/500 s, ISO 200

Avebury

Our last port of call before heading back home was Avebury in Wiltshire. I think that to get the best of Avebury (photographically speaking) you have to arrive around sunrise with mist on the ground. By the time we got there, the sun was well up - and about to disappear. There was still enough time to visit the ring and walk 12 miles to West Kennet and back though.