Coast Archives - Mike Barrett Photography

Fraisthorpe Beach and a 10 Stop ND Filter – Yorkshire Coast

10th September 2021 By Mike Barrett

The Location

On a recent trip to the east coast of Yorkshire with a tog friend of mine, we took a walk south from Bridlington along the beach front to find the numerous pillbox guard posts and various other structures scattered along the landscape. Where we ended up was a place called Fraisthorpe Beach. It is about a 3-4 mile walk from Bridlington harbour along the beach front. These salt water battered and barnicled concrete structures are remnants of the british defence effort during the second world war. Installations such as these formed an effective defence from the threat of invasion from Germany via the sea.

There are many locations along the east coast of Britain that were fortified with these types of structures. Bridlington Bay with its flat sandy beaches was an ideal place for all manner of vehicles to land. Tanks, amphibious landing craft and many other attack vehicles would have easily been able to slip up onto the land. Anti tank cubes are scattered in their dozens, in long lines up and down the beach. Most of them sit where the wave break line occurs at high tide, which made for some interesting photograph opportunities.

The Photography

A note was made of the location but it seemed prudent to return a couple of days later when the high tide was at its highest. The intention being, to make sure that there was a good volume of water lashing at these old structures in order to get the proposed shots. My goal was to get some super long exposures using a 10 stop ND filter. This would enable me to flatten out the seascape and achieve some clean, stylised shots. There was a good light for this type of photography. I made a multitude of compositions during the three hours that we were there. Some shots didn’t work out so well. Some, however, worked out wonderfully.

The images below are some of my favourites from the time spent at this location. I have deliberately presented a colour and a black and white version of each of the images. They work equally as well, but somehow are strikingly different in their appearance. Particularly when viewed next to each other.

The lens I used was an EF 17-40mm F/4L USM with a 10 stop ND filter, using various focal lengths. All at F/20, ISO 50, with a mixture of exposures ranging between 213 seconds and 361 seconds, tripod mounted, in bulb mode.

My objective was to flatten out the water as much as possible and get a good contrast between the wave break line and the horizon line. Composition wise, I really wanted to show some of the beauty of these wonderful structures. Covered in barnacles and seaweed, you can see how they have eroded over time, with bits of steel poking out the top of some of the blocks. Many have broken down almost completely. There are, however, many that have kept their shape and integrity and would no doubt still repel a landing army of old. Or new, for that matter.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Johnshaven, Scotland

1st September 2019 By Mike Barrett

I have a special love for being by the coast. It’s definitely a yearning. I stood at the ocean’s edge last week while up on the east coast of Scotland, closed my eyes and let my senses take over. I let the whole experience wash over me. The sound of the crashing waves ebbing and flowing, the chorus of shrill calls from the gulls as they danced on the sea air, the spray hitting my face and the smell of the ocean as it rolled over the rocks before me.

As I took it all in I thought about a line from the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ by the character Andy Dufresne. In the film he was talking to his friend Red and was describing a place that he wanted to live out the rest of his life. “Zihuatanejo. It’s in Mexico. A little place on the Pacific Ocean. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory.”
I don’t know why it popped into my head, but I got thinking about it while I was stood looking at the North Sea. Specifically focusing on the part about the sea having no memory. I like this as an idea. The concept that the ocean has no memory. The notion sits quite well with me. This vast body of water the covers 71% of the earth surface. It’s basically uncharted in real terms. We’ve seen a bit of it, but in the grand scheme of things we have sent more people to the moon than we have people to the deepest parts of our oceans. The idea that it has no memory just intrigues me. This vast body of water is just there, all the time. Moving to and fro, calm and at times ferocious. Deep and wide, enduring and seemingly endless. Full of mystery and very, very old. Beautiful in its magnitude. The fact that it might have no memory is almost a beautiful notion. Ever existing in a state of now. Being!

I love to photograph the coast line. There is always something happening or something interesting to point the camera at. There is never a dull moment. The weather constantly changes, as do the tides, the colours, the wind, the light, the smells, the mood, the temperature… It’s very much alive. I got a chance to have a mess around with a 10 stop filter and a variable grad filter on this particular excursion. I also sent my drone up a few times to get some different aspects of the coastline. All good fun as you can imagine.

Capturing Daybreak at Johnshaven

31st August 2019 By Mike Barrett

I recently captured six different aspects of the sunrise over the course of a few different mornings at a little fishing village called Johnshaven on the east coast of Scotland. The compositions were fairly similar, taken from more or less the same vantage point. It’s always exhilarating watching the sunrise on a beautiful coastline. It’s something I will never tire of. There is a quote I once heard that goes as follows… “God created the sunrise and the sunset so that each day begins and ends in triumph”. I’m not a religious man but I have always liked that quote. Having witnessed many a sunrise and sunset I believe that this quote pretty much hits the nail on the head!

It is intoxicating watching the sun come up on the coast, or anywhere for that matter, but on the coast it does bring that special something. All that colour and changing light reflected off that vast ocean is something else. Especially when you are out there at 5am and there isn’t another soul about. It’s just you, fresh sea air and the rising of that huge ball of fire that we call sunshine. At times it will bring with it colour, drama and most certainly heat, light and the new energy of the day. To stand and watch it climb into the sky and see it incrementally change the colour and mood of the surrounding panorama fills the soul with some mysterious and primeval joy. Capturing it photographically for prosperity brings a huge amount of joy also. Not quite bottled for prosperity, but as near as damn it!

Look at all that water Mummy

21st October 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

My two favourites, bathed in the morning sunshine at Embleton beach, Northumberland.

Northumberland Coast – Summer 2017

8th September 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I recently spent some time up in Northumberland with my family on a summer vacation. Such a stunning part of the world. We try and get up there at least once a year if we can. While I was there I managed to get out and photograph the coast as the sun was rising. Luckily there was plenty of drama on this stunning morning. The light was just magnificent. Most of these shots are taken on Embleton Beach looking South/East over towards Dunstanburgh Castle. The Lighthouse shots were taken at Longstone Lighthouse in The Farne Islands. This is where Grace Darling once lived with her father who was the lighthouse keeper and where she made her heroic rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838.

Coastline – Summer 2014

23rd August 2014 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

We got around quite a bit this summer. We were at the coast a lot. Such great weather this year in good old Blighty.
I love being by the sea. The quality of the air is different. There is a kind of audible silence. A peaceful ebb and flow! Standing at the edge of that vast expanse of water is always a humbling experience. I think that one day, I’m going to have to get a boat, learn to sail and spend some time with that vast expanse.

Here are a handful of photos from our travels.

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