Summer is not the best, or should I say ideal for photographers. The long days with sunrise and sunsets 16 hours apart! 

Today, I decided I needed to make the effort and get out of my bed, albeit with a really early start. Yesterday, I scouted google and numerous websites for different ideas on what to shoot. Then made several visits all over fife searching for a hidden treasure I’ve previously missed. 

Well, it all came to nothing! When you start to progress in photography, you always want something different to, or better the last photo and that’s the challenge. You also want to shoot at places that you’re not familiar with, giving you that extra buzz. That feeling of arriving at a new destination feels fantastic, even if it’s been shot a million times by other people. There are some locations that I must have visited about 50 times trying to achieve perfection. To be honest, Im never really happy with any photos, there is always something that I feel I could have done better.

Anyway, I felt the need to head out further a field in search for a new challenge. About 8 months ago I went to little place in the Scottish borders called St Abbs, near Eyemouth. The scenery is fantastic and I genuinely didn't think I did it justice in my previous photos. I ended up with a black and white version of the lighthouse as the light wasn't great. Time for another go! 

Sunrise was at 5.40am with a 1.45 hour journey time. I set off at 3 o clock so I would catch the best of the light and to find a location to shoot, although my previous shot with better light might do the trick. I arrived in plenty of time and took a general wonder round the area, I'm actually not sure what I was expecting (a miracle perhaps) but I just couldn't find the perfect spot for sunrise. I took 3 or 4 photos from different spots but like my previous attempt and school report cards, can do much better :). Ah well maybe next time. I must admit, even without a photo to show, I really enjoyed the tranquility watching the sun come up over the horizon and couldn't have picked a better location to do it!

Like I mentioned previously, a new challenge was in order and St Abbs was only a pit stop to my main objective, the wonderful coast of Northumberland! 

There are 3 locations within a very shot distance, the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne, Bamburg castle and Dunstanburgh castle, my personal favourite. As time was ticking on, I left St Abbs and set out towards Dunstanburgh castle. I had planned on passing by the other two locations mentioned but Lindisfarne was to good an opportunity to miss. A quick stop off and I’ll be on my way! 

Did I say quick, it wasn't half quick, there is only one car park and its pay and display. YES, that is correct I didn’t have any money! What a bloody fool. That’s twice I have done this, never again!!

The whole area is just begging to be explored, I had a quick look at what might have been and it looked stunning, better than all the images I had seen. There was a low lying mist sitting just above the horizon covering the rising sun. I just felt so foolish!

Off to Dunstanbugh castle it was then! I have done my research into the area, but I am sorry to say nowhere does it tell you where to park? How long the walk is? What’s the best tide times?

This was all going to be research into my main visit in the coming weeks.

For anyone interested, I parked at Dunstan head as I think this was the closest area I could park. The walk out to the castle is about 2 miles, but that is all dependent to where you want to shoot, I was directly below the castle. It was low tide which I had a feeling was the opposite of what you actually want. There is a footpath from the carpark down to the beach, but just before you get to the beach, the path is on the right hand side. If you do go at low tide you will need to clamber over the the large boulders to the sea and my god they are slippy! I couldn't even count with both hands the amount of times I fell. This is definitely not for the faint hearted, I started thinking after slip no7,”how on earth have I not broken my ankle” because of the rock formations, once you slip, your foot goes between two rocks. 

I eventually made my way to the waters edge, set up the tripod, camera and filters at the ready and a rogue wave drenched me, trying only to save the camera, reactions took over and I fell in! I don't think Ive ever use so many swear words in one sentence in my life! I took my socks and shoes off to dry out and placed them on a rock, no way was I leaving without one test shot! 

I dipped my toe in the water, just a tester as you do. It was arctic in August I swear, I think this was the first time my feet have touched the Scottish water since I was a child. 

I eventually managed to take a few exposures. The light was still ok, not my preferred conditions but like I said, this was a test run! 

After a few minutes, I decided to call it a day and turned to collect my gear to find my socks had blown into the water! Near boiling point, I actually questioned whether there was a God ;) After the initial shock of seeing my socks floating, I actually became quite delirious (I hadn't eaten anything yet) and burst out laughing like a school kid that had pumped. Im really glad nobody was on the beach to witness it!

My photo of Dunstanburgh castle was shot a F16 with an exposure time of 75 seconds. I had the polariser on to take glare away from the rocks and water and a 3 stop ND grad for the sky.

The second photo was blended from 5 exposures using photoshop for dynamic range but no HDR software was used.