An Afternoon with Bella - a photo on Flickriver

            We British love talking about the weather. We're known for it. Some of you who live in other countries may wonder at our obsession with all things meteorological, but along with the Queen, The Beatles and our love of tea and fish and chips, it's just one of those things that defines us as a nation. The thing that makes our weather such an endless conversation topic is that we get so much of it. Not sure what to say to that person you've just been introduced to at a social function? Talk about the rainstorm you had to drive through to get there - it rarely fails.

For more years than I care to count, our weather was the cause of almost permanent dismay to me. After all, our summers are too short, and notoriously unreliable with it. In recent years (although thankfully not this one), August has often felt more like October for example. As for the winters, they just go on and on - dark at 4pm and storm after storm throughout January and February each year. All we could ever talk about was packing up and heading for somewhere warm and Mediterranean where the sun would shine more often than not and the winter season would be gone almost as soon as it had arrived. 

And then at some point during the last twelve months it dawned on me that this time of year brings wonderful drama to landscape photography. Quite why I has taken me so long I can't say, but I'm sure that on a day like this in December 2019 I would have hunkered down under a blanket with a black and white film and let the afternoon slip away unused. Whether it's the raw and youthful enthusiasm of Henry Turner's YouTube channel I'm not sure, but now I look for bad weather on the forecast and wrap myself into so many layers before heading out into the drama.

Today brought the tail end of Storm Bella. Ali decided to take the dog for a long clifftop stroll, which brought the added bonus of me not having to drive, and so my pack included a spirit warming hip flask full of single malt whisky. I set up at a spot I've returned to several times recently, although the huge swell I'd come for failed to bring quite the excitement I'd hoped for. I'm still waiting for those big rollers to smash into the cliffs below Towanroath engine house - I'll get that shot eventually.

What the day did bring was an Atlantic hailstorm, straight at me, which found me adopting the usual stance over the tripod to protect the camera from the icy blasts that were driving in over the clifftop. At some point during these moments it occurred to me that it might be an idea to take some photographs during the hailstorm as it wasn't coming straight into the front of the lens, but from the side. As I raised my eyes to the west I could see that the sky was doing wonderful things, so even though I had no idea what the results were looking like, I trusted the camera and carried on shooting. 

And here's the result. Grimy filthy rain and hail basting in across the scene. I love it. I even love winter now. I might need to wear two coats, and even with two pairs of socks on inside my fleece lined wellies my feet were still freezing. But seriously, who cares about that when you walk back to the car with an enormous cold, wet red faced grin and a story about brutal Bella to tell?

Taken in: UK / England / St. Agnes / Towan Cross (show map)

Taken on: December 27, 2020

Tags:

Wheal Coates

Towanroath

Coast

British Coast

cornish coast

England

Kernow

Kernowfornia

storm

Bella

Storm Bella

St Agnes

Engine House

Atlantic

ocean

Sea

seascape

seaspray

rain

West Country « less

Sets appears in: • Book - Landscape • Sky Drama more » • Wheal Coates and Chapel Porth « less

Groups appears in: • Beautiful Light • Flickr Addicts more » • Amateurs • Amateur Landscape • Devon & Cornwall • * OUR WONDERFUL WORLD * • Beautiful Earth • Flickriver • Cornwall - Kernow • Beautiful British Coast • Cornwall Flickr Users • "SEASCAPE" • Flickr Social Club • Cornish Coast • Cornwalls Beauty • flickr (unofficial) • Photography Week • On Landscape • All kind of Landscapes • Amateur Photographer Magazine • Flickr Social • Flickr Photo Unlimited (No People) « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, f/9.0, 1/500 sec, 55mm, ISO 160 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens:	EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	55mm
ISO:	160
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.0 (Windows)
Show full info

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