Paul Corica - Northumberland Photographs

Alnmouth Beach on a cold Thursday mid-December afternoon is very deserted - ideal for photographing sand without footprints. I liked this large piece of driftwood because it's branch seemed to signaling to me that everything was "okay".

I seem to have had a dolerite obsession on a recent trip to Northumberland.

Dolerite is not the the most abundant rock in Northumberland (that would be sandstone) but it forms some of the most interesting locations within Northumberland. This is because either castles/priories/walls have been erected on top of it or gradual weathering over many centuries has caused chunks of rock to be taken out of exposed sections of dolerite cliffs which have been smoothed by the sea's relentless action, making for interesting foreground detail.

Just in front of the dolerite cliffs you can see a sandstone bed dipping into the sea at an angle of about 30 degrees. Just to the left of this scene is a flat sandstone bed with boulders either side and sandstone cliffs to the left. Somehow wave action has led to what seems like a naturally made path down to the water's edge (see picture below). Nature never fails to surprise me.

I find it waste when we visit Northumberland if we don't get a chance to visit the beautiful sandy bay at Embleton and the castle at Dunstanburgh.

The foreground rocks have been formed in exactly the same way as the rocks in the previous picture at Cullernose Point and the cliffs here look very similar in shape and form.

Also on knoll
http://knol.google.com/k/paul-corica/a-photographers-guide-to-the-geology-of/1a77n6ckjomou/7#view

This was the first shot of the day when there was very little light. The exposure is 30secs at an aperture of f22, giving the misting effect on the waves and movement in the clouds.

No HDR this time, so I've made two conversions of the raw file - one exposed for the sky and the other for the rocks - and blended them together in photoshop using a layer mask and the gradient tool. To get to Dunstanburgh, park the car in Craster and take the signposted coastal walk to the castle, which is about 1.5 miles out of Craster.

Taken on one of those days where the weather doesn't quite know whether it wants to completely cloud over or clear up and give us some brilliant sunshine.

The Farne Islands, as a group, represent the Eastern most exposed section of a doleritic dyke known as The Great Whin Sill. Although it doesn't look it because of the low angle there is a distance of 2.5km between the foreground rocks and the lighthouse. I've written some more about this dyke and its origins which can be read here knol.google.com/k/paul-corica/a-photographers-guide-to-th... for those that are interested.

The lighthouses running along the Farne Islands are vital to shipping because in addition to the exposed outcrops there are many other parts of The Great Whin Sill just lurking beneath the waves.

On our way home from Skye we broke the journey up and stayed over in North Berwick. We decided on North Berwick after watching an episode of Coast (a BBC documentary on the coastline of Britain). This particular episode had a feature on Bass Rock, which is the object on the right side of the horizon. The Rock stands over 100 m high; is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in its own right, due to its Gannet colony and is sometimes called "the Ailsa Craig of the East". The Rock also has a lighthouse constructed on it, which can't be seen on this photo.

The larger island on the left of the horizon is Craigleith which is home to a puffin colony.

On a walk between Bamburgh and Seahouses we were greeted by this rather strange sight. I've taken this walk many times over the last 20 years. Not once have I noticed this rusting relic. Perhaps this is because it has only recently been washed up. Or, perhaps I've only done this walk at high tide. However, I think it's much more probable that this feature has been here for at least the last 20 years and I've just walked straight past it at low tide without ever giving it a second thought.

Only now, after 20 years, has this feature even registered in my brain. So what's changed? I'm sure it has to be the photography. Since taking a more serious interest I now find my attention instantly being drawn to such features, or to interesting skies or striking patterns in the rocks.

These days a walk along the beach takes a lot longer than it used to, but the pleasure we get from soaking in more of of the detail makes the additional time invested worth it. This photo has notes. Move your mouse over the photo to see them.