As a landscape photographer I'm extremely lucky to live in the south west of the UK. Even if I didn't have Exmoor and Dartmoor, I would still have over 630 miles of the South West Coast Path to photograph. With so much to choose from I couldn't possibly pick a favourite location, but when it comes to Trevose Head, I'd have to say it's up there in my top 10 Cornish coastal locations to photograph.

So what makes Trevose Head so special? Well, for me it's the drama of the location. It's got the lighthouse perched on a cliff edge, the rocky inlet where the waves come crashing in and it makes for a great sunset location just about all year round. And did I mention you can drive within 200m of the best spot to shoot from?

On the downside it is very exposed and getting blasted by rain, wind and sea spray isn't to be unexpected, so sometimes it's nice to have the car nearby after you've been battered by the elements!

If this sounds like the kind of location you might want to photograph, why not check out my 5 Minute Photo Adventure video below:

Padstow Lifeboat Station

As I showed in the video, the lighthouse isn't the only spot to photograph at Trevose Head. Located not farm from the lighthouse is Padstow Lifeboat station. As you can see on the map below both locations are close together and so if you have time it's worth visiting.

This was my first time visiting the lifeboat station. I remembered it after looking at the area on my custom Google Map while I was wondering about. It's not that easy to photograph if you want to include the surrounding elements such as the stairs down to the entrance, but with the right lens and a bit of moving about, a good image can be made.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 22mm, ISO 100, 30 seconds, f/13, Lee Filters circular polariser, Little Stopper and ND grad.

Trevose Head Lighthouse

Though the forecast for Trevose Head was to be for relatively clear skies, as you can see from my first image this wasn't exactly the case.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35 f/4 at 19mm, ISO 100, 2 seconds, f/11, Lee Filters circular polariser, 3 stop ND and ND grad.

While I do like this image what I was really hoping for was for some golden light from the setting sun (off to the left) to illuminate the rock faces. This would have really lifted the tone of the image. However, sometimes you just have to work with the light you have so I decided to adopt a slightly different style.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 31mm, ISO 100, 25 seconds at f/11.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 at 30mm, ISO 100, 121 seconds at f/11.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 at 30mm, ISO 100, 5 seconds at f/11.

By embracing the grey and opting for longer exposures I was able to create a set of darker and moodier images. I also varied the exposure times by choosing different ND filters. The longer exposures allowed the crashing waves to paint white lines and create shapes on the image.

I'll be back...

Though I didn't manage to create the image I had planned for I still came away with some images that I'm very happy with. I also got a chance to to photograph Padstow Lifeboat station, so it was good to get two locations for the price of one! One thing is for sure, I'll be heading back to Trevose Head again in the near future.

So have you been inspired to visit Trevose Head? Have you photographed this location before? Let me know in the comments below.