Thurlestone - Finally!

I’ve had the coastline around Thurlestone on my list of places to photograph for a long time. While Thurlestone isn’t particularly far away, like most places in the South Hams it’s a bit of a pain to get to. I’m happy to drive twice as far to some locations in Cornwall, but those narrow, twisty roads in the South Hams always makes the journey seem a little more of an effort.

So, when a friend and fellow photographer asked if I wanted to join him one evening for a spot of seascape photography at Thurlestone, I jumped at the chance! To hell with the twisty roads. Chat and photography would make it all worthwhile.

Thurlestone Sunset #1, South West Coast Path, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-200 f/4-6.3 at 36mm, f/8, 30 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL and ND. — **Thurlestone Sunset #1, South West Coast Path, Devon** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-200 f/4-6.3 at 36mm, f/8, 30 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL and ND.

When we arrived at the beach, I could instantly see the appeal of this location and I could understand why my friend frequented it. Due to the lack of cloud cover and the direction of the light, I had to wait till the sun was nearly set before I started capturing images I was happy with.

Thurlestone Sunset #2, South West Coast Path, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 16mm, f/11, 3 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL. — **Thurlestone Sunset #2, South West Coast Path, Devon** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 16mm, f/11, 3 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.

I’m not normally that keen on clear skies but the light was producing some lovely tones and pastel shades of colour in the sky. The main element in the compositions is of course the rocky outcrops which offered me plenty of different ways to shoot the scene.

Thurlestone Sunset #3, South West Coast Path, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/8, 15 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL and ND. — **Thurlestone Sunset #3, South West Coast Path, Devon** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/8, 15 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL and ND.

As is often the case when you visit a location for the first time you spend a lot of time changing composition, changing lenses, swapping out filters and moving to different parts of the beach. It was an exciting evening, but I also remember not being that excited by my photographs when I viewed them on the camera. It wasn’t until I got home, and I processed some of the images I took later in the evening that I realised I had some photographs I was happy with.

Thurlestone Sunset #4, South West Coast Path, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 15mm, f/8, 25 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL and ND. — **Thurlestone Sunset #4, South West Coast Path, Devon** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 15mm, f/8, 25 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL and ND.

Now that I’ve been to Thurlestone, I will most definitely be making a return.!