Click here to see complete photograph: Lifeguard on Duty by Andreas Klatt
In March, Robert Harvey gave a talk entitled ‘By The Sea’, and began by explaining that his early childhood attraction to the seashore led to his becoming a Coastal Scientist, and that although Great Britain has a coastline of 11,073 miles, this depends upon which map scale is used: the larger the map scale, the more inlets and bays are recorded! His beautifully photographed coastal features ranged from Sussex to Isle of Skye, and Lundy Isle to Norfolk.
When visiting a particular coastal area, Robert planned well ahead, using tide tables and a sun rose (i.e., a chart showing sunrise and sunset at different times of the year). Cliff features at dawn and sunset were stunning. Very clearly his photo trips were down to meticulously planning ahead to coincide with the tidal situation, the sun positions and lighting level on the date in question. The day of the year is important in using the angle of the sun to highlight certain features of places such as Lulworth Cove, Beachy Head or Dunvegan Castle.
The second half of his talk covered man-made features such as sea defences, military buildings and lighthouses. Creative use of angle of view and light produced good shots of breakwater and old wooden groyne installations standing at odd angles. More sombre and thoughtful were the derelict military buildings near Orford Ness.
Robert’s concluding pictures were dramatic shots of storms along the South Coast and the Gower Peninsula in the winter of 2013/14. Robert revealed he always uses a tripod, AE and 100 ISO exposure setting, and often uses ND Grad filters to slow the motion of waves and produce atmospheric mood shots. The membership showed their appreciation with a loud round of applause.
Paul Brewerton