Cows, coast and Colmer’s
Neil Barnes writes of his love of West Dorset
Published in October ’18
I celebrated forty years this August as a professional photographer, having worked mainly in the press and PR sectors. Latterly, though, I turned my lens to the West Dorset coast and countryside.
Inspiration, photographically speaking, is everywhere and in this corner of Dorset it is in abundance, whether of the four-legged variety or the ‘three-tree hill’ as many visitors to the area call Colmer’s Hill, or a single monolithic cliff on the Jurassic Coast.
Living in Bridport, I fortunately don’t have to travel far to photograph these disparate but iconic views in this beautiful county. West Bay’s East Cliff is best captured with raging seas in the early morning as the sun rises over Chesil Beach. Incredibly atmospheric light and spray combine to make a captivating and exhilarating scene that makes me want to come back time and time again.
Colmer’s Hill is an incongruous conical shape with a tuft of trees standing proud amongst the misty hollows in the autumn and spring, or captured with the sun setting directly behind (trying to photograph that one is not good for the eyes). Possibly one of the most photographed, sketched, painted and revered hills in the country, it is, like West Bay, eye- and mouth-wateringly photogenic.
And then there are the cows: occasionally intimidating, mostly calm and benign but always interested in what you’re doing. They are curious cows – or nosey cows as I call them – and very lovable.
Neil can regularly be found behind his market stall on Saturday in Bridport’s East Street, but also has outlets in Crewkerne & West Bay.
www.neilbarnes.com
St Catherine’s Chapel and Portland, taken from
Abbotsbury Hill after a long dry spell. I love the gorgeous colours in this.
I had this shot of high tide at sunset on Hive Beach, Burton Bradstock, planned for nearly a year, because there is a window of only about two weeks when the sun sets in this direction. I had several near-misses before everything came together; the hardest part was getting a clear sky with the sun going down.
Success while on rainbow watch is a very rewarding goal and I’ve been successful a few times now. This is a favourite, not just because it’s a best-seller but because of the perseverance needed. Getting soaked as the rain shower came through over me, all the while hoping the sun would come out, gave me a glorious double rainbow over the cliffs and beach at West Bay.
Just a few hours old, these lambs were photographed at Abbotsbury. I was very pleased when these two went almost nose to nose like a mirror and knew I had ‘the shot’ as soon as they did it.
The best sunset I’ve ever seen, sun rays apparently emanating from Colmer’s Hill. I couldn’t believe my luck when this started and I’m sure I was the only one to get it in this way.
I call this the Nosey Parkers. Taken through the bars of a gate with a fish-eye lens, they are cows from the Ashley Chase Estate, near Abbotsbury.
Taken from Eype Down. I had to lie on the ground to get this shot and had it planned for several months to use as a front-page picture for my Bridport calendar.
A huge Atlantic storm rolls through West Bay. I had to sit on the ground on West Cliff with an arm through a bench support to brace myself against the buffeting wind. This was one of very few shots I managed to get without camera shake.
Also taken from Eype Down. I had to hang around for nearly two hours waiting for the mist to clear and show the top of Colmer’s Hill – but it was worth the wait.
