field report Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Stewart Mckeown Photography

Kent Coast and Landscape Photography

Jan 01

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: aonb, fog, kent, kent downs, landscape, mist, photography, summerhouse hill

Behind the shot: A Kent Downs Cloud Inversion

Behind the scenes look at a photograph I took at the beginning of December 2019 on the Kent Downs. As I write this on New Year’s Eve, there has not been much winterly weather so far here in Kent with the only real spell of cold weather occurring at the start of the month. This brief 3-day spell did produce some fantastic mist and frost though which I am always keen to make use of in my landscape photography. I have been shooting this area of the Kent Downs nr Folkestone quite a bit over the past couple of years and I had a list of the views I wanted to capture in the forecasted cold snap. The first shot I got on that initial cold morning was this panoramic from Farthing Common. I could see the landscape was covered in a frost as I passed in the car and with sunrise only a few minutes away I decided to grab this rather than risk missing out around the corner. The next morning had very similar conditions. Low winds and low temperatures overnight is usually a good indicator for mist but again it did not occur on the Downs. Perhaps […]

Nov 08

by stew in field report, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: dungeness, fishing boat, kent, landscape, romney marsh

behind the shot – dungeness fishing boat

Dungeness is a vast shingle headland located on the tip of Romney Marsh in Kent. The abandoned fishing boats and huts of Dungeness’ fishing past are popular subjects for photographers and I am no different. I have been visiting here for years, often coming in bad and changeable weather to utilise another of the locations best features; its huge skies! On my more recent trips, I have been focussing on the small fleet of charter fishing boats that are still in use here. These well maintained, colourful boats are often in prime unobstructed positions on the very edge of the shingle heaps next to the coast. I took this above shot in November 2018. It had been a clear, bitterly cold and windy day. As the day came to an end, I made my way to the fishing boats where I spotted potential in the incoming clouds to the south. As I made my way there I kept stopping to take a shot as the light changed. These shots below show my attempts to make sense of the scene with these improving conditions. By the time I made it up close to the boat I was buzzing as I found […]

Nov 07

by stew in field report, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: behind the shot, broadstairs, kent coast, thanet

behind the shot – viking bay tidal pool

There are numerous tidal pools on the Isle of Thanet in Kent which are fun to photograph. This paddling pool off of the Broadstairs coast at Viking Bay is one of the more innocuous ones and is very easy to pass by as it gets completely submerged at high tide. I first set my sights on photographing this scene because of the interesting shapes to use. The symmetry of the pool with the two little blocks that stick out make it unique and the position of the sea post beyond is an important compositional element too. I did my research and I found that the ideal tidal range looked to be an hour or so before/after high tide. This would reveal the outline shape of the pool and the top of the larger rocks in front whereas at low tide the extra features can look cluttered and distracting. The view faces east which is ideal for sunrise but it would make planning for this shot that little bit harder and uncertain. See the images below..! On the morning that this shot was made the light and tides had coincided nicely. There was the right amount of cloud to hold in […]

Dec 01

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: fog, kent downs, mist, postling

Postling: The 23rd of January Trilogy

Postling is pretty village nestled in the Kent Downs near the coastal towns of Folkestone and Hythe. From the church it’s just a short but steep walk up on to the surrounding ridge that enables marvellous views of the Kent countryside all the way to the Channel. This is a shot from one of my first visits in early Autumn. I liked this angle of the church with the wooded ridge in the distance acting as a counterweight. I like the way the light tinges the trees but the Sun is at the wrong angle to highlight the church and it gets lost because of this. If only we had some mist to isolate the spire I thought… I’ve found mist on the downs to be rather elusive over the years. I’ve been disappointed many times when a good looking forecast has come to nothing but as Joe Cornish says, to be a landscape photographer you must be an optimist so it was with this attitude that I set my alarm to get up early on the 23rd January 2014. As I made my way along Stone Street in the […]

Apr 13

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: kent, kent downs, photography, snow, winter

Snow Day 2018

Welcome! In this blog I’ll be going over what I did during the recent snow spell on the Kent Downs. According to my Lightroom catalogue, there hadn’t been a sustained period of snow in Kent that I could get out to photograph since 2013. Shortly afterwards I remember writing a list of all the places I should visit next time to fully make use of the fluffy white stuff. Good planning, except that 5 years later when the list could finally be utilised, we got so much snow that the locations were inaccessible anyway! So, on the morning of the 27th February I wasn’t left with much choice where to visit. I decided to go to the nearby Chartham Downs as I knew the area well and I was fairly sure I could get there safely. On arrival the layby I usually park in looked like a disaster waiting to happen so I had to park at the end of the road and make the walk through the fields to get to the spot I had in mind. It was a bit of a slog as you can see from the video On route through the […]

Mar 07

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: dungeness, greatstone, kent, kent coast

Greatstone to Dungeness Day Trip

Thanks for visiting and reading my write-up of a recent dawn to dusk photo trip. I’ve included the best photos from the day which started in Greatstone and ended in Dungeness as well as my favourites from earlier trips to give readers a more rounded view of the locations. Hope you enjoy..! Greatstone is a coastal village on Romney Marsh which I like to visit for it’s sand dunes. The dunes are not as tall as those found at nearby Camber Sands but it is a much quieter and more peaceful location. The beach faces due east so it is a perfect sunrise spot all year round and therefore an ideal place to start this morning. I arrived before dawn, hopeful of a colourful sunrise like the one I encountered above on a previous trip. That morning was also quite special because of the ‘sandblasted’ beach caused by the receding tide, I haven’t come across this again. The sunrise on this Saturday morning however was one of those ‘nothing special’ occasions. I used this time instead to test out my new 2x teleconverter for my 70-200 lens by looking south towards Dungeness. Unfortunately most of these shots […]

Jan 14

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: field report, folkestone, kent, kent coast

Folkestone Photographic Guide

Folkestone is an increasingly popular town on the East Kent coast which I have visited many times and so I thought I would share my tips for any visiting photographer. The main areas can be broken down into three sections; the harbour arches at Sunny Sands the harbour arm and lighthouse The harbour The rows of brightly coloured fishing boats in the harbour can make for an attractive shot from either direction. My favourite image here was taken just after sunrise with the old railway bridge which intersects the harbour beautifully side lit by golden light. The harbour can completely empty out at low tide which is something to beware of if you are interested in shooting reflections. Blue hour shots can also work well here using the illuminated town and seafront restaurants in the background. Arches at Sunny Sands beach The arches underneath the promenade on Sunny Sands beach are ideal for when the weather or light is not the best. Typical shots include shooting through the gaps to show the arches fade off into infinity, also shooting out to sea towards the harbour arm can work well. The […]

Oct 23

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: borrowdale, castle crag, cumbria, derwent water, hallin fell, lake district, latrigg, tewet tarn

Lake District Autumn 2017

Welcome to this little blog/debrief about my latest trip away to The Lake District. This is my fourth trip here in 5 years. I have been hooked on the place ever since me and my girlfriend drove up from Kent in the Summer of 2013 to camp under the Langdale Pikes. We have since swapped the tent for a cottage in Keswick which has been a good base to explore from. Autumn does bring with it much more rain but generally the conditions are better suited to photography. My plan for this trip was to explore a bit more and to visit new locations rather than to revisit old ones. If the weather did not play ball at least I would have more knowledge to call upon when I came back. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and after the long drive we were in need of a little leg stretch but nothing too taxing. Latrigg which overlooks Keswick was the ideal first location of the holiday. I had not been up here before, although I had seen a lot of images from the viewpoint at the top so I knew I could ease myself into the trip with […]

Oct 18

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: blog, blue hour, dusk, kent, kent coast, margate, photography, reflections, twilight

Margate Seafront: In pursuit of perfect reflections

I thought I’d share with you my pursuit of the above shot taken on Margate seafront at dusk. Those familiar with the area will know there is a small bathing pool on the beach that you can walk along at all but the highest tides which is where I (eventually) got these reflections. It did take me a few dedicated trips though to find it myself, as in the past I have tended to neglect Margate for the nearby beaches in Broadstairs which I am slowly correcting. When I did finally explore one evening I found my way to the pool just a bit too late and with the wind slightly too strong for mirror-like reflections but the game was on. Over the next weeks and months I kept an eye on the forecast waiting for an evening with very low wind. With the location being quite exposed on the coast, these conditions didn’t occur that often and even when they were forecast to, the slightest side wind would make things ‘interesting’..! I was quite happy with these results but I would need to go back again for the panoramic view of the seafront. Shooting […]

Jan 26

by stew in field report 0 comments tags: bamburgh, budle bay, castle, field trip, holy island, landscape, lighthouse, lindisfarne, north-east, northumberland, photography, scottish borders, st abbs

North-East Photography Trip Report

I’ve just returned from the best part of a week away in Bamburgh, Northumberland. This is my second Winter photo trip after escaping to the epic West Cornwall coast last year. I like going away at this time of year as there are less people about so you’ll often have the place to yourself, accomodation is much cheaper and the coast can be wild and stormy; my favourite. Day 1 I arrived shortly after dusk and checked into the Victoria Hotel in Bamburgh. I set out to quickly gather my bearings and look around the village which consisted of a couple hotels and shops. The castle dominates the view, in its size and the fact it was the only thing lit up at night. The rest of the village was in pitch blackness which is not quite what I’m used to in Kent. I began to walk along The Wynding but I was unprepared to exploring in the dark so I turned back although the sound of the coast was impressive and wet my appetite for the following morning. Day 2 One shot I was keen to get while on this trip was of Bamburgh Castle reflected in the […]

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