location guide Archives - Stewart Mckeown Photography

Dec 17

by stew in location guide 0 comments tags: isle of sheppey, kent, kingsferry bridge, landscape, north kent, photography, sheppey crossing, swale

Kingsferry and Sheppey Crossing: A Tale of Two Bridges

There are two bridges built within close proximity that cross The Swale and link the Isle of Sheppey with mainland Kent. The Kingsferry bridge is the older of the two. It was built in the 1950’s and is a combined road and railway bridge with an interesting vertical-lift design for maritime traffic. This was superseded in 2006 by the Sheppey Crossing which is a has four lanes and reaches over 100+ feet in the air over the estuary. This location has become a firm favourite of mine over the past few years. Access along either side of The Swale is good which enables lots of different views of both bridges plus the surrounding low lying marshes are prone to mist and fog which make the bold bridge structures more enigmatic. Here a few of my efforts over the past few years:

Jul 25

by stew in field report, location guide, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: kent, landscape, location, north kent coast, photography, whitstable

Whitstable, West Beach

A taste of the sort of photos available at this beautiful location on North Kent coast at Whitstable, West Beach. To the west of Whitstable’s harbour is a long shingle beach known as West Beach which is as good a spot as anywhere on the North Kent coast for photography. Popular with the crowds during the day, this north westerly facing location comes into it’s own especially during a summer sunset when most people will be out of the way chilling on the beach with a beer from the Old Neptune pub. There are many subjects to shoot here but my favourite are the wildflowers that grow in the shingle and sprout out in between the various boats and kayaks left on the beach. To the far end of the beach are a row of colourful wooden beach huts. Some of these have an extravagant paint job, like this hut below which I framed in the centre of my panoramic. Near these huts is an old jetty that requires a very well-timed visit to capture the tide at the desired height. Add planning around sunset into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for a lot of failed trips..! Thanks […]

Aug 30

by stew in location guide 0 comments tags: herne bay, kent, location guide, north kent coast, photography, reculver

Reculver Location Guide

Welcome to my photography location guide for Reculver on the North Kent coast. Located a few miles away from Herne Bay, Reculver is a very small village consisting of a pub, a new coffee shop and a few hundred holiday caravans. For us photographers though the iconic twin towers of the medieval church built on the site of an early Roman fort will be the main purpose for a visit. I live in nearby Canterbury and have thousands of images taken here; it must be my most visited location. The Reculver Towers dominate the skyline for miles and so naturally they will also dominate this guide although they are other things to shoot here as you’ll see. I have split this guide into 3 sections; front of the towers, behind the towers and the other things to shoot. Front The front face of the towers can be best photographed from down on the beach. Walk westerly along the sea wall from the car park and you’ll find the small slope down onto the beach in front of the sandstone cliffs. Access is available to this section under the cliffs even at high tide but to get out […]