During recent travels, I spent a few days enjoying the delights of North Devon. The undoubted highlight was a visit to beautiful Lynmouth.

Picture postcard perfect, Lynmouth.

I like to think that I take ‘thinking man’s holiday snaps‘! Photography is just so easy these days, but more of a discipline is getting into the habit of switching on your brain before clicking the shutter! In this pleasant shot, I waited patiently for a man leaning on the pub sign to move and carefully cropped off a row of cars. The result is an unspoiled shot, which I am happy to put in my photo album.

Dramatic views from the cliff railway.

Arriving at the village is most likely to be via the Victorian water/gravity operated cliff railway. Contrasting sunshine and shade and a hazy background made a little photo editing necessary here.

Well polished brass on the brake wheel caught my eye.

Setting out to record the sights, boats in the harbour were an obvious starting point for my camera. With the tide out, whilst mud isn’t pretty, it does allow the shapely curves of the boats and criss crossing of chains to be better appreciated.

Lynmouth harbour minus water.

Mediterranean feel.

I used the zoom to capture this simple nicely lit shot below, of an ornate streetlamp and palm leaves. Always look for some less obvious shots. A small aperture helped it stand out from the background.

Dramatic North Devon coastline.

Still on the subject of streetlamps, I used them to different effect  in this shot illustrating the hazy plunging cliffs framing Lynmouth. The lamps give depth, additional interest and a sense of scale to an otherwise ‘flat’ shot. I chose to crop off the foreground full of people, benches, bins and a beach without sea.

I tried black & white as there was little colour worth preserving.

‘Dead centre’ of the village at Lynton!

Neighbouring Lynton, at the top of the hill, was also a pretty village worth photographing. Who would have thought of incorporating gravestones in the forground? Nice colour contrasts and sky feature strongly.

Rolling green hills and lots of trees.

Even photos through a moving coach window, can sometimes work (the purists cringe!). I wanted to grab something to illustrate the landscape on route to my next location, Ilfracombe…

Ilfracombe’s picturesque harbour from above.

At Ilfracombe, I discovered two very different faces; the picturesque harbour and the rather tired resort town centre up the hill from it. I’m sure I found the best viewpoint, with the unattractive sprawling and untidy town centre behind me.

Harbourside view.

This was my best attempt at making a ‘ground level’ view of the harbour more interesting by adding foreground interest with the stacks of crab pots on the quayside.

 

Bideford Bridge.

At Bideford, the old and very long bridge across the River Torridge is probably the most (and perhaps only) photogenic landmark and dusk is a wonderful time to take pictures like this. The bridge’s lighting reflect beautifully and there are lovely deep blues in the sky and river.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief tour of North Devon. More Photographer’s Ramblings coming soon!…