Combe Martin

This images was captured on a relatively mild February day (at one point we were actually perspiring – or, in Sue’s case, glowing) in the wonderful company of Adam Burton.

Combe Martin is a location overflowing with geological wonders. Shark fin shaped rocks compete with one another to be the tallest and sharpest, while at high tide great stacks and rock falls collude to make an adventure out of an exploration of the bay. But perhaps Combe Martin’s most striking geological feature are the strata that twist and turn in the cliff faces overlooking the bay. To the geologist’s trained eye these folds, formed of limestone, sandstone and mudstone, recall articulately a chapter in the story of the planet. To the layman it is spectacular evidence of the dramatic and formative forces that have helped to shape our world.

Photographically Combe Martin has almost too many rocks. For an East Anglian the words “too”, “many” and “rocks” are usually preceded by the words “you can never have”. But Combe Martin is a location where the challenge is to assemble the rocks into some form of compositional order. The ND filter, used to balance the exposure between the foreground and sky, has darkened the distant cliff, but this is not an issue as the aim was to capture the interaction between the water movement and the rocks.

Canon EOS 5D and EF 16-35mm lens.

Exposure of 2 seconds at f/18.