A fellow photographer (named Ian, as am I) called me to ask if I'd like to make the trip to Highbridge, Somerset, UK, one evening. One evening when the tide would be coming in and we could photograph some wrecks... Well, yes please!

Now, I have been to Highbridge many times, yet had never been to this inlet which is at the end of a Cul-De-Sac off the main road. We park up and tote our gear across a small bridge over the river, clamber over some stiles and through a turn style gate then down along a raised ridge of a flood plain. Setting up tripods we begin photographing, as we wait for the waters of the Bristol Channel to rise.

At this stage the river level is still relatively low. The weather was perfect with good light even as the sun began to set. The wind though was a little on the brisk side with a cool edge to it. This cold air eventually sapped the warmth from our hands!

These were the two wrecks we'd come to photograph. One, could be forgiven, I reckoned, for initially feeling somewhat underwhelmed, or disappointed even, especially if one were expecting a shipwreck of any kind, as these were damaged and abandoned boat wrecks! Once over that preconception though, these two craft were photogenic and worth the trip.

Once set up and ready for high tide, I wandered around looking for suitable subjects, anything that caught the eye – for black & white...

... such as this metal pole. A ground anchor or mooring post, with a substantial rope attached.

...or this, substantial, reinforced concrete pillar, again with substantial rope attached.

Back to the wrecks themselves which were well out of the river and stranded up on the bank – We couldn't get that close even at low tide though as the ground is water-logged and no, we didn't take Wellies with us and that, in hind sight, was a mistake! There always next time...

Above: a wooden launch. Below: a motorboat with the right rear side missing.

And now, the tide was coming in and the river's water level was rising fast!

Then it was pretty much high tide. Though spring tides can reach higher, this tide didn't disappoint as nevertheless we are photographing from the raised bank at this point. The setting sun casts a beautiful, warm and orange glow over the scene.

The end of the day is amazing to experience at Highbridge on such an evening as this. Whether one is a photographer or otherwise. To say this photographic excursion lifted one's spirits would indeed be a huge understatement. I often think of these outings and usually at length.

Discuss...

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#Highbridge #BristolChannel #Boats #Wrecks #Spring #Photography

Severn Beach – 18th August 2022

A black and white photograph I took about an hour after high tide at Severn Beach, Bristol, UK. I'm stood on a ramp in an access point opening of the sea defense installation; looking back at the municipal waste and recycling plant at Avonmouth.

The waters of the Bristol Channel, with its average tidal rise and fall of some 8+ meters, is usually laden with silt. A lot of that silt settles out and some is always left behind as the tide recedes. There is then no beach here to speak of nor any sand – only mud.

Of course there's a little of the artist in all of us, it is said; I certainly wasn't the only one on the shoreline and the mud proved a blank canvas for someone.

Although I've no clue as to whom left their work in this patch of shore. And a shame then that the next tide will wash away such artistry: without trace. Well, I say with out trace except that...

I've taken the liberty of photographing the etching and share it here with you along with my photograph above.

#BristolChannel #SevernBeach #Mud #BlackandWhitePhotography