Dungeness

Dungeness, where this shot was taken, is a strangely beautiful place and a great photo location. I visit whenever I am down that way. My last visit was just before Christmas on a beautiful but bitingly cold morning with wind howling across the shingle making it feel even colder. We were forced to adjourn to a pub to get out of the wind and have a hot drink. As we came out into the cold I heard the snap and crackle of washing blowing on a line. At the back of the pub I found this scene - a line of washing blown almost horizontal by the gale, distant bungalows and a strange little sculpture. A scene so typical of this place. My Website Getty Images.

There have been five lighthouses built at Dungeness, the first, which was nothing more than an elevated wood burning brazier, being erected in 1615. Two remain. The older one, pictured above, was completed in 1904 and remained in use until 1961 even though it was, by then, 500m from the High Water Mark and the light was partially obscured by the nearby power station. The new lighthouse was completed in 1961 and is pictured below. It was converted to automatic operation in 1991. Its light is visible from a range of 21 miles.

I was "brought up" on black & white photography and still almost automatically consider processing all my images as monochromes though very few actually end up in black & white. This shot is an exception in that I envisaged it in B&W when I took it. I was shooting the boardwalk when this lady, who was walking along the skyline, turned onto the boardwalk and, in what passes for my brain, the final image snapped into focus. I wish all my photography could be that easy! My Website Getty Images.

Somehow, all the rubbish and paraphernalia adds to the scene here. My Website Getty Images.

And it did! My Website Getty Images.

Just dashing back to the car to avoid the rain when the clouds parted and a sunbeam shone down on the lighthouse. Had to grab a quick shot! My Website Getty Images.