Friday 20 May 2016

Little Dennis Blockhouse - Photography Week 4 & 18 (2016)

Little Dennis Blockhouse is right at the tip of Pendennis Point in Falmouth and dates from the mid- 16th century. It is part of the wider fortifications established by Henry VIII to protect the Fal estuary (1,2).

During both World Wars Pendennis played a key role in coast artillery defence with long range radar-controlled attacks against enemy ships during WWII (3).

The position of the blockhouse (4) makes it a good subject for sunrise photography. My first attempt was in January and whilst I liked the light and the colour I found that I was unable to prevent the building cutting across the coast at St Mawes. Also at the key moment of capture a chap decided to stand on the rocks and take his own sunrise pictures:




There is not a lot that can be done about people walking into the shot. Those that are aware tend to think they are outside of the camera's field of vision but a wide angles lens can capture an arc of about 100 degrees. It can be annoying particularly early in the morning!

Getting the composition right is a matter of preparation and time. To avoid the issue of St Mawes in the background I needed to change the shooting angle. I looked for a vantage point that would give an open sea view and then checked the sun's movement over time using TPE (5).

During May the sun rises broadly over St Mawes and this provides side lighting on the blockhouse and a good view out to sea. The earlier time for dawn also means there is less chance of people getting in the way. These were the results:



Remnants of 20th century defences are evident in both shooting directions. These are mostly concrete platforms and gun emplacements. From a landscape photography point of view I can't totally decide whether these are interesting or ugly features:









(1) http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-460094-little-dennis-blockhouse-pendennis-castl#.Vz8Q-cuTVjs

(2) http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/pendennis-castle/history/

(3) http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/pendennis-castle/   - see the expanded timeline and an illustration of the WWII defences.

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockhouse

(5) http://photoephemeris.com/ - The Photographer's Ephemeris - an indispensable tool for the landscape photographer. It shows the angle of sun both at sunrise and sunset on any given day.



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