The July sun was raging and in a moment of madness I decided to head to Lulworth Cove on the Dorset coast on a Saturday afternoon maybe hoping to stick around for a sunset.

Lulworth Car Parking nightmares

The car park at Lulworth cove was overflowing but managed to find a parking space and then joined the queue for the pay and display meter.  I not put enough money in and only had a few hours.  This always ruins a good walk and landscape photography shoot, constantly checking your watch to get back in time.

On the ground around Lulworth there was people everywhere, day visitors and tourists.  The carpark sits between two of Dorsets most iconic scenary Lulworth Cove itself and over the hill Durdle door which I also intended to visit.

I skirted the cliffs of Lulworth bay looking for good angles for some landscape photos.  It was a hot and very bright day, I had a tripod but not use it just hand holding the camera.

Handholding the Camera

When handholding my camera I set to aperture priority mode and F/8 with auto ISO.  On a bright day ISO will rarely go above 100-200 even with a polariser on.  Its not necessary to use F/8 when focusing on far subjects.  With aperture priority and zooming in, the shutter speed will always be greater than the focal length even if this means the ISO is increased.

I always flip the image stabilisation switch on my lens when handholding.  All this has to be undone when then setting the camera upon a tripod.  Even in the bright light of midday I always feel my handheld shots are inferior to those taken using a tripod and optimum settings but handholding is alot more flexible and freeform.

It makes a perfect little cove for mooring your pleasure boat or yatch if you are lucky enough to own one.

Towards Bindon Hill

After Lulworth I made my way towards to the peak of Bindon hill which is another army range only open weekends.  Bindon Hill is a lot more remote, alot less visitors and a lot more peaceful.

Due to my parking constraint I was running out of time so had to head back to the cove.  I headed down to the pebble beach and got a few shots from this parallel level.

I intended to return soon to Lulworth cove but next time I would head over the hill to Durdle Door, it has to be done.  I consoled my parking mistake with a pint of ale stopping off on the way back to Bournemouth.

Check out my Dorset Landscape photography portfolio where you can download images in full resolution.