Not far from my base in Bournemouth Dorset was the seaside town of Swanage.  The walk around Swanage would also include some spectacular cliff side scenery and walks over undulating hills.  Swanage would be my next walk in Dorset.

Exploring Swanage

I was using the AA 50 walks in Dorset as my guide.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning early July when I visited the Purbeck Coast. Due to the good weather I was expecting lots of people especially the leg that took you into the town of Swanage and along the pier.  What I not know was it was the last day of the Purbeck Pirate Festival centered on the pier in Swanage.   So lots and lots of people getting in the way of a good photo.

The walk started on the cliff next to Durlston Castle and Durlston head with nice views across Durlston Bay.  The above shot through the trees of Durlston bay was handheld.  Post processing I should have removed the leaf coming in from the top, but this image was not submitted to Shutterstock.  But gives you a good idea of the stunning views that the Dorset coastline is famous for.

Walking along the cliff edge could not help but notice the flowers and the butterflies.  Have to change camera settings to capture some macro shots of wildlife.

Following the south west coast path to Round Down of the Durlston Country Park.  And then following the path through the nature reserve and into the town of Swanage.

What a beautiful day, fantastic views all around, feels really good to be alive.  On glorious days like this its great to have hobbies like landscape photography and walking.

Around Swanage itself there was a lot of people due to the pirate festival but the plus of this lots of hot dogs on sale with onions so I indulged a little to compensate for all that walking and healthy stuff I had been doing.

The above photo across Swanage bay taken from the Pier is the one that is selling on Shutterstock.  Its never clear what is the money shot on a day out like around Swanage.  But people seem to like bright and sunny which is not the ideal time for classic landscape photography.

You know its been a good day when back home your legs are aching and you have taken over a 100 landscape photos that you now have to sit down and process with Lightroom.

Check out my Dorset landscape photography Portfolio as hosted on Shutterstock where you can download high resolution images.