Porth Kidney Sands, Cornwall

In October 22 I decided to get up early and to talk a walk down to our local beach from the the place in Cornwall. The beach is Porth Kidney, just a short wander from Lelant, on the St Micheal’s Way pilgrimage. The beach is overlooked by St Uny Church the start point of St Micheal’s way and as such is the only official British start of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

I was up at around half 5, packed up my gear and set off in the dark before a peak of the sun above the horizon.   The dog and I (more of him later) headed down the dark path, lit only by head torch, the stars just starting to disappear.  When the tide is out, you can walk the path from the church down the steps to the beach, but in high tide you have to scramble down the dunes, which isn’t much of a problem.  Today the tide was out, but we went the long way round to the top of the dunes to see if we could get any shots from the dunes across the the famous 3 mile sands and Godrevy lighthouse .  Although clear skies and decent visibility, I couldn’t find the right shot so scrambled down the dunes to the beach. 

When the tide is out at Porth Kidney Sands, the beach extends for hundreds of metres into the sea.  The dog and I headed right out to try some long exposure shots in the morning hazy not yet up light. 

This was the opportunity for my first photo.  We came across one of the channel markers used to guide boats safely into Hayle harbour.  At low tide they’re leaning thin towers offering a stark contrast to their surroundings, topped with a glowing green light.   The sun not yet up but the sky starting to brighten, I tried some long exposures to capture the movement of the sea behind, with Godrevy and the headland in the background.  The low light allowed me to slow the shutter speed right down to 2 seconds.  The still pools of sea water left by the receding tide added interest to the foreground.  

With the sun starting to come up behind me over the nearby town of Hayle, I decided to take further advantage of the pools of sea water for my next shot.

I’m a big believer in adding interest in the foreground when taking landscape photos. I set my tripod up on the knobbly beach and framed with cliffs of Porth Kidney on the right with the dunes of Hayle Beach on the left, looking up the Estuary towards Hayle with the sea behind me. The sun was starting to peak over the Hayle Beach dunes and I centered the image on the Estuary winding down from a hazy Hayle Harbour. The detail of the sand is just visible beneath the still pool of sea water.

My third shot was from pretty much the same spot, just as I was packing away my tripod to explore more locations. I turned to watch the sunrise over Hayle Beach’s dunes, the dog was sitting patiently waiting while I faffed around with camera gear.

Whilst not what I got up early for, I couldn’t resist getting down low and snapping a photo on a faster shutter speed with the rising sun directly behind him. He looks more angelic than he is… He’s definitely wondering why I’m not playing with him in his favourite place, a Cornish beach. Three photos in pretty much the same spot!

As I headed back round the duney cliffs of Porth Kidney to head home, early morning dog walkers had started to make their way down to the beach. A swimmer was braving a dip, being taken down the rapid stream of the Estuary, before climbing out, walking back up the beach, and doing it all again. We said a cheery good morning, sharing some kind of shared purpose at the break of dawn. A final shot of the vivid green moss on the rocks and Hayle Harbour at Sunrise before heading back for a cup of coffee. Not a bad way to spend a morning.

OS Reference: SW 54725 38245