Millook Haven

Hi everyone, its been a while since I last posted on dyxum but I'm back, spurred on by some time off over christmas and a couple of new to me lense aquisitions! Two lenses as old as me, a minolta mc rokkor-pg 50mm 1.4 and a minolta mc tele rokkor-pf 135mm 2.8 are now in my camera bag and I'm pleasantly surprised at how good they are.

Myself and a couple of photo buddies headed out to the north cornwall coast to a place called Millook Haven.

From Wiki- In 2014 the cliffs at Millook Haven were voted by the Geological Society of London as one of Britain's top 10 geological sites, leading the "folding and faulting" category. The cliffs display an impressive series of recumbent chevron folds, in Carboniferous age killas of inter-bedded sandstones and shales, originally deposited in deep water.

1 The beach from the cliffs-



2 Rock formations heading out to stormy sea-



3 The Chevron Folds-



4 Close up-



5 Best Beach Hut in Cornwall-



6 More Huts-



7 One more-



8 As the light faded-



1,2,3,5,6,7 minolta mc rokkor 50mm 1.4
4 minolta mc tele rokkor pf 135mm 2.8
8 voightlander 21mm 3.5

Thanks for looking and any c+c welcomed.

Good to see you back in action. These scenes suit the pastel shades of winter, I've never encountered chevron folds before. A strong set but #3 stands out for me, the two figures providing a sense of scale for the massive folds and set against the contrasting tones and gentle curves of the beach.

I love the story you have told in words and images. The last, for me, is really special in that the mood and gloom of the day is presented and the composition of layering from right lower corner upwards is great (i.e., dark stone, water, dark stone, light stone, cliff). #3 is a real close second - really shows off the layers and the clincher is the sense of scale provided by the two people. If the two people's heads were not somewhat lost in the background this would be an A+ image for me (elevating the camera some more might have solved the problem but maybe you already did that - use the ladder I'm sure you had with you!    ).

Hi Simon,

Another positive vote for the whole set from me as well - I think the evenness of the light has worked really well in this situation and brings a sense of drama and atmosphere to the location as well. I'd like, perhaps, to see the colours of the folds, but the addition of the figures in #3 more than makes up for that I feel.

This has a similar 'feel' to another beach, reasonably close by, with similar inter-bedded sandstones and shales, and that of course is Hartland Quay - a much more often photographed location but with a very similar geology to the cliffs here. What this location seems to have as you show, though, is the addition of the buildings and a less rugged series of rock formations as you show us in #2 - I actually like the look and form of those rocks in the foreground and would love to take some time clambering over those looking for shapes and lines....

Good to see you posting on here again and also pleased you have a Minolta MC 135/2.8 - I had mine 'chipped' for use as an A-mount lens and I too was surprised by the quality it gave.

Take care and thanks for posting these - and somewhere else to add for a foray back down to the South West in the future!

Best regards, Neil.

Agree with all comments, I'm a fan of the perfect shutter speed for 8 As the light faded-.

Welcome to the Rokkors!, you have two good ones, the PG is the same optical formula as the 58/1.2, congrats!

good to 'see' you, Simon! glad you returned to the nest.
and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to you & yours!
what a spectacular place, your set beyond stunning- this is true eye candy!
you are making the Rokkors -congrats! :) - shine, but what really stands out, as always/IMHO, are your compo skills, turning this into, as Joe said, a real feast for the eyes. and, as Roger said, a beautiful story! love the scale in #3 and above all the sense of mystery in #8.

Beautiful set (given the weather, but this is obviously an asset, not a liability)!

The scene immediately reminded me of Menabilly Beach (between Fowey and Par) - the scene of "Rebecca"! Then I found Millook Haven on the map - and it's at a completely different locale.

I like the low angles in #2 and #8. It's probably the single beach hut in #1 and #5 which triggered the memory of Menabilly.

TFS, Simon -