14/06/2026
Watchet, Hook & Chain
The weather turned this weekend, so my planned adventure into the Welsh mountains was scrubbed, and an alternative destination was found at the eleventh hour.
A 01:30 start and a drive down the M5 saw us arrive in Watchet just before 4am, ready for sunrise. As with most last-minute changes of plan, I wasn't entirely sure what, if anything, there was to photograph here. However, while wandering around in the morning twilight, I found a couple of compositions that I thought might work.
It soon became apparent that the south-westerly wind blowing in from the Bristol Channel was arriving at quite a rate of knots. Keeping the camera stable—even on a tripod—proved to be a challenge, especially when working with exposure times measured in seconds rather than fractions of a second.
This image, Hook & Chain, was one of those photographs. There was something about the weathered ironwork, shaped by decades of salt, weather and function, that seemed to capture the character of the harbour perfectly.
Sometimes the best images come not from meticulous planning, but from adapting to whatever conditions the morning decides to throw at you.
As dawn progressed and the sun climbed above the horizon, the wind eased a little, making it easier to explore the harbour and find subjects that caught my eye, I'll save those images for another day.
