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Welcome to mydigitaleye - Ian Alcock Dorset Landscape Photographer

Dorset Book 2012 Competition Winner !!!

I actually won the competition and still can't believe it, as so many good images were entered this year by other strong contenders. I'm off up to Castle Cameras in Bournemouth to receive my prize and have my picture taken for the local papers... much happier behind the camera.  I love Castle Cameras as always give me a good deal and have bought most of my camera equipment from them.

Many thanks to all those people who voted.

Osmington Mills Sunrise, Dorset.

A stormy day that looked like it may clear towards sunset, so I took a chance and made my way down to Chesil Beach. As I was setting up the cloud cover started to clear and and I waited for the sun to start to disapear below the horizon. This not only prevented lens flare but also illuminated the cloud cover above me, in a way all photographers dream of. I also wanted the light levels to drop low enough to use my chosen aperture/shutter speed combination to capture the energy in the breaking waves - fast enough to capture the shape of the waves, yet blur the motion slightly to create a feeling of movement... a fine balance. In the distance you can just make out local fisherman setting up for the night and hopefully a good evenings catch.

Dorset Book 2012 Competition

I'm excited now as made it through to the final 5 of the Dorset Book 2012 competition.  This is run by the local papers and readers were invited to submit their best images of Dorset.  I didn't give them my best as suspect the main point of the competition is to fill the Newspapers image library for free and they can publish them in the paper and other publications in the NewsQuest group for free, but wanted to enter something... all positive publicity is good publicity so hoped for the best and bingo!!.

I was notified yesterday that I'd made the final 5 and the finalists were printed in last nights newspaper and now over to the readers to vote for their favourite.

If you have the time please vote by phone: 0901 151 0327 (50p) or Text: BOOK 0327 to 80360


Many thanks for your support.

Osmington Mills Sunrise, Dorset.

Sunset across Durdle Door Bay, Dorset.

 A strong sea mist had drifted in by the time I reached Durdle Door, and a few photographers were heading back home telling me "there's nothing to see but mist today". I then sprinted to the beach to set up in time for the sun going down, as the potential for something special happening in the mist was too much to ignore. The scene in these conditions could almost be from the other side of the world rather than Dorset. This was the first frame I fired after quickly setting up and the next frames then lost the beautiful glow of the sun as it seemed to be quickly extinguished by the bank of mist closing in. The rocks in the bay all have names, starting with 'The Bull' in the foreground, then 'The Blind Cow', 'The Cow' and finally 'The Calf'.

West Weares, Portland, Dorset

A lovely evening spent watching the tide come in and the sun go down.  West Weares is at the bottom of Portland along from Chiswell, which is great for sunsets and getting amongst the rocks.  I did get my feet wet as I wanted to get my tripod right at the waters edge and the tide was slowly creeping in around the rock I was standing on, but my boots proved to be as waterproof as advertised so no soggy socks to walk home in.

Early Morning on Portland Bill, Dorset

Taken about 15 minutes after Sunrise on Portland Bill. Tide was close to high tide and I've tried to capture the power of the sea around this part of the Dorset coast on a fairly calm day for Portland. There was little wind this morning so didn't have the usual problems with sea spray coating filters. Heavy cloud cover meant little colour from the sunrise, but a few tones started to reflect onto the clouds as the sun started to break through later.

Portland Bill yesterday

Hopefully will find time in the next few days to work through yesterday's shoot on Portland. The tides are very low at the moment and plenty of opportunities to get to areas normally too dangerous to access or covered with water. Always inspired by this lump of rock and can rely on something good in all weathers. Having lived in Weymouth until I was 24, Portland was always a favourite for family visits, and was a natural start to my photographic journey in the B/W film days which I began at the age of 17.

In those days my inspiration came from Ansel Adams and I studied his zone system technique, and spent many hours in the darkroom.  Portland is so easy to shoot in B/W with the detail in the rock and such a moody bleak landscape sometimes, but now in the digital age I try to capture it in colour to show it's true beauty and it really is a magical place to spend a sunrise with endless possibilities.

I'll post images soon when I pull my finger out, but being half-term week it's time for a break with the family.

Portland Bill, Dorset.

I was just making my way back to the van to return home for breakfast and had kept my camera set up on its tripod as I carried it back, just in case something else caught my eye. All of a sudden I could see the light changing and a possibility that the sun was going to show its face through the cloud cover. I ran to a location that I had looked at earlier but didn't look good due to the lifeless sky at the time. I waited and was rewarded with a brief gap in the clouds that allowed the suns rays to burn through and light the sea on the horizon. A few minutes later it returned back into the grey sky.... now home for that coffee and bacon sandwich!!.

Portland Bill, Dorset.

The weather didn't look good for Sunday morning, so I'm always drawn to Portland which I think that the more dramatic the weather the better, and love this piece of rock.  There was no colour to Dawn and sunrise at all, so I focused my attention on the sea, which actually shows it's true colours under a neutral sky. I used a polarizing filter for most of the shoot to help kill reflections off the water and bring out the beautiful blue colours of the sea around this coastline.

The colours in the stone are also enhanced and due to favourable tides I was able to get down onto the ledges which have a lovely rich brown colour as well warn and weathered by the higher tides that pound this rugged coastline.

I'd decided to concentrate on showing the movement of the breaking waves, which is a style I try to capture in all my seascapes. I also tried to keep the lighthouse just visible as a recognisable feature of Portland, and hopefully a different view than the normal postcard.

Corfe Castle, Dorset.

I visited this location again in the hope of capturing something special.  Dawn turned out to be flat and un-inspiring due to cloud cover, but the sun did show its face for an early morning shot on a cold winters day.