sennen cove and storm freya

“What world lies beyond that stormy sea I do not know, but every ocean has a distant shore, and I shall reach it.”

Cesare Pavese

Rough, stormy seas but with great light. The strong winds lifting the spray of the tops of the waves, with The Brisons rocks in the background.

Canon EOS 5D Mkiii, 100-400mm lens at 285mm. 1/1000 second at F9.

We live in West Sussex but for many years we have spent some holiday time each year in Cornwall, enjoying the amazing light at the coast and throwing ourselves into the waves on our bodyboards. As the years have passed we have found ourselves travelling further south as there are less crowds and some amazing photographic locations.

For several years we holidayed just outside Sennen Cove, a beautiful stretch of sand and coast only a mile or two from lands end. On a clear day you can see the Isles of Scilly and there are numerous fantastic beaches nearby from Sennen Cove itself, to Porthcurno which has the amazing Minack Theatre sitting above it, to Porth Nanven - which is also known colloquially as dinosaur egg beach because of the large, egg shaped rocks found there.

Waves come crashing in, with the Lands End buildings behind on the top of the cliffs.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii, 100-400 mm lens at 370mm. 1/2500 second at F9.

In 2019 we decided to rent a house in February for a couple of weeks - the thinking being that even if the weather is a bit hit and miss, we can just hunker down and watch the storm over the sea and coast from the house. We also thought that if we go for a fortnight then surely we must get some decent weather within such a window of time. Oh how wrong one can be!! But also how even bad weather can be a photographer’s dream.

Explosive impact as the waves hit the rocks on the shore.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 400mm. 1/1250 second at F9.

Shortly after we had arrived we read in the weather forecast that storm Freya was due to hit Cornwall in the next day or so. Seeing an opportunity to photograph a storm at the coast - something I’d never done before - I began to get excited.

Where we were staying was about 500 yards from the South West Coast path so I decided I would head down there on the day of the storm and stay up high to see how the storm developed and what photo opportunities there might be.

Dramatic waves in storm Freya. I love this image and the colours but can’t help be reminded of a bit of cauliflower from the shape of the waves.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 400mm. 1/1250 second at F9.

Storm Freya hit Cornwall bringing with her 60 mph winds and a real mix of weather over a couple of days or so. At times the skies were very dark and this was mirrored in the colour of the sea, whilst at other times the sun came out and there was stunning light and massive waves, which crashed into the shore, exploding on the rocks there with huge plumes of spray.

Flying High. Two seagulls soar over the stormy seas.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 160mm. 1/1250 second at F10.

I wanted the flexibility to shoot at a range of focal lengths and knew I needed the reach of a telephoto lens to get out into the sea a bit, and to pick out details in the waves, so I plumped for my 100-400mm lens.

I decided to handhold the gear as I reckoned that 60mph winds would shake even the sturdiest of tripods and I wanted to be able to react quickly to the ever changing scene in front of me. That would be difficult to do if I was constantly having to reframe and reset my tripod each time I wanted to shoot a different view.

Two things I did underestimate though:

1. It’s quite challenging to hold a long telephoto lens in 60 mph winds.

2. After a few hours of handholding a long lens in strong wind your arms want to drop off and the lens feels like a lead weight.

Light from above. Sun rays break through the storm clouds.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 120mm. 1/800 second at F/11.

I absolutely loved it though. Countless compositions presented themselves - from the crashing waves to the rough seas, to wonderful sunlight breaking through dramatic storm clouds to seagulls and gannets flying over the stormy sea.

It was just a wonderful experience being able to spend a few hours over a couple of days immersing myself in the scene in front of me and having the pick of such great light and drama.

Emerald seas. I love the rough seas and the deep green hues of the water.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 220mm. 1/800 second at F/11.

I did realise, though, that to gain a greater sense of scale of the waves and to be able to capture the backlit spray and water that I needed to be at eye level. So I came down from my cliff top perch and got closer to the sea, whilst still remaining on the coastal path.

This gave a whole new perspective on the power of the sea and the size of the waves, as well as opening up new compositional opportunities and the chance to zoom in more closely on individual waves.

Massive waves head for the shore near Sennen Cove.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 370mm. 1/2500 second at F9.

The shot below is one of my favourites as I love the late afternoon light, the translucence of the waves and how they are just rolling over and breaking and the two gannets looking for fish in the waters below.

Above the Waves - two gannets look for food in the late afternoon light.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 400mm. 1/1600 second at F9.

When I reviewed the images on my laptop later it became clear that some of the shapes of the waves resembled animals or things - in the shot below I can see two white horses heads towards the far end of the wave. Hopefully you can see them too? If not, then I’ve clearly spent too much time editing photographs in Lightroom and am going a little crazy!

White Horses - I just love how the shape of the wave looks like two white horses.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 320mm. 1/2000 second at F9.

I really enjoyed photographing the drama created by the storm but was only too aware of the dangers of the sea if you don’t pay enough attention.

Seaspray. The strong offshore wind creates huge amounts of seaspray - a nightmare for camera lenses!

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 400mm. 1/2500 second at F9.

I was spoilt by some amazing light and some tremendous conditions and have captured some images I’m really happy with. Next time though I’m going to take a lot more lens cleaning cloths than I had with me!!

Rolling Over. Lovely translucent emerald colours in the waves which are backlit by the late afternoon sun.

Canon EOS 5D mk iii. 100-400 mm lens at 400mm. 1/600 second at F9.