The Final Photo Shoot

It seemed fitting that the final photo opportunity of the trip might be to catch a sunrise from Whitby pier. The weather forecast wasn’t hugely promising, as seemed to be the case for the entire two weeks, but there was a slight chance the cloud may lift around the time of the sunrise at 6.02am.

Rob set the alarm and was leaving Goathland, having woken himself up with a coffee, at 4.35am so he could park the car and get to the pier for around 5am. It was still dark when he arrived but it is a pleasant time of the morning. It was dry and there were just a few people going about their business and all, without exception, said ‘Good morning’ as they passed. Rob chose his location and set up the camera and tripod then waited in the hope the right light would appear.

At 5.30 fishermen started to arrive to try their luck from the end of the pier and everyone wished everyone else success with catching fish or capturing a sunrise. Fishing is way more successful it seems because the light never came and the clouds never parted but Rob still took photos and was hopeful he’d get a nice black & white image from the ones he took. Once again, Rob found it very calming being there with his camera whilst enjoying the ambience around him, but at 6.15 it was clear there was to be no spectacular sunrise and Rob packed his gear to leave. The fishermen had been busy though and one of them showed Rob the three good sized mackerel he’d caught, which was impressive for such a relatively short time.

As Rob walked down the pier he met a fellow photographer who’d tried his luck as well. They chatted for ages about photography, photographic clubs, competition judges and compared cameras etc. That’s all pretty boring stuff for the average human but in those early hours there were two people exchanging thoughts and ideas and enjoying the moment. It was a lovely way to end that last photo shoot and who’d think that taking your camera for a walk was a worthwhile pastime ... and there’s no need for small plastic bags and a pooper scooper either.Read more