72 hours. 700 miles. 3 counties.
I needed a couple more photos for my 2026 charity calendar, so I needed a trip. The problem? The calendar images needed to be location based. Locations representing “Homes from Home” run by the Sick Children’s Trust. And I needed images from Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire - I was going to be doing a lot of driving.
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The East Riding of Yorkshire
The Drinking Dinosaur, a secluded bay with sea arch located on the Flamborough Head peninsula in the East Riding of Yorkshire was the first stop (a mere 4.5 hour drive from London). It reminded me of a smaller, less crowded Durdle Door - but no less impressive. Being on the east coast of Yorkshire, I was hopeful for an impressive sunrise - pre-visualising the shot with the sun rising above the horizon, between the cliffs of the bay. Not always the best way to arrive at a location, especially in the UK where the weather can be your enemy.
We arrived before sunrise. I say we as I met up with my mother the night before to get her back out with her camera after a long break. But we were greeted by a blanket of cloud. Not a good start. Nevertheless, we proceeded down to path to the cliffs and the Drinking Dinosaur. In the car park, though, we couldn’t see the horizon, so as we made our way down to the bay, we saw it - a break in the clouds on the horizon; somewhere for the warm light of sunrise to break through. I suddenly felt very excited. Might my pre-visualisation pay off?
I had one composition. I set up - tweaking the composition until I was happy. I waited. And then I clicked. A few times, obviously - I wasn’t missing this opportunity.
The Drinking Dinosaur, East Riding of Yorkshire
What a first morning - it certainly made up for the 6 hour (not 4.5 hours as intended) journey the night before. With one in the bag, we moved on.
The Yorkshire Dales
County two: North Yorkshire. Another couple of hours on the road - Flamborough to Settle, via Ilkley. Heading from the east to the west. And having arrived, let’s just say the Airbnb was bijou. But, it was just a bed (well 2 beds), and just for one night. Best to think about the photography, instead.
The plans were relatively loose - a few locations nearby, all of which were easily accessible, allowing us to change plans as easily as the weather. And indeed the weather played its part. Low cloud meant there was no chance of light at sunset, but there were plenty of waterfalls around - cascading water and beautiful green foliage.
I have to admit, I find this type of photography difficult. Whether it’s the slightly more intimate nature of it, or perhaps that there can be so much going on, I just find it much more challenging. But challenging is good - and it leads to learning. So I experimented and rather than trying to get the wider falls in, I focussed on the smaller details - the details that stood out to me. And for some reason I was feeling in the mood for panos. Different for sure, but rewarding given how challenging and out of my comfort zone I found it.
Scaleber Force 1, The Yorkshire Dales
Scaleber Force 2, The Yorkshire Dales
From waterfalls to limestone pavements (probably one of the main attractions of the Yorkshire Dales). But it wasn’t the limestone pavement at Malham Cove, but a lone tree at Winskill Stones that we were planning to visit the following morning. There is something about a lone tree. And for me, an image of a lone tree depicts the remoteness you find it in - nothing around, just you and nature - almost poetic. That was the plan, anyway.
On the journey up to Winskill that morning, the skies were a little overcast, although it didn’t looked socked-in. There was hope. But we would have to be patient to see what the morning provided.
Winskill Stones was another easily accessible location - there was a lay-by just a 5 minute stroll for the hawthorn tree we wished to shoot. Now, I wasn’t expecting the composition of this shot to be difficult, but how wrong I was. While the tree was prominent, the limestone pavement was fragmented, and the gaps filled with vibrant green grass, making it difficult to compose a frame I was happy with. But after a lot of pondering and wandering - moving left and right, up and down - I settled on a position.
The benefit of overcast skies at sunrise or sunset is the time you have to find and fine-tune your composition - the light simply doesn’t change as quickly. This extra time worked wonders at Winskill given how difficult it was to work with this scene, and I was so grateful to have this extra time. Over the next 45 to 60 minutes I took a number of images as the light came and went (although it never truly came).
Waiting at Winskill, The Yorkshire Dales
The morning shoot at Winskill was the last with my mother that weekend. After a lovely breakfast at Shed 24H on the platforms of Hellifield train station we parted ways. She headed north back to Northumberland and I headed south to Norfolk.
Norfolk
Refuelled and with a full stomach, I hit the road on the final leg of my trip - to Norfolk. It’s a place I had never been before, but a place I shall have to return to - whether photography related or not.
My first stop in Norfolk was Cromer - I had seen an image of the pier in a guidebook and I shamelessly wanted to create my own version. A blue hour image, lit with the warm glow of artificial lights.
I hadn’t realised that being the end of summer, Cromer was still a popular destination for visitors and tourists. While it made the taking of the image a little more stressful (it can feel a little awkward around larger crowds with a camera and tripod) and certainly less peaceful I think the end result benefits from it. The shadows and outlines of people give a sense of purpose to the pier as a social space. In landscape photography we tend to avoid people in the search of calm and solitude, removing unwanted human elements and distractions, but in this case it was a happy inconvenience. And the final image is much better for it.
The Pier at Cromer, Norfolk
For full disclosure, the image above is a blend of two. One to blur out the people and make them a little less obvious and intrusive, and a second to get some colour in the advertising display - an 8 minute exposure turned it into a blown-out square (quite off-putting).
From Cromer I made my way to Caister-on-Sea for the night. I have to say, I made a better choice with the Airbnb in Norfolk, but nevertheless it was still just a bed for the night as I got back too late to review any of the images I had taken, and I was up again at 5am the next day. And boy am I glad I listened to my alarm clock.
When researching places to photograph in Norfolk, you can’t escape the Broads or the windpumps (not windmills). And it would have been rude not to visit one of these wonderful locations. During my research I found a number of windpumps, but further investigation revealed they were either in disrepair, or missing some of their sails. That simply would not do. Not that I wanted the windpump to look pristine, as that would not have had as much character. Eventually though, I settled on Thurne, home to two windpumps. It was the one across the river, across from the marina, that I had my eye on.
On arrival, I hastily got out of the car and headed in the wrong direction. I realised my error when I got to the riverbank and the footpath went behind a thick hedge. I panicked as I could see first light to the east, did a 180, and rushed back the way I came.
Having eventually made it to the viewpoint, I could relax. As I was shooting away from the sun I didn’t have to rush to capture the fleeting vibrant sunrise colour - I had already done that in Yorkshire anyway. So it was a case of calmly setting up and waiting for the light.
Birdsong, soft light and atmospheric mist, interspersed with the odd duck quack. Idyllic. No better way to start the day.
Thurne Glorious Thurne, Norfolk
The morning was so calm and peaceful that the river was almost glass-like, treating me to a stunning reflection. And in combination, the reflection and the pastel tones in the sky really imbue the sense of tranquility that I felt and observed that morning. I didn’t want to leave.
Sunrise at Thurne topped off what was an incredible trip. The locations, the conditions - I am not sure it could have been much better given how much travelling I did, and the goal of finishing off my 2026 calendar. In fact, four of the images above made the final cut for my 2026 calendar - quite a hit rate, I would say.
What stood out most to me on this trip was the variety of images you can make in a variety of weathers. We experienced a vibrant, bombastic sunrise at The Drinking Dinosaur, and cloud-fest in the Yorkshire Dales and peaceful, autumnal weather in Norfolk. With all the images reflecting the sense of time and place on that particular day, and for me, that’s the joy of photography.
