Cornwall Coast

I have just returned from my family summer holiday to Cornwall.  This year I actually pushed myself to get out in the evening and explore the coast between Lands End and Cape Cornwall.  We were staying near Sennen Cove (a magnificent beach and great for Surfing). I decided to try out my new Tokina 10-17mm f3.5-f4.5 AT-X lens.  I also have a Nikon 17-55 f2.8 lens which is great but when shooting landscapes I often wanted the extra wide angle the Tokina gives.  So I left the Nikon at home so I would be forced to use the Tokina.

Lands End RSPB lookout (Nr Sennen Cove, Cornwall)

The image above shows the advantage of using the 11mm lens.  However, you do need to be careful with verticals - such as the ones on this lookout.

Heather at Lands End, Cornwall

I had walked over the path between Sennen Cove and Lands End the day before with my family and seen the potential in the vibrantly coloured heather.  It wasn"t an easy shoot to get though as I needed the golden light on the heather, background interest, control the dynamic range left to right on the Lee filters. The 11mm lens allowed me to get great foreground detail.

Crabbing at Sennen Cove, Cornwall

In Sennen Cove I had noticed that the sunset created a great opportunity for some silhouette images.  I didn"t manage to get the shot I was after but the above is the best of the bunch.  If the guy that is crabbing was the other way around that would have been perfect.  This images was taken with a 70-200mm F2.8 Nikon VR lens mounted on a tripod.

I did find the 11mm end of the Tokina lens very very good.  Care needs to be taken with verticals and the horizon as it does create convergence, however it is sharp and produces some crisp images.  One problem I did find was the Lee Polarising filter I have can be seen at the widest end of the lens.  I got round this by using a direct lens mounted filter to polarise the light.

The area between Cape Cornwall and Lands End is amazing - I only wish I could have spend more time there!