Yorkshire’s Coastal Treasures – A 3-day coastal workshop

The Yorkshire coastline encompasses some of the UK’s most rugged and dramatic scenery, from tiny fishing villages clinging to rocky cliffs, to glorious beaches, and traditional seaside resorts. It also reputedly has the county’s best fish and chips! This three-day coastal photography workshop takes in the very best of the Yorkshire coast and offers a wealth of opportunities for developing your photographic technique.

We will be based in the historic fishing port of Whitby. Developed as a shipbuilding port in the eighteenth century, Whitby has a colourful and diverse history. Aside of its rich maritime heritage, it has also operated as a centre for whaling, and has links to Captain James Cook and also Bram Stoker who found his inspiration for Dracula here. With its Gothic charm and quaint streets, it’s true to say that the old town has a unique atmosphere and bags of character with its whitewashed cottages and red pantiled rooftops. Along with the harbour, the town is watched over by the imposing ruins of Whitby Abbey and St Marys church with its distinctive tombstones. We will climb the ‘199 steps’ to the churchyard and from here take in the wide views over the town and harbour whose entrance is marked by the twin east and west piers.

Whitby offers plenty of interesting subject matter for the photographer. A walk through the idyllic fishing village of Robin Hoods Bay is like stepping back in time. Here, tales of smugglers abound, and indeed, it is said to have had the busiest smuggling community on The Yorkshire Coast. This is Yorkshire’s coastline at its most raw and elemental. Here, brooding cliffs tower over a huddle of red roofed former fishing cottages that spill right down to the edge of the sea and with its charming narrow cobbled streets there is plenty to offer the photographer here just in the village itself.

We’ll also explore the beautiful long sandy beach, it’s rock pools, rippling sand patterns, and interesting geology all offering plenty of scope for creative work. Once one of the largest fishing ports on the North East coast, the quaint coastal hamlet of Staithes has long been a powerful draw for artists and it’s easy to see why. Staithes has the air of a place lost in time with its steep cobbled streets, huddled fisherman’s cottages and the old harbour complete with traditional fishing boats (Cobles). Behind the village, Cowbar cliffs provide for great panoramic views over the red roofed cottages in the village below and out to the harbour. Further north lies the Grade II* listed Saltburn Pier. This Victorian pier was the first iron pier to be built on the North East Coast and is the only remaining pleasure pier in the area. Here we will be able to experiment with the use of neutral density filters for slowing down shutter speeds to record wave motion and also, if we are lucky, capture the surfers who brave the cold easterly winds to ride the waves.

Located just around the headland from Whitby, Saltwick Bay offers dramatic coastal scenery and has long been popular with artists and photographers. The sea stacks of Black Nab and Saltwick Nab are particularly famous subjects, but here you’ll also find shale rock platforms, fossilised boulders, and even the wreckage of an old trawler; the Admiral Von Tromp, which ran aground in the seventies. There’s certainly no shortage of interesting subject matter here, what with the rock pools, which are great for catching reflections, and also numerous intimate, abstract landscape scenes. So join me for some great coastal photography in this beautiful part of England.