It's hard to believe that it's already a week since I was down in Cornwall, on a seascape photography road trip with friends Anthony Crothers, Andy Hughes and Mark Stapleton.

On the Friday 27th of February, Andy and Anthony made their way to my house for around about 11 a.m.

Once we’d packed the car and had a bit of a chat, it was around about midday when we headed off to Porthleven on the South Coast of Cornwall; a little over two hours away.

Selfie of three smiling men outside a Starbucks coffee shop, one holding a takeaway cup — Quick coffee stop at Starbucks just outside of Honiton on the A30.

Arriving at Porthleven, all three of us were beaming from ear to ear as we opened the car doors and could see and hear the waves crashing in the harbour. This was going to be a great weekend for sure.

Selfie of three men at Porthleven harbour, with the harbour wall and clock tower behind — Just arrived at Porthleven

We grabbed lunch at the Harbour Inn (very nice place), and a short while later, we were joined by Mike, who was with us for the evening and the Saturday.

Kind of expected on the Friday, the weather turned and the rain started to come down, so we then headed over to the hotel in Penzance and checked in and freshened up.

Later in the evening, we headed out to a great place called the Old Life Boat House in Penzance and grabbed dinner. Definitely somewhere I'd recommend, great food and really welcoming, friendly staff.

Four men sitting around a table at dinner in The Old Lifeboat House, Penzance — Grabbing Dinner at The Old Lifeboat House, Penzance

The following morning, we left the hotel around about 6:00 AM and headed off to Godrevy, with fingers firmly crossed that the plans were going to slot into place with a great sunrise expected.

Arriving in the car park and opening the doors, we knew we were in for a good day. We could just about make out some great clouds, and you could hear the Atlantic roaring as it crashed into the coastline.

We then grabbed kit and made our way into position 😃

Photographer standing on rocks at sea level as white surf swirls around them — I couldn't resist getting down to the sea level

Long exposure of Godrevy Lighthouse at sunset, with misty water flowing over dark rocks — Godrevy Lighthouse
Fuji X-T5 and Fuji 10-24mm f/4 @ 10mm
f/11 , ISO 125 , 0.4sec
NiSi JetMag Pro 3 Stop ND Filter

The conditions were incredible.

The outgoing tide was still creating dramatic waves as it crashed against the rocks, and the clouds were being lit with a beautiful warm pink and golden light from the rising sun.

Photographer in a red jacket and beanie kneeling by a camera on a tripod on rocks

We couldn't have asked for a better morning of photography.

All of us were very happy indeed 😃

We eventually made our way off for a coffee and to grab some breakfast.

Four men in dark jackets and beanies standing together on wet coastal rocks

Then it was off back to Porthleven to have a good look around and do a recce for where we'd be taking photographs later in the day for sunset and the incoming tide.

Terraced houses on a hillside above a rocky bay with waves rolling in

As the day went on, we could kind of tell that conditions weren't going to be as dramatic as the day before, but no problem, we had a great afternoon anyway.

Waves breaking over rocks at a harbour entrance, with a clock tower and buildings beyond

Three men sitting at a blue picnic bench beside a harbour, with houses on the hill behind

You could easily spend an entire day from dawn to dusk photographing around Porthleven; even if the conditions of the sea aren't dramatic enough for you, there’s still plenty to photograph, and, as everywhere we went, everyone was so incredibly friendly and welcoming.

Black and white portrait of a bearded man in a hat and sunglasses sitting on a bench — I got chatting to this gentleman, and it turns out years ago he used to teach photography as a form of therapy to heroin addicts.

Eventually, we made our way over to Marazion to check out St. Michael's Mount and to see if there was any decent light and conditions and the chance of taking photographs, or to see if it would be a good location to go to on the Sunday morning.

Black and white photo of a castle-topped island in silhouette across the sea

Black and white photo of a person wading in the shallow surf of a beach

Unfortunately, as is the way, the weather conditions changed, and although dry cloud cover came in, completely hiding the setting sun, so not to be deterred, we made plans to return the following morning for sunrise.

Mike was only with us the whole day on Saturday, so had to make his way home in the evening. So, after a great dinner at a wonderful little bistro that we found in Penzance, Mike said his goodbyes.

Black and white photo of a person walking a small white dog along a sea wall

The following morning, there did appear to be more cloud than was expected, but the three of us, Andy, Anthony and myself, thought it would be crazy not to take the 8-minute drive back down to Marazion and just see if we could get some shots of St Michael's Mount.

So glad we did 😍

Long exposure of St Michael's Mount at dusk, with a cobbled causeway leading towards it — St Michael’s Mount
Fuji X-T5 and Fuji 10-24mm f/4 @ 12mm
f/11 , ISO 250 , 10 sec
NiSi JetMag Pro 3 Stop + 6 Stop ND Filters

Whilst Anthony was taking his photographs, he got chatting to a woman, Ilona, walking her dog Winston, and ended up taking a portrait of them both for her.

I grabbed the photograph below of Winston, with my iPhone using the Leica Lux app.

Black and white photo of a cobbled causeway leading to a castle-topped island

Three men standing on a wet cobbled causeway with a castle-topped island behind them

We all commented over the weekend how everyone we met and chatted to was so friendly. Proof again of that was that Ilona captured this photograph of the three of us walking back along the causeway, and sent it to Anthony on Whatsapp …

Castle-topped island at low tide, with a red arrow pointing to people on the causeway

So, a fantastic weekend of photography in great locations with great people, but as is always the way, things that you look forward to always seem to end too quickly.

But no fear … we’re already looking at planning the next trip and getting the dates in the diary.