Coastal Journeys – Cove and St Abbs

I’ve long enjoyed the Berwickshire coast, having been drawn by the beauty and remote nature of its rugged coastline. There is something about the crashing of waves and looking out to sea, something quite peaceful and adventurous about it I find.

This trip for me was to alter my vision and become less hurried in my imagery, I want to document a more abstract and unrushed view of how I see the world, as it’s all to easy to shoot away and not ‘take in’ the enviornment you’re capturing. With the added benefit of some new equipment, namely the Phase One IQ260 medium format camera, I’m feeling more enabled and determined to become a better finer and more considered photographer in how I capture nature and it’s surroundings.

Cove Harbour Cottages © Jason Baxter Media 2020

Cove is small remote hamlet just of the A1 about 45 minutes from Edinburgh. It has a calm and welcoming small beach with a quaint small harbour that many folk don’t really seem to know much about - accessed by walking down a small track from the car park above and through a very dark tunnel. A few small creel boats and a pretty small cottage hidden from view from the road, quite the timeless location.

Rocks on the Beach at Cover Harbour © Jason Baxter Media 2020

You can spend a very long time here, I must have spent over 4 hours at least here in peaceful harmony, capturing the cottage, the rugged geology overlooking the breakwater to documenting the variety of interesting stones on the beach from small colourful pebbles to large stones with ancient geological features creating striking shapes and colours within them.

Patterns in nature can be quite fascinating.

Cove Harbour Wall © Jason Baxter Media 2020

A visit to St Abb’s further on down the road presented a new landscape; what I didn’t know on this visit was the road from the visitor centre to the lighthouse was closed off due to the Pandemic – so there was only one choice, you either walked or not at all. Having come this way to explore the nature reserve I set of up the path heading to the lighthouse, plodding away and soaking up the evening light with an ever-increasing stiff breeze.

Sea Stacks, St Abb’s Nature Reserve © Jason Baxter Media 2020

I had planned to shoot some long exposures that evening but the now stronger breeze was proving challenging, so instead of risking my gear being blown of the cliff edge I opted to shoot hand held – documenting the thousands of seabirds nesting on the offshore sea stacks as the bright evening light illuminated the rugged coastline.

I did though manage to find a spot protected by the wind down by the lighthouse to experiment with some night time photography, by the time I was finished it was pitch black and the walk back to the car was a fascinating experience!

Night time over St Abb’s Lighthouse © Jason Baxter Media 2020

Getting back to the car after midnight I settled down for a brief sleep before heading back around the other side of the reserve overlooking the scenic fishing village of St Abb’s – with the wind gusts having died down to an acceptable level (of not concerning myself with what gear would go flying) I settled down to await the dawn of a new day.

Dawn, St Abb’s Nature Reserve © Jason Baxter Media 2020

Having found my spot, I watched in quiet awe as the morning glow began to warm up the skies over the North Sea, watching and listening the fisherman about their work I finished my morning with a lovely view overlooking the peaceful coastal village of St Abb’s otherwise known as ‘The New Asgard’

This trip had it’s unexpected challenges, extra walking and dealing with strong winds did change what I wanted to shoot, but the beauty of these kinds of situations is to be prepared to change what it is you’re looking to shoot and the pleasure you get from experimenting and ending up with better than expected results.