Devon Photography Holiday Day 3

Third and final day today! Can't believe it is Sunday already and the last of the photography holiday course. Months of planning and over in a jiffy!

Up early on the beach for breakfast in the lovely sunshine. I had planned to go to Beer quarry caves today as the final day, but in hindsight, could have done that yesterday to get out of the rain. However, it really was great to go to the caves for our tour and practice low level light photography.

The Beer Quarry Caves are a big tourist attraction in Devon, where you will find the 2000 year old stone quarry. It dates back to Roman times, and takes you through a history lesson of the different eras telling the story of the quarrymen working under ground. Quite harrowing tales, sad stories and moving images are depicted throughout, but a real sense of achievement can be felt. The caves are a cool 8 degrees all year round, even if it is -10 or 40 degrees outside! Going dressed in jeans and a hoody was a mistake! 20 minutes in we really felt a drop in our temperature and started to get quite chilly. Their tours tend to last 1 hour with a group of on average 30 people. This morning, it was the 3 of us plus the guide! We all got on well as a group and this resulted in being in the caves for 1 hour 45 minutes! As we got back to Beer, we still struggled to get back to temperature, even though we saw one woman walking around town in bikini bottoms and shirt!

A fabulous lunch in the anchor and a big walk to work it off. We walked up to the cliff faces of the beach and into the surrounding hills. We could have walked over to the nearest town from yesterday Seaton, but were quite happy snapping where we were.

Beer is a very popular tourist village and gets busy in August. I couldn't believe how busy it was today though - hoards of people walking, some with dogs, people swimming in the sea and the beer garden?!! Couldn't get a table for ages!!

We closed the day and the event back in The Anchor - our home away from homes this weekend and really is the hub of all social activity in the village. It was great to walk Claire back to the car and say our goodbyes, knowing that she had gained a lot photographically from the weekend.

For me, knowing that it is finished is quite a triumph and I am really pleased with how it went. I am disappointed in the weather, but clearly there is nothing we could do about that. I had Plan Bs incase inclement weather was a problem, but we just got on with it. The cameras can deal with a bit of rain, just had to be careful of rain drops and salty air on the lens. I feel that my 3 day lesson plans would have gone more to plan and we would have been more structured if the weather was on our sides, but you know what, I'm glad we had the weather we did, as it showed that I cannot control everything business related and was a super lesson to learn!!

All in all, I am happy with everything, some AMAZING images taken from everyone on SLR to camera phone and has FURTHER cemented the fact that this is what I love to do.

Well done you for getting to the end of this write up! Quite a long one, but lots to tell. This is for my benefit to read back after my fist year in business. And if you enjoy reading it too, then that's a beautiful bonus!! Please tell me what you thought and leave me a little comment if you got to the end!! Maybe you will be showcasing at the next Stephanie Summers Photography holiday!!

See all the shots from the weekend coming soon on my Facebook Page Stephanie Summers Photography.