Sunrise at Durdle Door, Dorset

It was another early start after a not-so-great night’s sleep - who knew birds start their dawn chorus at 3am, they need to check their watches!!! Today has been a very long day, leaving the B&B at 5.00am and only returning at 19.30, having 10 minutes to freshen up and then going out to have supper at a restaurant in town.

As we had some cloud this morning we decided to head to Durdle Door for sunrise as the clouds would make the sky more interesting than just clear skies. Today was forecast to be a warm (for us) 14C but it was absolutely freezing at Durdle Door with an icy breeze. It’s a much photographed location, and for a reason as it is a beautiful rock formation arching over a sheltered bay. Turning around the light on Bat’s Head cliffs was exquisite, so I also spent time photographing that (first extra)

We then had coffee served from Guy’s car in the car park, trying to warm up, the others had croissants while I had one of my home made granola bars. We planned to go to Swanage but got side tracked photographing Corfe Castle with a lovely foreground of yellow gorse. On to Swanage where we had breakfast at the cafe on the waterfront, then we went to photograph the posts of the old pier plus some shots of the new pier. 

As we had clouds today mixed with sunshine we did not have a break in the middle of the day to escape bright skies. The promised warmth never materialised and I had three layers on all day, the last layer being a down jacket, as it was needed! 

We went on to the row of beech trees near Kingston Lacey and spent some time photographing them from different sections along the road. As we were not far from Shaftesbury we asked to go photograph Gold Hill, the steep cobbled road lined with pretty cottages made famous in the Hovis bread advert. Again, despite being popular and much photographed we all wanted to see it and get a record shot. Thankfully it was quiet and we never had to wait for people to clear out of view. We had teas/coffees at the cafe there which was most welcome. 

After tea we headed back south with the plan to photograph the sunset from Kimmeridge. We were not sure we would get a decent sunset as it had been cloudy all afternoon. We saw a glimmer of colour and by the time we got there the colour was lovely - it developed into a really fiery sunset. The last extra is after the sun had set at Kimmeridge.


I am feeling very tired after today, and we are off again at 5.00am tomorrow. We then need to check out but will have a full day of photography.  I drive home tomorrow night after we have finished shooting until sunset again, I know that I will be tired driving home.