Boscombe Beach

The architect for the pier construction was James Stuart Campbell McEwan-Brown (1870–1949). His family were originally from Kintyre, Argyll and were closely connected to the Duke of Argyll. It is no surprise therefore, that it was opened with considerable ceremony on 29 July 1889 by the Duke of Argyll. The pier head was not added until 1926, and like most piers it was partially demolished during World War II to combat the threat of invasion. The pier remained derelict for a number of years and was only fully reopened in 1962. The borough architect, John Burton, designed the modernist 1950s style entrance building. This building was Grade II listed in 2004. The building at the pier end was initially reopened as the Mermaid Theatre and then a roller skating rink before becoming an amusement arcade. It closed in 1989 and the pier became progressively more derelict over the next 19 years. On 30 October 2005 the pier was closed as it was deemed unsafe. The Grade II listed pier entrance building was externally restored in 2007 together with a restoration of the pier neck. New decking, lighting and central windbreak screen was added together with a new viewing and fishing platform end section, replacing the derelict Mermaid Amusement Hall. The pier re-opened in May 2008. Info from Wikipedia

Long exposure image of the pier taken from the beach with boulders in the foreground. Boscombe Bouldering: Open and free to use, these remarkable features on Boscombe Beach offer bouldering challenges with various routes to climb, up, down and traverse across. Each boulder has been shaped to resemble stunning natural, local landmarks including Old Harry Rocks and Agglestone Rock.

Long exposure image of Boscombe Pier

Long exposure image of the pier taken from the beach with boulders in the foreground. Boscombe Bouldering: Open and free to use, these remarkable features on Boscombe Beach offer bouldering challenges with various routes to climb, up, down and traverse across. Each boulder has been shaped to resemble stunning natural, local landmarks including Old Harry Rocks and Agglestone Rock.

The architect for the pier construction was James Stuart Campbell McEwan-Brown (1870–1949). His family were originally from Kintyre, Argyll and were closely connected to the Duke of Argyll. It is no surprise therefore, that it was opened with considerable ceremony on 29 July 1889 by the Duke of Argyll. The pier head was not added until 1926, and like most piers it was partially demolished during World War II to combat the threat of invasion. The pier remained derelict for a number of years and was only fully reopened in 1962. The borough architect, John Burton, designed the modernist 1950s style entrance building. This building was Grade II listed in 2004. The building at the pier end was initially reopened as the Mermaid Theatre and then a roller skating rink before becoming an amusement arcade. It closed in 1989 and the pier became progressively more derelict over the next 19 years. On 30 October 2005 the pier was closed as it was deemed unsafe. The Grade II listed pier entrance building was externally restored in 2007 together with a restoration of the pier neck. New decking, lighting and central windbreak screen was added together with a new viewing and fishing platform end section, replacing the derelict Mermaid Amusement Hall. The pier re-opened in May 2008. Info from Wikipedia

I've just had a great trip down onto the South Coast of Dorset, one of my favourite places in the UK and not somewhere I'd been to for ages, the trip was a mixture of photography and also a recce for locations as later in the year I hope to come back in Autumn and Winter.

Summer long days and weather aren't always ideal for photography but there's no better place to be than on the coast, life down here is really slow and very chilled out and it's not hard to fall into the I can't be bothered moving from this spot mentality ! This evening, although really pleasant had looked quite poor from a photography point of view with the sky being bereft of any cloud to catch possible sunset colours but I decided to have a go anyway as I'd picked up some new kit namely a new tripod/head and filter kit the day before so I wanted to test them out, the gear is absolutely fantastic and for anyone who may be interested, details can be found below in the text.

As it happened as sunset progressed clouds just magically appeared drifting through the scene allowing for the colours to display themselves right across the sky, the exposure time on this of eight and a half minutes has given the scene a truly surreal feel and allowed the colour in the sky to drag right the way across the frame. If you zoom in, The Isle of Wight can be seen on the horizon just off left of center.

It wouldn't be me though if there wasn't some form of blunder or mishap whilst shooting, and this day was absolutely no different... I was actually sat on the groyne here while I was shooting, I watched the Weymouth to Guernsey ferry go past about a mile in the distance, I remember thinking yeh that won't show up during these long exposures... what I didn't think about was that about 5 minutes later the wash off it would come pounding into the beach without warning, and yes, I got absolutely saoked and covered in seaweed, much to the amusement of some kids walking past on the promenade.... you'd think I'd learn having been done with this before but nooooo.

Nikon D810 Nikon 16-35mm f/4 Fotopro T-74C tripod Fotopro LG-9R ballhead Nisi V6 System NiSi Landscape Cpl Nisi 100mm 10 stop filter Nisi 4 stop hard gnd

I'm now dipping my toes into the murky world of instagram and could do with some followers :-) - if you could please give me a follow at

@peterowbottom

It would be much appreciated, thanks !

Visit my website - lots of new images now uploaded

The architect for the pier construction was James Stuart Campbell McEwan-Brown (1870–1949). His family were originally from Kintyre, Argyll and were closely connected to the Duke of Argyll. It is no surprise therefore, that it was opened with considerable ceremony on 29 July 1889 by the Duke of Argyll. The pier head was not added until 1926, and like most piers it was partially demolished during World War II to combat the threat of invasion. The pier remained derelict for a number of years and was only fully reopened in 1962. The borough architect, John Burton, designed the modernist 1950s style entrance building. This building was Grade II listed in 2004. The building at the pier end was initially reopened as the Mermaid Theatre and then a roller skating rink before becoming an amusement arcade. It closed in 1989 and the pier became progressively more derelict over the next 19 years. On 30 October 2005 the pier was closed as it was deemed unsafe. The Grade II listed pier entrance building was externally restored in 2007 together with a restoration of the pier neck. New decking, lighting and central windbreak screen was added together with a new viewing and fishing platform end section, replacing the derelict Mermaid Amusement Hall. The pier re-opened in May 2008. Info from Wikipedia

B&W Image of Boscomber Pier with boulders in the foreground. Boscombe Bouldering: Open and free to use, these remarkable features on Boscombe Beach offer bouldering challenges with various routes to climb, up, down and traverse across. Each boulder has been shaped to resemble stunning natural, local landmarks including Old Harry Rocks and Agglestone Rock.