Weymouth or Portland as Photography Destinations?

Weymouth has potential for street photography in the right conditions. But you need to search it out. Our camera club trip to Weymouth was in July and on one of the hottest days this year; most people with any sense were sheltering in any scrap of shade they could find – including us photographers!

The harsh bright light meant lots of strong shadows which was OK for some subjects but overall made photography quite difficult. Even shooting black and white wasn’t the answer.

WEYMOUTH SEA FRONT SHELTER — *Docking with the Mother Ship*

The town itself has limited photographic appeal partly because it is very hard to get separation between one’s subject matter and the background, with the background itself often being not that interesting or scrappy and cluttered. That’s a shame because there were some “colourful” characters around the town. The sea front has some gorgeous ornate shelters which make great subjects but it is also quite difficult to separate these from annoying distractions. And they look less appealing in strong lighting. To bring out the detail in the structures needs a softer light which would also help with the people inside the shelters. Overall it was a frustrating day of photography. It might well be better on a wet or dull day.

30 minutes away by car is Portland Bill which has masses of photographic potential in the right conditions of sea, tidal state, and weather. After the visit to Weymouth a few of us headed over to Portland for a look-see, though we knew beforehand the conditions were far from ideal and the sea not sufficiently interesting – just too calm. A few wispy clouds presented themselves around the light house, but that was about all. It was very different from my previous visit when the conditions were nicely atmospheric.

If it’s a choice, then Portland Bill wins, for me.

portland bill light house — *Portland Bill Light*

You need to time your photography so that the tide is washing over the rock platforms and then draining off again. With a slow shutter speed of around 1 second you can capture the motion of the sea as in the image above, taken in October 2018.