St Michael’s Mount
A visit to Cornwall wouldn’t be complete without a visit to St Michael’s mount. It’s always nice to try to get a different take on such an iconic and much photographed monument, so as most people don’t visit the Mount at dawn, dawn is when fellow blogger Poppy and I decided to visit on Sunday. A 3am start to catch first light was well rewarded as the first golden rays of sun lit up the Mount and the causeway (only accessible at low tide) that connects the island to the mainland. The longer exposure belies a gale force wind and rough seas. As the first drops of rain started to fall, the moment was fleeting. Click on the image for a clearer sharper view.. ;-)
15mm f/22 1.6 sec. ISO-100
Cornwall Photographic 
Great perspective! I love the stone causeway leading straight to the horizon :-)
May 14, 2014 at 6:25 pm
Thank you Sarah! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 6:29 pm
Superb Adrian, well worth the early start. Love those blues and the lead-in lines.
May 14, 2014 at 6:44 pm
Thank you David! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 7:36 pm
Beautiful!
May 14, 2014 at 6:57 pm
Thank you Hans!
May 14, 2014 at 7:41 pm
What a glorious shot Adrian – have never seen the causeway! Wonderful capture.
May 14, 2014 at 7:11 pm
Thank you Tina. It’s always a case of timing the tide. We were lucky that first light coincided with an ebbing tide and the causeway becoming accessible. :-)
May 14, 2014 at 7:41 pm
I suppose there are times on that causeway when one could seem to walk on water . . .
Nice capture.
May 14, 2014 at 7:14 pm
Thank you Emilio. It does feel like that, walking on water. Of course with the waves washing over the cobbles and my boots left in the car, wet feet were the order of the day!
May 14, 2014 at 7:37 pm
Lovely scene, colors and composition!
May 14, 2014 at 7:38 pm
Thank you ever so much! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Great shot, Adrian! i love the stone path, the whole scene looks like it came from a fairytale. :)
May 14, 2014 at 7:50 pm
Thank you Camilla! It’s a bit of a fairytale type castle. I’ve not actually been over there. I really must one of these days. It’s National Trust and I am a member so no excuses! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Well worth getting up at that hour Adrian. Beautiful!
May 14, 2014 at 8:15 pm
Thank you very much Edith! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Great photo’s..but forgetten to look at the time can be dangerous
May 14, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Thank you Lou! Yes you do have to take account of the tides when crossing! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Wow, just stunning with those pearlescent stones reflecting the shades of the sky… :-)
May 14, 2014 at 9:13 pm
Thank you Vivian. Another lovely start to a day! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Oh Adrian! This is incredibly gorgeous!
May 14, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Thank you Robyn! :-)
May 14, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Utterly gorgeous shot and my favorite shades of colour, too! What more could one ask for?
May 14, 2014 at 11:09 pm
Love this shot Adrian…the stones leading out into the beautiful sea. Well Done!
May 15, 2014 at 1:46 am
Thank you Randall. This landmark is so often photographed as you can imagine, it is difficult to take something a little different. This magical time of day helps!
May 15, 2014 at 9:26 am
So true, finding the special lighting/conditions can take a oft photographed scene to another level…turning a “snapshot” into an emotional “photograph” and you do that so well.
May 15, 2014 at 9:23 pm
Thank you Randall, coming from you that means a great deal! Your photographs always have a huge emotional impact.
May 16, 2014 at 7:08 am
Such a magical photo, Adrian. :)
May 15, 2014 at 5:47 am
Thank you Sylvia. We both thought of you when we were down at St Michael’s following your post from there last year. :-)
May 15, 2014 at 9:27 am
A classic image, beautifully shot 😊. We visited Cornwall about 10 years ago…..but inexplicably didn’t go to St Michael’s Mount……I reckon we need to visit again.
May 15, 2014 at 6:01 am
Thank you Mark. It’s always worth checking to tide times with the St Michael’s Mount website to ensure you get the best of the causeway. An ebbing tide at dawn was ideal for the shot I wanted to take. :-)
May 15, 2014 at 9:28 am
Once you make the effort, it is wonderful to be out so early, well before everyone else. It has certainly paid off for you!
May 15, 2014 at 7:14 am
It is Anna, thank you! :-)
May 15, 2014 at 9:28 am
I like the really low perspective here so that the causeway seems to lead you to the sky – and what a sky!
May 15, 2014 at 7:26 am
Thank you Noeline. Wet knees were the order of the day. ;-)
May 15, 2014 at 9:29 am
A fabulous shot with the perspective exerting such an exhilarating pull.
May 15, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Thank you so much Patti. I used a super wide lens and got down as low as I could. With the sea still washing over the causeway this meant getting wet knees but a shoot by the ocean doesn’t ever seem complete for me unless I get wet. I seem to be unable to avoid it. :-)
May 15, 2014 at 7:32 pm
I love how the photo pulls me in! Great shot! :)
May 15, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Thank you very much Anne! :-)
May 15, 2014 at 7:31 pm
A very close friend of mine was born and lived not far away from St michael’s mount; He moved to Yorkshire after his service days but always returned to his roots; He gave me a gift with the same pov as you have here showing the causeway; He sadly died a couple of years ago so this viewpoint has a lot of meaning to me; Thank you for sharing :)
May 15, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Thank you so much Mitch. It’s always nice to hear that one’s photographs have meant something special to somebody. I’m sorry to hear your friend is no longer with you. I think we all like to return to our roots, I think the Cornish perhaps more so than most. It’s a beautiful county. :-)
May 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Such a delightful image. I am always impressed by how you are able to get up by dawn. Seems to be well worth it, no?!
May 15, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Thank you very much Otto. Whenever I make the effort, a dawn shoot pays off. It’s a great motivator and I love that time of day, it’s so peaceful, I can really get in the creative zone with no distraction. Just me, my camera and whatever the dawn might bring. :-)
May 16, 2014 at 7:06 am
I love the wide-angle view – provides the perfect lead-in.
May 15, 2014 at 9:08 pm
Thank you Andy!
May 16, 2014 at 7:04 am
Such a beautiful morning after all ChillB … after setting off in the rain and that phantom truck driver pursuing us ;-)… all’s well that ends well .
You’ve really captured that split second of changing light as the clouds chased across the sky !
May 17, 2014 at 4:12 pm
It was wasn’t it Poppy. A beautiful morning.. That was curious with the truck. I nearly said truck driver but of course there wasn’t one. I thought at first as left hand drive but it was a UK truck so definitely no driver in the cab lol. Thank you Poppy. It was wonderful to share it with you.
May 17, 2014 at 5:26 pm
Perhaps I shouldn’t have overtaken him … spooky ;-)
All in all ChillB a morning to remember for sure .
May 17, 2014 at 6:40 pm
:-) x
May 17, 2014 at 9:09 pm
I think I may have seen this causeway/wall at some time in the past…maybe another image of yours? At any rate, it’s beautiful….love that peachy orange of the morning sun and the darkly dramatic clouds……very nice, Adrian.
May 21, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Thank you Scott. Yes indeed you’ve seen this causeway before. I posted very early on when I first got my camera in fact and my first dawn shoot, in February I think it was. Freezing cold. Very different to this visit. I think it will be different every time I go for surely I will be back to photograph the Mount at some point in the future. Such an iconic landmark! :-)
May 21, 2014 at 9:54 pm
Stunning marriage of perspective and light.
May 26, 2014 at 6:55 pm
Thank you very much John. Worth the wet knees for sure! :-)
May 26, 2014 at 9:02 pm
One to be proud of, lovely photo. I love the light on the Mount and the clouds; the icing on the cake. I love the low view point and the ultra wide angle view.
June 21, 2014 at 10:02 pm