I made it. Finally I made to Dunraven Bay. Without full intention. A friend and I made plans to go on a photography exploration. Destination: Southerndown. Now, I know Dunraven Bay is in Southerndown but I did not know this is where we would end up. From Barry, we set the navigation to Southerndown and to Dunraven Bay it led us. No road trip is complete without some tunes and in the car was the soundtrack to my teens (a compilation CD I made when I was 14). The best part was that my buddy knew pretty much all of the songs! The trip was heading in a good direction.

It wasn’t until we got out of the car and started walking towards the beach that I realised we were at Dunraven Bay. I was delighted. Being by the sea is just the best feeling. Being by the sea with good company is even better. Friendship is massively important to me and a good friend, I value a lot. Having something in common with someone and being able to enjoy it together makes these moments precious. I absolutely love my prime lens and it’s perfect for capturing photos of loved ones. Being the only person I went to Dunraven Bay with and me wanting to improve my portrait photography, Kayla inevitably, became the feature of A LOT of photos. Selecting my favourites was a challenge.

Having a partner in photography comes in very handy when you have the same brand of camera and can switch lenses. Lens swap. It was time to use Kayla’s wide angle lens. I have only used a wide angle lens one other time (it was the same lens as now) but didn’t have much of a chance to play around with it then. Being so used to my 50mm prime lens (everything is so close) having the wide angle took some getting used to. Everything appeared so to be so far away and so much more fit into the photo (obviously, the clue is in the name ha) – perfect for taking landscapes.

Dunraven Bay is such a beautiful place. Jagged cliff edges, sand, rocks, cliffs to climb. Looking one way, is the sea, looking the other is plenty of greenery indicating you are in the countryside. That’s what I love about the Welsh coast, you get seaside and countryside together – smells of seaweed, seasalt and the ‘wonderful’ smells of the countryside. I am at my most content in these places. And thankfully, these places are not too far from home.

An autumnal, drizzly day couldn’t end without a trip to a cosy village pub for some grub. The pub was lovely, the food was tasty and our hearts happy.