Folkestone- not only the sky was dull

I’ve been to Folkestone for a few days last week with my girl-friend. We stayed at the Southcliff Hotel which had a great offer. The hotel was really nice, a bit old-fashioned furniture and worn down, but okay, especially for that price. The bathroom was very small though. Has anyone stayed there, too? What are your experiences?

The first late afternoon we went for a walk through town which seemed to be abandoned. Lots of shops were opened only from Thursday to Saturday. I guess it’s different in summer. The creative quarter is very nice with a narrow street going down to the harbor. It’s a shame that quite a few shops are empty. I reckon with the recession it’s everywhere like this now. We went for a drink to the “Pullman” which is an excellent pub. Open fire, nice furniture, an exotic beer garden, just perfect.

The next morning I went on a photo walk, but wasn’t very successful at all. The sky was very dull. I walked through the Lea Coastal Park, took a few shots, went along the seafront, passed the Gran Canary Hotel which is derelict beyond belief, before reaching the harbour which is surmounted by one of the ugliest hotels I have ever seen. The Grand Burstin. It was low tide and at least the fishing boats were quite interesting. After less than two hours I was back at our hotel. I took 72 shots altogether of which I deleted 58. I keep 13 for myself and only one goes for sale.

I really seem to be a moaner today which I’m honestly not, but the Greek meal in the evening was a bit disappointing. I had Souvlaki which wasn’t spiced and the fries were too crispy (not to say hard) and Frances’ potatoes were just microwaved.

What impressed me the next morning was the local Wetherspoons. It is located in an old church. Fantastic building and the drinks are so cheap. The East Kent Arms was fine, too. We had an early dinner at Papa’s Fish & Chips which was really good.

After checking-out on Saturday morning we didn’t feel like travelling home straight away. So we went for another couple of pints to Wetherspoons before getting on the train. Frances back to London and me back to Hastings. It will be interesting to see where yet another smart deal of booking.com will take us next. Can’t wait for it.

Thanks for reading.

 

Photo of the Day

Folkestone Harbour

 

Dungeness- The power of nature vs nuclear power: A photowalk

Yesterday I’ve been to Dungeness, a headland on the Costa del Kent which is quite famous for a couple of things. On the good side, there is a nature reserve with great possibilities for bird-watching. On the bad side, there is a nuclear power plant. For a HDR photographer, which I like to call myself although I’m far from being a professional, Dungeness has to offer even more: Lots of derelict buildings and boats.

As a good environmentalist, or only because I can’t afford a car, I went there from Hastings by bus. It took me about 1 ½ hours with a change in Lydd. The bus driver dropped me off at the Pilot Inn, a local pub. The sheer size of the nuclear power plant was overwhelming the whole area. Well, at least at seven in the morning when it was still dark and the only lights around came from the NPP.

I started walking towards the NPP along a small road. There were only a few cottages accompanying me, one of them quite famous for its garden. The artist Derek Jarman arranged it with collected flotsam that was washed up nearby and also planted some endemic beach plants. Both are set in pebbles.

To the left of me, I saw the first derelict huts and boats on the wide shingle beach. I followed some rails that were probably used to transport the freshly-caught fish from the boats to the road. Now I was in my element shooting a couple of hundred of photos, always bracketed to 3 exposures. By this time it was of course daylight and the lights of the NPP had gone out. As the NPP was of some kind of interest with the lights on, I now lost all desire to take photos of it. I walked to the lighthouse, took a couple more shots and then went back to the bus stop. Just in time! There are only 4 buses a day.

Missing my connection in Lydd and having to wait for an hour for the next bus worked out in my favour, as the local church was open to the public and I was able to take another few good shots in there.

Back home I spent hours of processing in Photomatix Pro and Photoshop and I am really happy with the results. An overcast sky usually is quite a nightmare for photographers, but in this case, it just brought the right mood to the photos of the derelict boats and huts. And the nuclear power plant? Sod it! It is a shame that you can’t just erase it out of the frame like you can easily do it in Photoshop.

See the best photos at: http://oliverkluwephotography.zenfolio.com/kent

Photo of the Day

A derelict hut at the shingle beach of Dungeness.

Viewbug.com

In the last couple of weeks I have worked intensely on my photos at viewbug.com. I am very happy with that site, because there is lots of feedback and contests you can enter to win prizes. So far I got two rewards and 31 recognitions, which is great for the short time I have been on that site.

Fishing Boats on Ruegen Island, Germany.

As the weather isn’t very good at the moment, I am processing old photos. It should take me about another week to be up-to-date again. Hopefully, the weather will be better by than, so I can go out and do some new shots.