Summer was in full swing and MrsFaceless and I had the chance to both meet up with family as well as partake of some landscape photography on the beautiful Channel Island of Jersey.
Jersey is an independently governed island in the English channel, a mere 14 miles off the coast of France, but which is a UK Crown Dependency, having previously been part of the Duchy of Normandy whose dukes became Kings of England starting in 1066 after William The Conqueror’s victory. In the 13th Century after Normandy became part of France, Jersey chose to remain loyal to the English Crown. The island itself is pretty small and as we popped out of the clouds there was a fleeting glimpse of Mont Orgueil, also known as Gorey Castle, the capital St Helier and Elizabeth castle as we descended towards the airport. Memories of childhood holidays came back to me…but this was MrsFaceless’ first visit……would she like it? And would it live up to my memories?
Our first trip was to Elizabeth Castle, in the bay out from the St Helier. To make things intersting, the tide was in, but that didn’t stop us or the amphibious vehicle that took us on a 15 minute ride above the waves with the causeway covered by the tide. We figured that photography during the day would be limited, but the castle had plenty of interesting vistas and features…the main difficulty was trying to get a shot without any tourists walking through; combined with the fact we were shooting handheld….so we upped the ISOs and relied on faster shutter speeds to ensure that the images were sharp. As a bonus that day, there was a gun practice going on, so every 10 minutes or so a cannon was fired. As you would expect, it was pretty loud, but we’re glad to report no enemies were sighted and no ships were sunk.
As soon as we arrived we grabbed some nice images of a cannon emplacement and the view of the west wall, before we headed out to see the Hermitage Rock.
Elizabeth Castle has seen much fighting over the years – from Normans to French and, in more recent history, occupation by the Germans during WWII.
The castle was also the refuge for Royalists during the English Civil War. After a heavy defeat by Parliamentarians in the year 1645, the Prince of Wales, Charles Stuart (later to become King Charles II) was afforded asylum by the bailif of Jersey, George Carteret, who had routed of the island’s Parliamentarian supporters.
In recognition for help given to him during his exile, King Charles II of England gave the now knighted Sir George Carteret, a large grant of land in the American colonies in between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, which he promptly named New Jersey. So if any Americans want to see where it all started….here it is….
The next morning i awoke early with plans to shoot a sunrise…but the forecast clouds were nowhere to be seen….so we slept in, had a lazy breakfast and spent the day with family doing the usual touristy stuff.
With a solid forecast of clouds due for sunset, once again Mrs Faceless and i loaded our gear into the car….and were ready to go. Our destination was Corbiere Lighthouse. This is a popular spot so our advice would be to get there with plenty of time and scope yourself a spot where you are able to get away from people. Sadly, as landscape photographers know all to well…disappointment awaited as the clouds faded abruptly and left just a haze on the horizon. Despite not having perfect coditions Corbiere is incredible photogenic.
The next morning we were once again promised a cloudy start, so we headed to Mont Orgueil, also known as Gorey Castle. Parking is available on the street but you can find yourself some way from the castle…but this was fine as prior to the trip we’d pinponted a location we wanted to shoot from and it also gave us a chance to take in the sea air and burn some calories!
We were in position in good time and the clouds were looking good above the castle, with what appears to be a break on the horizon which should allow the rising sun to light those clouds. There’s something very calming being outside at daybreak with a fresh sea breeze and the gentle lapping of the waves. The treet lights had just gone off and one or two cars were starting to drive past, but other than a solitary dog walker, there was no one else about. The shot we had picked out would use the curve of the sea wall as the leading line. This would likely be an exposure blending shot so we took the establishing photo to get the sea wall, castle and the buildings at its foot properly exposed. With that done we could concentrate on the sky, which was already becoming much brighter by the minute, and all of those lovely colours we were hoping for…if only those clouds would hang around….which sadly they didn’t.
Later that afternoon we decided to visit Corbiere Lighthouse once more…there was a little mist and haze forming as the tide was coming in. There were a few tourists milling around but it seemed relatively quiet compared to the other times we’d been there or gone past. A quick check of the weather showed there was not much chance of sunset as there was thick cloud and fog to the west…so we decided we’d try for a shot once the tide came in…..all we’d have to do was wait for about an hour. A short drive up St Ouen’s Bay there was a cafe…so we would be able to sit back and watch the tide roll in with Corbiere Lighthouse in the distance and we could grab a cup of coffee and sit in the sun. And some cake. Maybe an ice cream. Nope…cake…in fact, toasted banana and walnut bread with peanut butter. More than fully satiated and with a caffeine boost, we returned to Corbiere….it certainly looked to be socked in to the west but that did offer the chance of a long exposure for a high key image. Isolating the lighthouse and the closesst rocks works very well – we’re very happy with our images!
Our last day on the island was going to be busy – after a full English breakfast we said goodbye to the family who were due to depart later that morning and then Mrs Faceless and I jumped in the car and headed for the north west of the island to start our day at the Plemont Rock pools.
The heavy cloud and sea fog from the night before was still hanging around and made for an impressive sight as it rolled in over the beach and up the valley. Once we had got down to the beach we got a quick shot in the bag…which worked out well because within minutes the mist had started to lift and people had started to arrive. It’s a beautiful beach, so understandable. We quickly started scouring around for the rockpools but there were simply too many people…..so we retreated to one of the caves where water was dripping from the roof. The rock face within the cave had fabulous colours, but I knew i may not have much time so i decided to get a panorama shot first…setting the tripod firmly into the sand at a relatively low level. I took a test shot, liked it but then flipped the camera to portrait orientation. This would give me the most usable pixels when stitching the pano together and hence the greatest detail in the final image. Being a cave with very little light towards the back I also bracketd up and down 1 stop to ensure that i got as much dynamic range as possible. To minimize distortion i like to take pano shots with a fair amount of overlap – this image would be 7 separate shots. This does create very large files but i have plenty of storage and find that the stitch looks so much better with more shots. I was on my final pan shot when the beachgoers appeared around us. Oh well, this location clearly wasn’t going to work so we quickly cut our losses and headed back up the several hundred steps to the car. But here’s the pano….
Once we climbed back to the car there was something else to see – not just the Plemont headland withits rugged coastline, or the remnants of a WWII German battery…no, something that i would not have associated with Jersey.
Puffins!!
In fact, two giant puffin…celebrating but one of the array of seabirds that adorn Jersey’s shores. Or willow sculptures thereof. So technically, still Jersey landscape photography rather than wildlife!
And it was just us and the puffins…..marvellous. So a quick shot and then off to Grosnez Castle, a very short distance down the coast, which dates back to the year 1330. We spent quite a while here walking around the ruins and along the cliff paths, figuring this would be an ideal location for our final attempt at sunset, which by now, was a couple of hours away. What better way to while away a few hours than a visit to a pub called ‘The Tipsy’, right? Anyway, a cured mackeral salad, halloumi fries and then, being our last night, we both feasted upon cod and chips….mmmmm.
England and Jersey have really good pubs, said Mrs Faceless….she’s not wrong there….
Returning to Grosnez for sunset we were met with….a few clouds in the sky but an increasing haze on the horizon…and some quite strong winds. Even so, the views were gorgeous….but could we translate that into a photograph?
Having picked a spot with colourful heather in the foreground and the the castle arch behind….the clouds did their thing and disappeared. With no interest in the sky we quickly changed our composition with the hopes of at least getting a sun star as the sun set over the horizon…however, with the haze once again present we were not hopeful. In the end it was MrsFaceless’ test shot taken before the sun was down that ended up being our favourite.
With night falling, that left just one more location…..as we headed back to Mont Orgueil. With a similar shot to the sunrise we attempted previously, Mrs Faceless is using the wall as a lead in line, whereas i crop to a 3:1 aspect ratio, losing a little of the wall at the bottom of the image but getting some nice stars from the footpath lights. And that was our trip done, barring the travel home where we discussed how Jersey is a great place for landscape photography with such a variety of subject.
There was one specific location we visited but not included as it doesn’t fall into the photography theme per se, but is well worth a visit – The Jersey War Tunnels. As happens with history, when i first visited as a child this place was called the German Underground Hospital….but has now been renamed.
Jersey is pretty easy to get around – about 5 miles long and 9 miles wide, for an area of around 46 square miles yet has in the region of 350 miles of paved roads. If driving, then some points to consider are that road names are almost all in french and if you rely solely on satellite navigation methods and you head inland, the country lanes can be very narrow and you may end up on roads that are simply too narrow for cars to pass each other. There is a regular bus service around the island and also taxis.
Jersey Channel Islands 2024 Gallery
We hope you have enjoyed our little journey together – the story and the video; if so please head over and leave a comment on youtube – and a like and subscribe is always much appreciated!
Until next time…..