Dunraven Bay, Southerndown Beach

 Today, we travelled to Dunraven Bay, Southerndown Beach to explore the natural world along the seashore and document not only the area and the landscapes but the journey there. 

At 9:50 a.m, we started our journey to Dunraven Bay, Southerndown Beach with a 45 minute journey ahead of us giving me loads to document as apart of my journey and even more to explore after the journey is over. I decided to start not only the journey to the location at this time but the journey through my senses also, beginning with what I can hear and the sounds that surround me. The sounds I focused on when leaving to start my journey was the sound of cars passing by, the whistling of the wind coming through the window that was stuck open and the rattling sound of the minibus passing over the speed-bumps and pot holes. Along with the sense of hearing (sound) I began to focus on what I could see (the sense of sight) the clear main fixation at the start of my journey was the never ending concrete road and the cars that are filling it, then I began to look around and became fixated on the trees surrounding me and how the speed we're travelling makes them all seem a blur as we pass them by. The third sense I focused upon during my journey was the sense of touch, the immediate feeling I had through the entire journey was the bitter coldness within the air and having only just started our journey my sense of touch was focused on the feeling of paper brushing against my hand as I recorded my journey in my notepad. 

        

At 9:57 a.m, we made a stop at the services to get petrol, what was meant to be a quick pit stop turned into it's very own tour of the petrol station as Ian took us from pump to pump before finally refuelling, it was a very eventful ten minutes. As I decided to document every aspect of the journey to Southerndown Beach, I decided to continue the documentary of my senses and document all of my senses when in the petrol station. The first sense I focused on was the sense of hearing (sound) the clear main sound within the petrol station was the grunting of engine and clanking sound of the metal pumps filling up the petrol although, they are the obvious sounds within the petrol station I felt fixated upon those sounds as well as the sound of car door slamming shut. I then began to think about the sense of sight which again was pretty obvious based on the fact I was inside of a petrol station, seeing things such as cars, lorries and vans and other more typical things such as the people walking in and out of the shop. For the sense of touch I could feel the fabric of the seats of the minibus and the coldness of the window and the clip as I try to close the stiff window. 

              

At 10:20 a.m, our journey was coming even closer to the end and we began to leave the urban area and driving into the rural area full of landscapes and sheep grazing on the grass. I decided to begin with the sense of sight for this documentation time because I wanted to describe the transition from urban to rural as, it went from shopping centres and shop signs to country roads and sheep/horses in the open fields. I was so focused on taking in the sounds around me I went from listening to the shaking and rattling of the mini bus to putting in my headphones and listening to music so that my main focus is on the views that surround me. The final sense is my sense of touch which changed slightly since the start of the journey as I put on gloves making my sense of touch altered as it became more focused upon the feeling of the gloves and the warmth that the gloves brought, as well as the slight bit of heat that the sun brought when it shined through the windows of the minibus. My documentation for 10:28 a.m, was very short however, at 10:28 a.m  I passed the sign to Ogmore/Southerndown shortly after at 10:29 we drove past Ogmore Castle. As part of my sense of sight I saw Ogmore Castle and the cattle in the fields around it. I could hear the rumbling of the mini bus as we drove over the cobble and for the sense of touch I felt the coldness again as we began to approach the coast. 

                       

At 10:38 a.m, we arrived at Dunraven Bay, Southerndown Beach. When we first arrived at Southerndown I felt consumed by the nature that surrounded me, the crisp air I was inhaling, the brisk wind brushing my cheeks, I indulged in all of the charm of nature before progressing to take photos.

Down at Dunraven Bay

Stepping off of the bus at Dunraven Bay,

the temperature was cold,

and the sky was grey.

The brisk wind carressed my cheek,

as I walked towards the rocks, 

I gazed up at the cliffs peak. 

The rocks began to tumble beneath my feet,

watch your step Claire says,

while Ian thinks about what he's going to eat. 

The waves of the sea crashing against the shore, 

washing up the remnant plastic, 

that laid covering the floor.

Sea beds full, 

and sand damp, 

the sky dull,

and air crisp. 

Cliffs standing tall,

just waiting to fall. 

Dunraven Bay in all it's beauty,

Nature and elegance,

serving it's duty.

By Dina Hurst 

Although I have already captured the feelings I felt both before and after arriving at Dunraven Bay, I still feel as though I could go into more depth about my feelings, more specifically with the photography and filming side of the trip. When I first stepped off of the bus I felt as though I had to photograph everything because of the beauty of nature and how it maximised all of my senses completely immersing myself in my surroundings. But, as the trip progressed I learnt from Ian to think about what the focuses of the photos was going to be then I began asking myself, what will the composition going to be? That I believe helped me to take much more successful photographs such as the one below, which is definitely one of my favourite photographs from the entire trip. In the photograph below I captured the path leading up to the hill slowly getting smaller with the little building on the right being slightly hidden by the grass, as well as the wall going directly through the middle acting as a guideline within the centre of the photograph. Showing all of the natural beauty that I wrote about in my poem but without thinking about the ‘prettiness’ of the photograph or the scenery, but by focusing on the proportion of everything within the photograph.