Commencing The Coastline - March 2026

The Beach Huts at Hengistbury Head, Dorset.

Once again, the month has flown by at pace and it’s time for my photography blog!

They say life begins at 40. This month I reached that ‘big’ milestone, and it’s been a fantastic month for photography. It’s been a year since I purchased my Nikon Z50 II, and the last 12 months have definitely been a journey of learning and discovery as I get to grips with a whole new language!

Exploring the Coast

This month I started my Coastline Photography Project; a personal ambition to explore and photograph as much of the UK coastline during my 40s as possible. This month I managed a very foggy trip to Sand Bay in Somerset; a lovely sunny spring day at Hengistbury Head in Dorset; and a very blustery, windswept bay at West Wittering in Sussex. All three were very different experiences from a photography perspective, but also in terms of style and approach to the day.

Sand Bay

I started out my coastline exploration on my birthday itself, visiting a fairly quiet Sand Bay in Somerset. Being on the Bristol Channel, the beach is more mud than sand, but the washed‑up branches made for some interesting photography opportunities — and also gave our dog a great ‘sniffari’ to complement the usual beach zoomies. It was an incredibly foggy day, so visibility was poor, which presented a challenge for my photography ambitions; however, I persevered and managed to capture some great shots.

Hengistbury Head

By the middle of the month, the weather had finally started to improve. With a sunny day forecast, I decided to make an early‑morning dash to the coast in a different direction — south. This visit was much more walking‑focused, with a beautiful 8‑mile hike around the head, exploring the white sand and beach huts at Mudeford Sandbank, as well as the headland and into Southbourne before returning back along the River Stour. The dog enjoyed the long hike and really enjoyed the varied scenery. It was a fantastic clear and sunny day, with views over the Isle of Wight making for some lovely photos with the high‑level, wispy cirrus clouds.

West Wittering

The purpose of my visit to West Wittering wasn’t primarily photography; it was the annual Bedlington Terrier meet‑up. Our dog is a Bedlington cross, so we thought we would head down to see all the dogs having a great time zooming and playing on the beach. A good photographer will always take the camera ‘just in case’, and I am glad I did. It was an extremely blustery day, with the sand whipping up into your face at times. It was still a remarkably enjoyable trip and one I would certainly repeat, especially with the fantastic photography opportunities at East Head.

It's not just the Seaside

I promise not to only post seaside and coastal photography in this blog! March has also been a fantastic month inland for photography outings — most of which have been local to home, visiting places like Bibury, Baydon, and the Old Town Gardens in Swindon. I also revisited the fantastic walk I mentioned in February in Henley, which was on a much nicer day and offered up some slightly different photography opportunities.

I will be back with more photos next month; and then it’s into May and the exciting trip to Scotland — which will probably be worthy of a slightly more frequent update. Be sure to keep following along if you enjoy my wittering!

Until next time,

Kenny