War

Today I witnessed a titanic battle, a war that’s lasted millions of years, that has raged across the centuries while man has appeared like a blip on the timeline of history.

On the one side, a formidable and almost immobile fortress of rock and stone and earth, standing hard against attack, stoical and committed. Its defence is its sheer size and bulk, and it throws off the attacks of its enemy with defiance and gritty determination.

On the other, a raging maelstrom of a foe, wild and angry, throwing wave after wave of bombardments against its enemy, desperate to push it back, and to gain ground whatever the cost.

It attacks ceaselessly, sometimes in a huge single battering ram of an attack with full scale artillery, and sometimes in smaller skirmishes with infantry carrying out constant harrying skirmishes, probing defences, causing small amounts of seemingly insignificant damage but which over time take their toll.

You can hear the thunder of its artillery barrage as each strike reaches its target, booming ominously through the air. You can feel and hear the machine gun fire sound as each wave of attack is repelled time after time…

I speak of the sea and of the land.

I had a day off today, and boy did I need it after all the sad stuff of January. And I found the mother lode of all locations for photographs today. I hadn’t been to this spot before, and as I arrived, I could feel my heart start to race with excitement.

Sometimes photography is hard work – and other times, you don’t know where to turn as you’re presented with opportunities everywhere you look. Today was that day. It was a FEAST for the senses.

I watched as great crashing waves smashed themselves insanely against huge buttresses of rock, or threw themselves up pebbly rocky shores to expend themselves pointlessly, pulling thousands of rocks and stones back through the surf as they broke, collapsed and receded. I could see the waves build up miles offshore and heave themselves towards the battle as though this time, THIS time, the breakthrough would come.

But the land did yield. Everywhere on the shore and behind, you could see the evidence of damage - Rocks (and I mean I BIG pieces of stone) and seaweed and rubbish were strewn everywhere.

And so the battle continues... as it has for millions of years...

Being only human, I managed to stay there for about three hours!

Don’t you just love photography? Here’s to more fantastic locations and wonderful photographs to remember them by…