One island I’ve always wanted to visit is Jersey. December may not be everyone’s first choice for when, but with my work schedule and some good deals around, I grabbed the opportunity. And I most certainly wasn’t disappointed. Let me share some of my favourite snaps with you….

Dusk on St Helier seafront.

 

For a small island only 9 miles by 5, it’s main town St Helier is surprisingly large and busy. It has an impressive array of up-market shops as well as some lovely architecture. With an evening flight, I had to wait until the next day to appreciate the architecture and scenery properly.

My first photo is St Helier beach at dusk, looking towards Elizabeth Castle. It was nice to make the moon a feature in this photo. It’s more often than not, too high or in the wrong spot when composing a landscape photo at the end of the day.

Beautiful buildings to admire in the town centre.

A distinctly French flavour in the town centre and very much the feel of a city, albeit on a small scale. Certainly a delight for shoppers and rich pickings for photographers.

Mont Orgueil Castle

The fun really began for me when I took to four wheels to explore the island. My first strop was the delightful fishing village of Gorey, dominated by the dramatic hilltop castle of Mont Orgueil. I took two similar views from two different nearby locations. The first takes advantage of the lovely promenade gardens using the tree and dark foreground to ‘frame‘ the castle, whilst the ornate streetlamp is an added bonus in making a pleasant well balanced shot full of interest.

Gorey beach and the famous castle.

 

 

Portelet Bay

 

In my second shot, I moved only a few yards onto the beach. I used the wet sand to make a reflection of the castle in this open and airy postcard view. Ideally I would have waited for the sun to move round to highlight the charming row of seafront houses, but had to make do with a bit of subtle highlighting in Photoshop.

 

 

 

 

Surely a coastal view doesn’t get more idyllic than this one below! With the sea this colour and the sun beaming down, it’s hard to imagine this is part of the British Isles, let alone in December. Even the gorse is starting to flower on the foreground bush, adding a splash of colour.

 

 

 

 

Corbière Lighthouse.

 

My final shots from this small selection came from a memorable visit to Corbière Lighthouse on Jersey’s south western tip. It’s probably one of the island’s most photographed landmarks and rightly so. My mission was to do it justice. I searched for just the right rock pool with a still reflection if the lighthouse perched majestically on it’s rock.

Jersey’s picturesque south western tip.

My final slightly hazy image shows the location of the lighthouse better and the causeway to it that’s only accessible at low tide.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my brief look at Jersey. There’s more photos from this enchanting island coming shortly in my next blog, which takes a look further north on the island and explores remnants of the wartime occupation.