Lulworth Cove, where this was taken, is on the beautiful Jurassic Coast of England. It is referred to as the Jurassic coast because of the rich fossil resources that are everywhere in the area. Fossils are easily found at the surface when walking in this area due to the continual erosion of the coastline and the continual revelation of new fossila that accompanies it. Many significant fossils have been found here including intact ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeletons. These finds were famously attributed to probably the worlds first female fossil collector and palaeontologist, Mary Anning, who lived in the early 19th century.
This area is probably one of the most photographed areas of the south coast of England where people flock every year to see Lulworth Cove and the amazing rock formations. The most famous of these is called Durdle Door and is a large natural arch reaching out into the ocean. This photograph is taken between Lulworth Cove & Durdel Door and is called Stair Hole.
I took this particular view of Stair Hole as I loved the various layers, textures and colors that are compressed into such a small area here. In the foreground there is the rich red soil and flowers that abut the rocky beach. Behind you can see a limestone crumple that shows exactly how much the earth here has been twisted and forced into these layers of rock that almost seem like a roller coaster designer has gone wild here.
To get the shot I needed to be able to get a good depth of field so that everything from the flowers in the foreground right through to the ocean and cliffs was nicely in focus. I used a 15mm lens to frame the shot and then set the exposure at 1/60th of a second and f11 with ISO set at 100.
