Talacre Lighthouse & Beach resides within a short 5 minute walk from the small holiday village of Talacre in North Wales, Flintshire. Its real name is Point of Ayr Lighthouse, but many people refer to it as Talacre Lighthouse.
I have visited many places in North Wales to expand my North Wales Photography Portfolio, but Talacre Beach is only a 5 minute drive from my place of residents.
I parked my car In Talacre and started walking towards the beach. As you walk up the ramp to the beach the first thing I noticed was the nature reserve signs on my right, it wasn’t until I got home and Googled about the Nature Reserve that I realize how good Talacre Beach Nature Reserve is. Talacre Beach is also an Special Area of Scientific Interest (SSSI) combined with its 870 mile coastal path that runs though Talacre its a great place to explore.
I then pushed on to the left and through the sand dunes, soft golden thick sands! It was hard going initially across the sand dunes carrying my camera bag as it slowed me down some what, but once you get onto the beach it hardens up and your rewarded with some great open views.
As I moved onto the beach I got my first sight of Talacre Lighthouse which stands tall and prominent approximately 200 meters from the sand dunes, so its nice and easy to get to for a photography fix!
The lighthouse is thought to be the oldest in Wales and after the loss of two ships in 1775 was pushed though parliament and was subsequently built the following year in 1776. Talacre lighthouse was the earliest “lantern” lighthouses in Wales looking out over Liverpool Bay towards Llandudno and up the Dee estuary to Liverpool.
I visited the lighthouse on several occasions as it was on my route to and from work, and as it is one of the most photographed locations in North Wales it would have been daft not to try and catch it in its glory.
On my first visit I was using my Nikon D7000 and It produced a few nice captures of the beach and lighthouse and the weather was not too bad at all.
get in touch to discuss usage rights
My second visit was using my Sony Nex 7 and I wanted to merely test it out in comparison to my Nikon D7000 as they had the same APS-C Sensor so I was hoping for good results. The weather was not as nice but I still got to test the camera out and it performed well.
My most recent visit in December 2013 saw me take my latest camera and hopefully my last for some time my Nikon D800 which I really love, and whilst the weather conditions were not great I did some long exposures as the wind was blowing the clouds over head fast, and im happy with the photographs.
Talacre Beach
I have put together a quick map of Talacre Beach using Google maps, it shows the high and low tides levels too. I also use Admiralty EasyTide (Mostyn Docks) to work out tide times and of course The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) to work out Sunrise / Sunset times and angles.
Just a word of warning!
Dont attempt to park your car on the beach after 8pm or high tide. The barrier gets shut by security and you will be stranded without your vehicle!
To finish of I tried a few alternative styles for me, the first being an Abstract type of Panorama shot, and the second a very nice Monochrome Photo of the Beach and Lighthouse. Both came out very well.
