Lindisfarne Priory

How anticipating and predicting the light paid off

This image was made on the final trip away I had with my dad. I had stayed at the hotel next to the priory in December 2024 and decided I would like to bring my 84-year-old dad back there for a couple of days the following January. The idea and composition including the priory and the castle behind I had scouted back in December with my GFX 100 II. The light in Northumberland in December/January is quite extraordinary and I knew that last light would create a beautiful colouring on the priory.

I was out with my dad photographing in the harbour on a cloudy day - always a favourite pastime. As usual I was engrossed in the flow of image making but somehow I stepped out of picture taking and glanced up towards the priory. There was about 40-50 minutes to go before sundown and I could see a narrow band of clear sky that the sun would drop into.

I remembered the image I had scouted and realised I needed somehow to get my father, my kit and me into position. I also realised I had very little time to spare as my father was now somewhat unsteady on his feet and a sprint up to the priory was not an option. I didn’t really want to leave him. So I packed up and somehow coaxed my dad back towards the hotel and the grounds of the priory with the promise of good light.

We were in time - barely. I just had time to set up the technical camera, focus and wait no more than a few minutes before the sun dropped into the gap and the light was lovely. For all of a minute or so. But that was enough.

My father painted the same scene from my photograph a few weeks later - obviously a painting that means a lot to me personally. Yet another lesson in the value of building up the skills to predict what is going to happen with the light and anticipating where to be at the right time.