Dadford’s Wharf Boatyard

Thanks for joining me for a Black Country landscape photography session at Dadford’s Wharf Boatyard on the Stourbridge canal.

Sunday’s are often my busy lazy days. You know the kind. Wake up, get dressed have breakfast whilst watching your favourite photographers on YouTube. Potter around for a couple of hours, eat lunch, watch the Formula 1 whilst screaming at the television followed by dinner, a spot of photo editing all before going to bed to get some well earned rest. I know what you are thinking! busy day right?

In addition to the above I usually manage to find a couple of hours where I can bimble with the camera and capture some photos. I love capturing the early morning light however like most can find it a bit of a struggle to get up and out during summer mornings. That’s fine though as there is always sunset to look forward to.

Now, as far as sunsets go I am getting pretty good (with the help of clear outside) at predicting a photogenic sunset or maybe its just being extremely lucky. That’s not to say I don’t get caught out. I’ve lost count of the occasions where I think tonight is going to be great but when I look outside there is nothing special going on. A few minutes later….. BOOM! the sky is on fire. More often than not at this point it’s too late to go out and I end up watching from my window whilst sulking and regretting stopping at home.

Dadford’s Wharf Boatyard

My first visit to Dadford’s Wharf was a while ago now. In fact I’ve just checked the date on one of my scouting shots and it was the 20th April 2019. The images from that trip are nothing more than a record of the location and a prompt to visit again in the future at some point. Fast forward 3 years and I find myself back at the Wharf. Thinking about it I don’t know why its taken me so long to return when this location is so close to home.

Dadford’s Wharf is located in Wordsley on the Stourbridge canal and near to the Red House Glass Cone. This area has been well documented by several local photographers. They always appear to do the location justice so I have a lot to live up to. Most of what I would call the more appealing images tending to be shot around sunset and the golden hours.

Black Country Landscape Photography

Todays visit to Dadford’s Wharf could be described as an afterthought. My original plan was to photograph a local woodland however upon arriving late and walking a couple of hundred yards I soon realised the sun was too low in the sky and decided to leave. With time against me the only place I could think of locally worth trying is Dadford’s Wharf.

Upon arrival I quickly set up my tripod and fired off a few frames. I made sure I slightly varied my composition between each shot until I found something that worked. The clouds eventually began to move across my frame from right to left. This helped to add interest to what could have easily been a boring sky. I must say everything happened so quickly and sunset was all over in a matter of minutes.

As far as my image goes I quite like the way the clouds are lit from below with the setting sun. I also like how the wall of the boatyard is illuminated. The best part of the image for me is the reflected clouds in the water.

If you have visited Dadford’s Wharf you may notice that I’ve cloned out a couple of distracting objects. The unsightly refuse bin and a couple of street signs really needed to go. The remainder of the image is true to life and how the scene actually presented itself. Feel free to comment below if you like my image but please don’t go calling the photoshop police 😂

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