This was the view I was trying to take with the 5x7 Cambo monorail early on Saturday morning. But I failed.

Just when I was ready to take the photo the sun came out behind the clouds and shone straight into the camera. The sun had shifted from directly lighting up the face of the cliffs just after dawn --which is what I'd initially seen--- to the worst possible position for me, whilst I was struggling to set up the camera.

I'd taken too long to set the monorail up. I hadn't allowed for that. I should have got there before dawn instead of after dawn. The conditions were perfect too:--cloudy, no wind, soft light. Those kind of conditions don't come that often in summer. I blew it.

I decided to come back in the afternoon when the sun was behind me. But by then a really strong south west wind was blowing across the sea and the cliffs. The same windy conditions prevailed on Sunday, only the wind was stronger and there was no cloud. So that was that.

How you actually compose the image using a large format view camera in the dark beats me. You wouldn't be able to see anything through the ground glass. Nor do I fancy scrambling around on narrow ledges in the dark.