As a professional landscape and fine art photographer, my favourite subject to capture, should I be forced into choosing just one, would have to be coastal photography. The coast line provides us with a dynamic, ever changing environment that is both visually stunning and challenging to the photographer. All of the elements are thrown at us, wind coming in from the sea can be ferocious, whipping up sea mist and completely soaking our beloved kit; snow, hail, rain, sand, all potentially damaging to those delicate precision tools that we use for image making. On top of that, there is our own safety to consider, slippery rocks waiting to catch you out and incoming tides that may threaten to leave us stranded!

With all these potential hazards then, we need to know that our kit is going to be protected for those precarious walks and climbs in between taking the shots. I spent a couple of days in Filey on the rugged Yorkshire coast with the Manfrotto Advanced Tri Backpack to protect my kit.

On day 1 I headed over to the famous Filey ‘Brigg’, a rocky outcrop that juts out into the North Sea, it’s a wild place with crashing waves and is as close to the sea as you can feel without actually being immersed. On this day, a little too wild, the wind was so strong that the planned long exposures had to be abandoned, in fact the wild conditions meant just coming home with a few handheld shots, as even keeping a tripod on the ground was proving difficult; as such, after several hours I abandoned as cameras were unable to be exposed to the elements for little more than a few seconds without being completely wet through from sea mist, snow and rain!

Thankfully, day 2 proved much more rewarding. I arrived shortly before sunrise, but also at high tide which meant a climb down the steep promontory onto the rocky outcrop below. The Advanced Tri backpack, is designed to be worn in three ways, in the ‘X’ position (straps crossed over your chest), the sling position, or my preferred position, old school backpack style with the straps over my shoulders. This position was excellent for climbing and the pack feels very secure even with the tripod out back. Once down onto the Brigg, I was excited to see that the sunrise was going to be a good one. Tripod and kit was accessed very quickly and I was rewarded with a spectacular sunrise over the sea, surely one of the most magical experiences in life!

After the magic of sunrise and the dramatic lighting conditions, it’s not all over. The coast offers so many more photographic opportunities. Have a good explore of your chosen location, look at the details, rock formations, sand, pebbles, seaweed, all offer interesting subject matter that can make for nice abstract imagery. You’ll find countless textures and colours, even take in the sounds, try and make a connection to this coastal environment and portray it as you feel it, this is the key to engaging photography.

The advanced Tri Backpack suits my needs as a very adaptable, comfortable and durable design. Although designed for a pro DSLR with battery pack and attached long-range zoom plus 5-6 additional lenses, it’s easy to customise the bag to your own needs by moving around the dividing partitions enabling you to fit your own kit. In my case a Sigma SD1 Merrill with 10-20mm lens and a the much smaller Sony A7R with 24-70mm lens, plus accompanying accessories, such as remote release, spare batteries and cards for each. In the top compartment I store a set of Lee filters which just leaves enough room for a bottle of water and a snack (landscape photography is thirsty work!). I can also attach my Manfrotto 055 CXPRO3 Tripod with the straps provided. The backpack is able to carry a 15” laptop or tablet, should you require such wizardry on your outings.

Lastly, you could write an entire book on coastal photography techniques, but here are just a few of my personal tips for successful coastal photography.

• Be safe, always let someone know where you’re going to be.
• Check the tide times, you do not want to get cut off by the tide!
• Common sense, but if shooting in winter, dress appropriately – warm clothes and sturdy footwear.
• Sand and sea spray are your enemy when it comes to kit, never put kit down or leave exposed needlessly. The only place it should be, is in your hands, your bag or on the tripod, not laid on a rocky surface or where it can be exposed to sand.
• When the elements are against you, speed is of the essence. Arrange your kit so that you know where things are, the coastline is dynamic, moments are fleeting and you don’t want to miss that shot. A pack such as the Manfrotto Advanced Tri Backpack allows for quick access, is customizable and protects your gear.
• If the weather turns bad, those grey days can produce moody and dramatic monochrome images, never the let the weather put you off. Unless of course it becomes so windy/extreme that your tripod blows over, or it looks like you could get washed off a rocky outcrop, which almost happened to me on Day 1!
• When you get home, clean sea spray from your kit with a damp cloth, then clean with your usual method. Don’t leave kit festering in your bag.
• Explore, and most of all have fun!