Zoom in

If you’re itching to get out and about with your camera, Janet Deacon offers a guide to picture-perfect places

- Janet Deacon

If some form of lockdown is still in place as you read this, our guess is you’ll be yearning to get out and about and keen to capture some precious memories. Hold that thought - sooner or later, you’ll be able to get out and about again with your camera.

From the Victorian splendor of Saltburn Pier to the vast expanse of Filey Bay, and all that lies in between, the North Yorkshire coastline has plenty to offer the keen photographer or just the casual observer capturing their surroundings on a smartphone. There are some great, much-photographed locations – and some hidden ones too – around which you could plan a future visit to the coast.

Start at the northern end at Saltburn Pier, a classic seaside attraction offering the photographer a host of options. It can be viewed in all its glory from above on the clifftop, or take the wonderful water-powered funicular railway (a photo opportunity in itself) down to the seafront to look down the full length of the pier; try keeping a few people in the shot for scale. For a more abstract image, head down to the beach and seek out interesting compositions beneath the structure.

Head down the coast, perhaps stopping at the cliffs at Boulby – at over 200m tall, the highest on the east coast of England – before arriving on the northern side of Staithes at Cowbar. Park at the nearby clifftop car park and walk the short distance along the cliffs to one of the most photographed views in England as you peer down into Staithes Beck, usually dotted with a few fishing boats. There are cliffs to one side and, across a small footbridge, the picturesque village.