Apologies for the poor pun in the title! Every so often, it’s possible to have one of those rare days that are perfect and this was one of those days. Whilst in Cornwall, I arranged for my parents to pick me up at 9am from the in-laws and drive down to deepest, darkest Cornwall for the day, stopping off at Roche Rock, a couple of quoits and then after a pub meal, watching sunset at Godrevy Point. The weather was warm and sunny which really helped the mood too. The drive down was good (although we missed the Roche Rock turning due to the new A30 and my maps dating back 20 years). We shared Lanyon Quoit and Men an Tol with other visitors, but Mulfra Quoit and Zennor Quoit we had to ourselves. After the quoits, we went to Godrevy Point to do a recce for the evening shoot, went for a pub meal and then back to Godrevy Point but those photos are for another time.

I went down to Cornwall with the aim to get a set of four square black and white photos of Neolithic Cornwall. I would have liked a standing stone rather than the third quoits, but that didn’t become obvious until later in the day when I didn’t have Google to research the area with. Below are the four shots I have come away with. I am pleased with them and feel I have fulfilled my objective. Plus this was the best day I’ve had in a long time – no children to look after, no work to do (OK, so photography is work but it didn’t feel like it) and parents who actually had a day without being stressed about little things. A very rare day indeed and one I’ll treasure for a long time.

TL: Zennor Quoit; TR: Mulfra Quoit; BL: Lanyon Quoit; BR: Men an Tol

All images were taken by either lying on the ground or crouching down – one thing I’ve worked out is that getting down low is the best way to photograph ancient monuments, get them to break the horizon and emphasise them.