Camera: Olympus OM2
Film: Kodak Portra 400 

The February sun was brilliant and sharp, cutting through the crisp winter air with that particular clarity you only get on the best cold days. I found myself drawn to Brixham's working harbour, camera in hand, the familiar weight of the Olympus OM-2 warming in the bright light.

The harbour sparkled under the clear sky, gulls wheeling overhead in raucous conversation, their white wings flashing against the deep blue above. The smell hit you in waves: clean brine and that fresh bite of winter air, the earthy funk of seaweed drying in the sunshine, and underneath it all, that distinctly maritime perfume of lobster pots stacked along the quayside, their weathered wood warming in the sun.

February sunshine in a fishing port has its own magic. The summer crowds were months away, leaving the harbour to its true self, weathered, working, honest, but transformed by the brilliant light. Portra 400 was perfect for this scene, capturing the vivid contrasts: the deep shadows cast by boats and buildings against the sun-bleached stonework, rust-stained hulls glowing warm against the cold blue water.

I wandered without purpose, letting the harbour's geometry guide me, the intersecting lines of masts and rigging etched black against the winter sky, the curves of boat hulls catching and reflecting the sun's glare. Each frame felt like capturing pure energy, the marriage of that clean winter light with the timeless rhythms of a working harbour, where everything smelled of salt and sunshine and the promise of spring still months away.