Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits: Cambridge's Hidden Photography Location

Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits — the disused chalk quarries on the eastern edge of Cambridge — form one of the city's most unusual and dramatically beautiful photography locations. White chalk cliffs rising from a nature reserve floor, orchids in summer, and a quality of light reflected from the pale rock faces that makes the location unlike anything else near Cambridge.

The chalk cliffs

The chalk pits' pale white walls — soft and luminous in diffused light, graphic and stark in direct sun — create a portrait backdrop with a quality entirely different from Cambridge's stone colleges or riverside meadows. The reflected light from the chalk surfaces is naturally flattering and essentially mimics a large studio softbox. Portrait sessions against the chalk face have a clean, graphic, and contemporary character.

Wildlife and wildflowers

Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits is a designated Local Nature Reserve, home to rare chalk grassland wildflowers including several species of orchid that bloom in May and June. The combination of white chalk, green grassland, and purple orchid colour creates a portrait palette that is vibrant and entirely natural. Butterflies, including chalkhill blue and marbled white, add to the seasonal character.

Combining with Cambridge city

Cherry Hinton is three miles from Cambridge city centre — far enough to feel completely rural, close enough to combine with a morning ceremony at a college or city venue. Post-ceremony portrait sessions at Cherry Hinton, followed by return to the college for drinks and dinner, make an efficient use of the golden hour window on a summer wedding day.