Taking my own advice got out of bed early morning for another photo walk somewhere hopefully with a sunrise. Decided on a return trip to Butts Brow on the South Downs near Eastbourne with good dawn views east.

Butts Brow Return

Have visited Butts Brow a few times in the past, not done incredibly well there before from a photography aspect but its good for hiking with great views. If your coming from the east its the nearest hill on the South Downs, closer than Warren Hill and Wilmington Hill. This time rather than heading south over Willingdon Hill, I would more explore Butts Brow itself. Visualised should get a good view of a sunrise from Butts Brow which opens up east along the coast to Hastings East Hill. You can park up at the peak of the hill pay and display gets full from 8AM onwards, dog walkers, joggers and hikers.

Butts Brow Blue Hour

Arrived at Butts Brow carpark around 6AM. Being close to Eastbourne and residential areas there were a few night owls parked up. Moved along the footpath to Butts Brow which was deserted. Some quite strong winds had about 15 minutes until sunrise. The blue hour sky was already getting colourful pre-dawn. You cannot always believe the weather apps, the night before they predicted a 100% cloud. Totally wrong, this could put you off. In the wind and on the slope had brought the wrong tripod my light one rather than heavy.

Was concentrating on framing up a composition in front of me where the sun should rise. Then noticed the lilac colours in the sky behind me. Took the camera off the tripod and attempted some hand held shots.

Butts Brow Sunrise

As I am framing up the colourful sky behind me with 24-105mm lens I then notice the red sun beginning to peak over the horizon from my original viewpoint. Rushed back to the tripod, changed lens to the 70-200mm and framed up the composition.

Managed to catch the sunrise in time before it rose and changed colour from red to orange. Again caught myself rushing around like a headless chicken as opposed to being ready and waiting. If I ever get to that stage will be a good landscape photographer by then. This time was not thinking panos no time for that, did take some bracketed shots but not really use the shot for the shadows. There is nothing down there of interest in the bottom third almost dead space. Despite my shortcomings it was a sight to behold. Done well there. If ever I get bored with sunrises wont just give up photography but life too.

Golden Light Rays

Remained patient and stuck to my viewpoint and composition. Then just observed the light changing and every so often pressing the shutter release on a 2 second delay of course.

Rewarded with my patience, not take long, got a light show. It would have been fantastic if the silhouette of a distinctive ship was in the middle of that orange golden light ray adding a strong focal point. We always want more.

The best light lasts a few minutes at most before it quickly dissipates. You need to be ready. So glad dragged myself out of bed. Beat my best landscape photos from Butts Brow on the south downs the early September morning.

Composition Improvement over time

The thing is as the months turn into years your landscape composition skills get better. You will see and pre-visualise compositions you would have been oblivious too or walked pass years before. So it can pay off returning to previous locations, to not dismiss them as not worth the effort. In the future could further improve on this composition, this becomes apparent post processing these images even writing these blog posts. You much more analyse the photo then rather than at the time in the field. In the field you just react to the conditions and hope for the best. Experience just increases the probability of a keeper. Many images look good on a small screen with less than perfect eyesight. How it could improve is with the 100-400mm lens, a month or so earlier so the sun is rising over the hill there in the distance. Zoomed in filling up the frame and excluding all that dead space in the bottom third. Look forward to attempting that.

Morning Golden Hour

Not long after dawn, the purple, then red and orange hues in the sky disappeared and sunrise turned into morning golden hour. Butts Brow is quite a distinctive escarpment on the south downs including good views north west to Folkington Hill. Now with the sun behind me low in the sky should provide some good front and side light on the hills of the south downs. Some good cloud formations in the sky too.

Nice view north west towards Folkington Hill. Left the main footpaths to discover these viewpoints and frame up some new compositions not shot before on previous visits.

The escarpment of Butts Brow itself is quite distinctive and provides a good composition given the morning golden hour front lighting as well as cloud interest in the sky.

Morning Walk

Nice morning walk around Butts Brow, checking out any further compositions. Returned to the viewpoint over to Folkington Hill. Looks like a good walk out that way.

Kept framing and shooting during morning golden hour. Some meandering grazing black cattle added some foreground interest to the morning composition. With golden hour over headed back to the carpark which was getting very busy after 8AM.

Summary

Good photography morning out on the hill of Butts Brow. Good location and viewpoint for a sunrise with a telephoto lens or view angle of 200-400mm. Good parking nearby to the best viewpoints.

The location is also good for catching the morning golden hour light on the south downs escarpment front lit and facing east. Butts Brow is a good starting point for a day out hiking.

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