After discovering Hope Gap the week before at high tide walking east from Seaford Head, I was keen to return during sunrise and low tide for the first December seascape photography shoot.

Lots of Gaps

Seems there quite a few little gaps along the East Sussex coast running from Eastbourne to Seaford. You have Cow Gap near Beachy Head then Birling gap and now Hope Gap. The weather conditions were blustery and cold, but with some breaks in the clouds, hopefully would capture some dramatic dawn sunlight.

Blue Hour Hope Gap

You can park for free at South Hill Barn Car Park. From there its about a 15 minute walk down to Hope Gap and the coast. I would say beach, but its not really that. Low tide and the beach revealed at Hope Gap is ugly!

The cliffs of the seven sisters and the sky looked good though, could be in for a sunrise light show. The Seven Sisters are to be the main focal point of the seascape photography shoot. Was hoping to get a good viewpoint and angle of the Seven Sisters during low tide on Hope Gap.

Dead Space Ugly Beach

Immediately I began to bracket 3 shots two stops apart. Was using the excellent and very sturdy Mach 3 Benro tripod, what an improvement this is over the Manfrotto. Was also aware of the ugly beach and ‘dead space’. Usually not realise that two thirds of the frame is dead space until later post processing the image on the big screen back home.

Being low tide I could venture further down to the coastline and attempt to exclude this ugly foreground. Those rocks are slippery, had wellingtons on but not with vibram soles which are good in these conditions.

Sunrise Hope Gap

Not have much time to capture the spectacular light. Times like these you realise there are lots of possible compositions within a small area. Its harder when your desperately trying to exclude lots of dead space. Lighter rocks look better in the foreground than the dark ones, but they were hard to find.

There were lots of clouds in the sky to catch the light of the sun as it rose over the horizon. Too many maybe, as wanted the cliffs of the seven sisters to be lit up.

Unfortunately there were thick clouds on the horizon hiding the direct sunlight. But the skies above were alight and dramatic. Even with that small gap of direct sunlight had a sunflare spot, that not realise till back home post processing on the big screen.

Being down on the ‘beach’ during low tide at Hope Gap and it is near on impossible to exclude that ugly dark rock and seaweed. I was looking for leading lines in the form of reflective channels through the rocks. The dark shapes do add depth to the image though. Maybe it would be better for this kind of detail to be hidden under the sea during high tide.

Coastal Walk Cuckmere Haven

With the best of the sunrise over headed back towards the cliff face and walked towards Cuckmere haven checking out any more compositions.

The rock formations are better closer to the cliff face. Getting the tide right to hide most of that dead ground would be better. Balancing the visual weight of the Seven sisters with any foreground interest is challenging. The side lighting from the sun sporadically peeking through a gap in the clouds adds interest.

Seven Sisters Panoramic

It was a cold windy day by the coast, needed to wrap up and be wearing the right clothing. The day was turning mostly cloudy and overcast and the light was dull. At Cuckmere haven decided on a panoramic shot of the cliff face of Seven Sisters.

Took a few panoramic shots making sure the tripod was level. The light was not happening though. Time to head back to the car park but over the cliffs checking out any further compositions.

Coast Guard Cottages Cliché Photo

Back over the cliffs and the classic or cliché photo you always see of the Seven Sisters is that which includes the Coast Guard cottages leading down to Cuckmere Haven.

Realised had not shot this iconic seascape myself so took a few, problem is not have the light. I get impatient with the light. Would get better photos if waited around more for the light to arrive.

Back to Hope Gap

Back over Short Cliff towards Hope Gap took some cliff side shots of the Seven Sisters. The wind was strong now and even though using a tripod switched on image stabilisation.

With the tide coming in now, the composition looks better including the sea which hides that ugly dead space below. Plus the seven sisters have much more visual weight. But this was a scouting mission too. Will return to this beautiful area of the east Sussex coastline again and improve.

Luminosity Masks Post Processing

Before wrapping up this post thought I would share a few thoughts on using Luminosity masks post processing. As stated previously due to the high dynamic range of light before and during sunrise bracketed 3 shots two stops apart. When the image is pretty static, no moving elements in the composition will just use HDR merging in Lightroom.

But with the strong winds, the sky and sea were moving fast and take up a large part of the frame. Even with auto bracketing the clouds and sea are constantly moving and do not align. Had to resort to using Luminosity masks in Photoshop to blend the 3 different images together. What made this a lot easier this time is using Greg Benz free Luminosity masks panel to auto generate masks for the lighter tones, the shadows and the midtones. My post processing improved because of this.