July 2024 was a month of exploration and discovery as I ventured through the picturesque landscapes of East Sussex, the South Downs, and embarked on a road trip to the rugged coastlines of Devon. My journey began with evening hikes across Butts Brow and continued through iconic locations such as High and Over, Glynde, and Seaford, where I experimented with various lighting conditions, compositions, and technical techniques to capture the dynamic beauty of wheat fields and coastal vistas. Each location presented unique challenges and opportunities, from the strong winds creating motion blur in the wheat fields to the dramatic sunsets and moonrises that illuminated the rolling hills and fields of Phacelia.

Despite the unpredictable weather and the physical demands of navigating remote terrains, my passion for landscape photography drove me to capture the essence of these stunning locations. Through careful planning and spontaneous exploration, I discovered new compositions and honed my skills in capturing wide-angle shots that highlight the harmony between foreground elements and distant horizons. This month reinforced the importance of persistence, preparation, and the continual pursuit of perfecting the craft of landscape photography.

Wind in the Wheat Butts Brow

July 2024 began with an evening hike after work over Butts Brow on the south downs east Sussex. A good thing about the long days of summer is can get out in the evening after work, you are not restricted to the weekends if working full time. The reason I chose Butts Brows is its not far from home and there were reports on social media of poppy fields. Even though the poppies are past their peak decided to check it out. If came away empty handed would still have a good workout and no doubt make some noteworthy observations.

I not see any poppy fields but did discover a nice field of wheat blowing in the strong winds we had that day and catching the evening sunlight.

Motion Blur

I was going to experiment with some long exposures but had not packed my ND filter. I should just keep the ND filter in backpack permanent. Still managed some motion blur in the wheat with the polariser and stopping down to F/16 and F22 giving min shutter speed of 1/50 sec mounted on a tripod. Where you stood on the hill and the viewpoint made a lot of difference to the composition. Further down the hill it was sheltered from the wind. Looking in other directions and the composition was not as impactful. The wind was strong at 20mph, given a milder wind a similar effect could have been achieved with a longer exposure or that is the theory.

Elements of Interest

A flock of crows flying past adds an element of interest. This is something you can only see on a big screen and would not show up on a mobile. Was considering returning to this location for sunset with it setting behind Folkington Hill in the background. Although at that time not sure how the wheat would interact with the sunlight becoming more backlit rather than side lit. Generally these more wide angle shots should converge on a subject in the background like a hilltop. The main subject is the wheat blowing in the wind and catching the sunlight, but not enough for me needs to include more. Another element that adds interest to this photo is the colour harmony between the yellow hues of the wheat and blue ones present in the sky.

High and Over Cuckmere Valley

The following July weekend decided to check out some of the major viewpoints on the south downs in east Sussex. The plan was sticking with the July wheatfield theme driving around then taking some small hikes.

Initially I drove around Beachy Head but nothing, these wide open expanses are more for grazing sheep. The next stop was high and over. A good wheatfield on the high and over hilltop leading down to the Cuckmere valley river and haven. With shooting wheat the height from which you shoot is important and can impact the composition. Feel the above shot is too high, guess I was trying to include more of the Cuckmere river. Evening golden hour could work better here with side lit from the right of the frame.

Visual Feedback Screen size

Due to screen size I can only really analyse the images post processing back at home on the big screen. Without faffing about I wish I could send the image from my camera to a tab or my mobile phone screen and view the image taken in real time and much more detail. Often I have walked pass a scene and just taken a snapshot on my mobile. The mobile phone has a much bigger screen than the camera and post processes the displayed image using an inbuilt profile like landscape. The sensor can see colours and tones we cannot and the image on the back of the mobile phone looks much better than that observed with the naked eye. This has often resulted in me then setting up my main camera and taking a RAW image. I guess its all a lot better than the film days but still far from perfect, those camera screens are too small to refine the composition in real time.

Glynde Firle Beacon

Decided to check out Mount Caburn and parked up in Glynde. On the walk to the intended location found a composition of a wheatfield with Firle Beacon in the background,

The wheatfield was on private farmland and in front of me a locked gate. Was considering climbing over and getting closer to the wheat. Was a little out of my comfort zone shooting more wide angle rather than telephoto. Decided to stick to my main plan here in Glynde and scout out compositions of mount Caburn. Else would have been a game of patience waiting for the right light to hit the wheat and hills, but has potential for a return visit.

Glynde Mount Caburn

From parking up in Glynde made my way round to the front of mount Caburn where there is a walkway and cycle path that runs parallel to the A27 heading west towards Brighton. Not walked here before so was excited about finding some new compositions with wheatfields in the foreground converging on the prominent hill of mount Caburn in the background.

For this time of day the light was a bit contrasty but was more interested in finding a strong composition and can always come back when the light is optimum for the scene. Nice clouds above mount Caburn could have done with some paragliders to give a sense of scale but too windy for that.

Experimented with both portrait and landscape aspect ratios. The cumulus clouds above creating pools of light and shadow on the hillside.

Wide Angle Compositions

There are so many variables in these wide angle compositions, they are hard to get right and also require patience and timing with the light. Given July the sun would begin to set behind the hilltop of mount Caburn so not sure how that would work with wheat in the foreground. Will have to return during evening golden hour and observe. I did experiment with some long exposures using a 6 stop ND filter taking me above 1 second but they looked awful! You need to keep the texture of the wheat with strong winds not dropping below 1/30 sec. With the landscape orientation shot too high and not close enough to the wheat in the foreground. Getting too low though cuts out the wheat in the midground. Constant micro adjustments with limited real time visual feedback.

Seaford Seven Sisters

Another location I wanted to check out is a big field running down to Seaford head and the iconic cliffs of the Seven Sisters. Was getting tired now having been out most of the day and my energy levels had peak long before the best light of the evening golden hour and sunset.

The field running down Seaford Head to the Seven sisters though is used for grazing sheep not growing wheat or anything else. Still got some nice shots of the seven sisters using the 70-200mm lens. Shame there is not something more interesting in the foreground rather than scrubland like a field of vibrant poppies or sunflowers.

Wilmington Hill

With energy levels running really low despite an earlier pitstop in Alfriston village stores made a final stop at the foot of Wilmington hill to check out the location.

Wilmington was awash with wheatfields but the light was contrasty looking back towards Firle beacon in the distance. But knew this was a location I would need to return to one evening in the week when my energy peaked with the light. Been a great day out though exploring the July wheatfields on the south downs in east Sussex. Discovering new compositions and with plans to return under better light.

Summer Hibernation

Summer is generally considered the worst season for landscape photography with many photographers taking a break and hibernating. What with the long days the peak light is too early or too late. Personally I disagree there is still plenty to shoot if you go out with a keen eye. At least with the late sunsets can get out in the evening which takes the pressure off only being able to shoot at weekends and gives you more variance with the weather and conditions. I do agree though with sunrise being too early often having to set your alarm at 3AM! Don’t hibernate during summer if you want to get better as a landscape photographer. Get out – keep observing, keep shooting, keep finding new compositions.

Long Man of Wilmington

After my scout of the Wilmington area a few days previous midweek and made a return to observe it under golden hour and sunset. This was the evening of England v Holland in the European semi finals so how is that for dedication, I would listen in on the radio. Just needed to get outdoors more than anything after sitting on my arse and being in front of a computer screen and the stress of work. Cant wait to stop working again and take a year off maybe, go travelling again. Trouble is with travel I miss the south downs landscape too much and have to come home.

Which brings me back to the south downs and Wilmington. Wide stretching wheatfields with them converging on the main subject in the background the long man. I realised then that this composition of the long man of wilmington would likely be a lot better at sunrise with the sun coming in from the left and eliminating that annoying shadow to the right of the chalk figure. Was exclusively using the 16-35mm wide angle lens, getting interest in the foreground and background with the midground joining the two together.

Experimented both with portrait and landscape orientation both having their pros and cons. These kind of images not work so well on small screens and sharing on social media. Your main subject being in the background and taking up a tiny proportion of the frame.

Wide angle distractions and Lighting

Wide angle photography is more complex simply because you are including a lot more in the composition, beware of distracting elements around the edges else will have to crop quite significantly. With the sun behind me the wheatfield were front lit. Think I prefer side lighting and back lighting with these type of images.

Wilmington Sunset Firle Beacon

From the long man of Wilmington crossed the road for the sunset view of Firle Beacon in the distance with another large wheatfield expanding out from the foreground to the midground.

With the sun setting we have a more pleasing colour palate less stark contrast. Prefer this backlit exposure of the wheat in the mid to foreground. A small aperture of F16 ensured a sunburst effect as the sun dipped below low cloud on the western horizon. I find this image the most aesthetically pleasing of all my July wheat shots so far where the light at sunset and sunrise is often the best. It all brings together some key elements of landscape photography – timing, lighting, subject and composition. Still room for improvement though.

Shoot to Post Process

Due to the dynamic range of light had to exposure bracket and blend HDR post processing. Another thing you can do post processing with these wide angle shots that converge on a hill in the background is pull up the vertical making the hill larger using the transform panel.

Here you are exposing to post process the images later, each bracketed shot looked terrible on its own but merged together looks good. The longer exposure for the shadows and foreground includes some motion blur in the wheat adding visual interest.

Brightling High Weald

Mid July weekend not get up for dawn was impatient to wait for evening golden hour and sunset so just went outdoors mid afternoon when I was up for it. Needed to get outdoors so decided to head for the main viewpoints on the high weald in east Sussex. I not usually visit the high weald during summer being a more springtime and autumn location what with all the ancient woodland. But thought as they are growing wheat on the south downs maybe they are growing it too on the high weald.

I really like the above wide angle shot around 18mm. Think at the right height and distance from the foreground wheat. Got the detail and texture of the wheat in the foreground but carried through to the midground and the background. The background is not converging on a rising hill but lots of interesting cloud cover. No rule says it has to be a hill in the background just something interesting. The tracks running down the field add something, depth mostly and a leading line of sorts. the hill crest curves at the end leading you into the clouds. The original plan was to stay out pass sunset maybe heading back to the south downs but my energy levels peaked long before the light did.

Rottingdean Phacelia Moonrise

Had seen some photos being shared via social media of some large fields of Phacelia between Woodingdean and Rottingdean on the south downs near Brighton. So on a bright warm July summer evening end of week decided to check it out for myself.

Parked up at Castle Hill off Falmer road and hiked from there. Found the field of Phacelia but carried on a bit to check out some footpaths not walked before over high hill on the outskirts of Rottingdean.

Shadow Time

At this time of day shadows can play a big part in any composition as the sun sinks lower in the sky. To keep the Phacelia in the light had to keep moving higher up the hill as the sun set lower. To avoid my shadow being in the frame could only shoot side lit not front lit.

Moonrise blue hour

I was aware their would be a near full moonrise into blue hour so stuck around for this as the sun set and the fields of Phacelia were thrown into shadow. Its a large field of Phacelia not so thick though and not know where the best compositions were.

As the moon rose the sky had an appealing lilac haze which complimented the purple of the Phacelia. Prefer the blue hour light over the golden hour light with this type of composition.

Wide Angle Dilemma

Shooting wide angle, accentuating the flowers in the foreground renders the bright moon a small dot in the background. But the moon stills adds much interest as it pierces through the purple haze and your eye cannot help but rest upon it. Without the moon the photo would lose a lot of interest despite its small size in the frame.

Due to the wind had to use a higher than preferred ISO along with a small aperture to get required depth of field. You could only zoom in so far if you wanted to keep the Phacelia featuring in the composition. Another option is focal blending but a lot of post processing faff. With generative AI now you can just select the moon and make it bigger 🙂 I tried that it looked good but prefer to keep it real.

Ditchling Beacon Sunset

The plan for the evening was to attempt to photograph a moonrise around Ditchling Beacon looking south east to Seaford Head with the 400mm lens and 1.4 extender. There was broken cloud so a bit of a gamble if it would happen or not. But arrived early to maybe catch a sunset over Ditchling beacon to the north west with the sunlight catching the grooves in the escarpment.

There was more cloud cover than predicted and thought neither a sunset or moonrise would occur. But then the sun broke through a gap in the clouds and the sky lit up quite brilliantly. I could only react hand holding the camera with a high ISO. In hindsight should have got lower to include some long grass in the foreground cutting out the dead space in the bottom left and used a tripod. On the hillside felt a little rain, as I walked back up the hillside there was a full bow rainbow. Due to the cloud cover there was no moonrise until it was dark.

Hartland North Devon

My July road trip to the Hartland Peninsula in North West Devon was a mix of stunning landscapes and challenging conditions. The weather was mostly overcast, which, while great for certain types of photography like waterfalls, made capturing vibrant seascapes difficult. Navigating to remote locations like Blackchurch Rock involved challenging hikes and navigating single-lane roads that were more like tracks. Slippery and precarious rocks added to the difficulty, and the lack of essential equipment like an ND filter and tripod limited my ability to achieve ideal long exposure shots.

Timing was another significant challenge. My initial visits to key locations like Blackchurch Rock during high tide were not ideal for the intended compositions, and although low tide revealed better opportunities, I missed perfect conditions due to timing constraints. Despite plans to return at more optimal times, the physical exhaustion from strenuous hikes impacted my ability to make repeat visits. Additionally, Hartland’s remoteness meant very patchy mobile signals, affecting my connectivity. The cabin’s Wi-Fi had poor upload speeds and did not support VPN traffic, leading me to purchase an EE pay-as-you-go SIM card and a MiFi device, which ultimately provided a reliable solution.

End Of July

Here is a summary of my July Photography experiences condensed as a list of key points and tips

• Use the long days of July to shoot sunsets in the evenings getting out in the week after work.
• Always carry an ND filter and tripod especially when wanting to capture motion blur in fields of wheat or waterfalls
• If posting to social media the image needs strong powerful elements to be impactful. small elements of interest will not even register as most people viewing on small screens.
• When shooting wide angle perspective makes a lot of difference. Experiment with different heights from down low up close to up high. Too low though will often cut out the midground.
• Use your mobile phone camera to experiment with compositions and to bring out colours you might not be seeing with the naked eye.
• When shooting wheat in the wind trying to get some motion blur start around 1/30 second to preserve some texture in the wheat.
• The best landscape photos have many elements in alignment with the conditions this need to align with your energy levels to.
• Wide angle shots should converge on an element of interest in the background like the crest of a hill. Use the vertical transform tool to stretch this element if looks too small.
• When shooting wheat or similar experiment with different lighting on your subject, side light, backlit or front lit can make a huge difference.
• Shoot to post process, if the dynamic range of light is too great exposure bracket.
• Use long grass in the foreground to cut out any dead space in the composition.
• If going on a road trip to a remote location check the mobile phone signal in the area and take an appropriate payg sim card and mifi device. You cannot rely on supposed WIFI being adequate.
• A mid tide receding around sunset is likely going to give you more options than low tide or high tide when shooting seascapes. Your visits should try to coincide with a receding mid tide.
• Be aware of the part shadows play when shooting on a hillside during golden hour and sunset working from bottom to top as the sun sinks.
• Experiment with wide angle to telephoto when shooting the moon and wanting to include foreground interest.

That wraps up July 2024 roll on August and the end of summer.