With lockdown lifted and free to wander again was hoping to get out a lot more in June for some hiking and landscape photography. What follows is a compilation of locations around East Sussex and Kent that I managed to visit during the month of June.

North’s Seat, Hastings

June started well with a visit to North’s Seat part of the Hastings Country Park. There are some great views east over East Sussex and Kent, the Romney Marshes and the distant Kent Downs.

Years ago there used to be a viewing platform at the top of North’s Seat but it was destroyed a few decades back by vandals. This beautiful spot is close to nearby housing estates on the outskirts of Hastings.

Fairlight Glen Hastings

From exploring Norths Seat, the plan was to then hike down to the coast at Fairlight Glen and catch the sunset and the June full moon rise. Compared to Cliff End and Pett Level beach, Fairlight Glen has a lot more boulders and rocks on the beach, which I was hoping would provide good foreground interest.

Come sunset there were a few low and middle clouds on the horizon and these lit up beautifully with different shades of Lilac and purple as the golden hour turned to blue hour.

Then was a case of just waiting for the June Full moon to rise over on the horizon. I was a bit concerned about the low clouds obscuring the moonrise and it getting to dark, but I was not dissappointed.

The tide was rapidly coming in and was scrambling around even in the small area of the cove at Fairlight Glen to get a composition that included some of the bigger rocks in the foreground.

I prefer these type of compositions that include the seascape and landscape with the bright moon as a focal point. As opposed to the super telephoto shot where the frame is composed entirely of just the moon. With the the moon, did not want too long an exposure as its moving so had to bump up the ISO sensitivity to get a fast enough shutter speed. I still needed some depth of field due to the rocks etc in the foreground.

I thoroughly enjoy heading down to the coast each month to capture the full moon rising and long may it continue weather permitting.

The Problem with June

The trouble with June, the days are at their longest, the best light, sunrise and sunset to early and too late. The days can be long and hot, many landscape photographers during summer can lose motivation to get outside, longing for Autumn. I first got into walking and hiking for health reasons then landscape photography followed. In the early days, the time of day was not so important to me, I needed the exercise more. After a June heatwave, I decided I would go out whenever regardless of the light and time of day. I could scout locations and get a good walk in, some sunshine and fresh air.

Isle of Oxney, Kent

So it was I arrived at the Isle of Oxney in Kent not long before the midday sun. There was a fresh breeze blowing on top of the hill so not bad at all. You can still get some good landscape photographs during the day in June, especially if there are some cumulus clouds creating shadows and highlights on the ground below. Iv found that this type of Landscape Photography sells the best on stock photography platforms like Shutterstock.

I first noticed the hilltop of the Isle of Oxney when I visited Appledore in Kent a few years back now. It looked like an interesting location to walk taking you along the royal military canal, and I was not disappointed.

The Isle of Oxney use to be on the coast of south east England rather than inland like it is today bordering Romney Marsh.

Burwash, High Weald, East Sussex

The day before another June heatwave, my last chance to get out for a good walk for a couple of days. Again arrived late in the morning at Burwash in East Sussex. Have visited Burwash before but decided to take a different route through the High Weald here using OS Maps online rather than some walking guide.

The countryside of the High Weald in East Sussex around Burwash is quite stunning in places. No doubt why Rudyard Kipling chose to live here with Batemans nearby.

Was a long walk around Burwash in the midday sun, scouting out some high points on the High Weald with sweeping views.

Before returning to Burwash through some beautiful countryside. Definitely need to return to the High Weald around Burwash during better light, just not 4am or 9pm.

June Walks without Photography

I did a few more walks in June but there were no good compositions to inspire me to get my DLSR camera out. I did shoot a few snaps with my mobile, these included a brief scout over the High Weald Landscape trail just out of Tunbridge Wells as needed to visit an optician there. Another venture into Kent was to Hemsted forest, again no interesting compositions but eliminated it as a potential. Big disappointment around Bethersden which was a recommended walk around the oast houses of Kent.

Car and Wild Camping

That wraps up June’s Landscape photography around East Sussex and Kent in the south east of England. With the lockdown and not working I am really missing getting away on a road trip. The thing is dont want to stay in hotels anymore or Airbnb so am now researching and investing in equipment for car and wild camping.Hoping to put this into action late summer. The plan is to start with car camping at camp sites near the desired location. There seems to be plenty of camp sites about, for just a single tent not costing more than £10 a night. I then want to do some thru hiking and wild camping like the south downs way from Eastbourne to Winchester. Hopefully this will primarily take my landscape photography to a new level as well as lots of other benefits. Really excited about that.