June 24 was an active month including a working road trip to the Peak District in Derbyshire and onto the Northumberland coast in north east England. June included some local locations too with some poppy field hunts over the south downs in both east and west Sussex. June 24 ended with a sunset from Dungeness on the Kent coast. What follows is a summary of my landscape photography adventures during June 24.

Balmer Down South Downs

When you not got a specific composition in mind, or the conditions are not optimal its just good to get outdoors and explore some new footpaths and locations. This was the case with Balmer down on the south downs in east Sussex. Wanted to get outdoors the first weekend of June 24 and racking my brains on where to go. Scanning OS Maps realised had not really explored the views from Balmer Down so that was where I was heading.

Parked up in a layby below Blackcap and hiked up from there all the way to the other side near Housedean Farm running parallel to A27. Housedean farm has a campsite and a small coffee shop that was open until 6pm so had a small break there.

The views from the top of Balmer Down are quite breath-taking. Glad I had got outdoors and explored some new footpaths on the south downs. There was good light on the landscape with the broken clouds above. Pools of sunlight and shadows scattered across the sweeping farmland and hills. What’s amazing from this viewpoint on top of Balmer down is all you can see, including Kingston Ridge, Seaford Head, Haven Brow, Firle Beacon and Mount Caburn. Not least Ashcombe Windmill which I waited for the sunlight to catch. Problem is with such an expansive view is everything far away, far apart and looks small in the frame. Still is a composition would like to work more, thinking sunrise could work well from Balmer Down.

Peak District Derbyshire

From the familiarity of the south downs and east Sussex embarked on a working road trip to the Peak District in Derbyshire and beyond. This was my first visit to the Peak District and was renting a farmhouse cottage for the week providing a home from home experience. It was amazingly peaceful in the Peak District and very dramatic and photogenic.

After working all day would venture out in the evening to some iconic location within the Peak District staying out late to get the best of the light. This arrangement works well early summer and June if you work from home, its easy to become a digital nomad.

Northumberland Coast

From the Peak District I made my way to the Northumberland coast in the north east of England. Like the Peak District the Northumberland coast is full of iconic locations to photograph with more a seascape flavour.

Along with dramatic coastal locations including castles and ruins there is also wildlife sanctuaries and the Northumberland national park inland with its hills and mountains. I was going to continue into Scotland and stay on this photography working road trip indefinitely through the summer. But after 2 weeks, I was feeling tired and began to miss home so I made a return.

Mill Hill West Sussex

On return from my journey north, I was keen to get out and photograph some poppy fields which are typical of June. I had noticed small pockets of Poppies back in May and they were looking very vibrant. I had already scouted out old poppy haunts like Ditchling road and Falmer. But had found nothing, its pretty random where poppies will turn up each year but the south downs in east Sussex was no show 2024. Having seen poppies back in May my concern now they would be close to passing their peak. A few social media postings were suggesting Mill Hill outside Shoreham in west Sussex was a possible location. Back in 2014 I use to go to Mill Hill for my lunch break as was working in Shoreham on my first contract so knew the area quite well.

It was a dank wet foggy morning when I scouted out Mill hill on the south downs in west Sussex. I found some patches of poppies but not accessible to the public could only shoot from the road. If there were any fields of poppies on Mill hill they were out of sight and not publicly accessible, It would require covering every inch of ground in this area in stealth mode. What I did manage from Mill hill using the 200mm lens was a shot of the impressive Lancing College sitting comfortably in the hill side.

Steyning Bowl South Downs

From Mill Hill made my way to nearby Steyning Bowl and Titch Hill another location of poppies a few years before. Although still overcast the forecast was for some sunshine with the cloud cover breaking up later in the morning. Its quite a distance to come to this part of the south downs from Hastings in east Sussex. Not so much the miles, but the traffic on the A27, that’s why I like to come on these scouting expeditions early in the morning but not for sunrise. Sunrise photography especially during the summer months is strictly reserved for a specific composition.

Some nice views over Steyning Bowl with Truleigh hill in the background leading back to Devils Dyke and Wolstonbury hill in the far distance. As predicted the moody clouds above were breaking up creating pools of light and shadows on the hillside below. Really was a game of patience waiting for the sunlight to hit the right spots.

Managed to find a small patch of poppies with a hike over Annington Hill on the south downs. Looks like that is the best I can manage for June 2024.

Photographing Poppies

When shooting poppies you want them at their peak and facing the camera with red petals and black centre clearly visible in the foreground. Its not enough for me to just shoot flowers, I want them in their landscape, hills in the background with a sunrise or sunset. For the shot above was handholding, the dynamic range of light was high so had to exposure bracket with a minimum shutter speed to avoid any motion blur. I had to use a small aperture to get acceptable focus front to back, focusing on the central poppies.

Drone Birds Eye View

I did put the drone up the DJI mini 2, not see anything but can be a good tactic to get a birds eye view. Find using the drone a bit of a flaff, not use them a lot so cant justify the cost of upgrading. My eyesight is not great so trying to see patches of red below on my attached mobile phone is a bit of a squint and challenge especially with sunlight above.

Dungeness Sunset

Iv had a couple of sunset compositions in mind that I want to try during the summer months. One being from Dungeness with the line of pylons stretching out to the western horizon. Like many photo trips the inspiration for this had come from others sharing on social media. The other advantage of heading east from Hastings there would be a lot less traffic on the roads and Dungeness is quite remote itself although popular with sea fishermen. On the way to Dungeness you do have to pass through Rye and Camber which can be popular destinations on warm sunny June days.

Straight out of the car and in the carpark of Dungeness was a hungry fox. Because of the intended sunset shoot, had brought my 100-400mm lens so could get in tight on the fox who fortunately was looking straight at me. Took some different paths from Dungeness through Denge marsh and then back to the beach. Its such a strange, quirky and photogenic location. What with the nuclear power station, the lighthouses, the funny buildings and the boats on the beach to name a few.

From Dungeness beach looking back over the marshland provided a classic view of the old lighthouse. From this photograph most people would know the location – it screams Dungeness. If I not have a specific sunset composition in mind I would have spent more time here as the side light of the setting sun was only going to get better.

From the shingle beach walked west pass the power station overlooking Denge Marsh. Trying to line up a composition that included the power lines. Wanted to maximise the compression using the 400mm lens. As the sun went down it was still very bright. You can still shoot it when its this bright but need to exposure bracket. two brackets is enough when not much mid-tones as wanted more silhouettes of the pylons. Also do not look through the viewfinder when the sun is this bright using a telephoto lens!

Moving 20 yards to the left and right can have a huge impact on the composition so was experimenting with this, also trying to get as far back as I could, but still was shooting under 300mm as the sun began to set.

As usually happens the sunset at its lowest and best fell behind low cloud on the western horizon. Just had to work with it. Was hand holding the camera which was not ideal with a bright sun in the frame and a big telephoto lens and not really being able to look through the viewfinder. Shall return to this location with the tripod. Considering I had to really push myself to get outdoors this evening, glad I did and a great evening’s photography at Dungeness on the Kent coast.

End of June

That wraps up my landscape photography adventures for June 24. What a month it has been with my nomadic work road trip to the Peak District and the Northumberland coast, will always remember June 24 for that. Shame not get to shoot a poppy field I was going to spend a few nights in Wiltshire, there was a magnificent poppy field at Yarnbury castle. But this coincided with the summer solstice not far away so put me off, plus the poppies were passing their peak so left it a bit late. To wrap up June 24 here are some bullet points.

• When wanting to get outdoors but cant think of a location, a good tip is to study OS Maps and find some footpaths not walked before, they can be a good source of new compositions.
• If you work from home consider becoming a digital nomad and take a photography road trip without taking off time. This works well in the summertime with the long evenings especially heading north.
• Photos posted on social media can be a great source of inspiration as well as locations where something is happening like Poppies.
• Putting up a drone can be a good way to scout out a location giving a birds eye view below and get a view on out of sight locations.
• Use exposure bracketing when exposing for a bright sunset.
• D not use the optical viewfinder when framing a bright sunset with a powerful telephoto lens.
• You will never regret being outdoors but you will regret staying indoors so push yourself out that front door. You only get better as a photographer with practice and pressing that shutter release.

Roll on July….