The weather forecast was fog and thick cloud but decided to drag myself out of bed to get outside anyway. The plan was to start at Seaford Head in east Sussex then walk over the cliffs down to Cuckmere Haven and capture some seascapes.

Seaford Head Sunrise

Had scouted out Seaford Head the week before after some dramatic seascapes from Peacehaven to Newhaven. On the drive towards Seaford, sure enough the weather was overcast and foggy but not to thick. Closer to the coast at the Cuckmere Valley could see there was going to be a good sunrise with big breaks in the clouds and some blue skies.

Just in Time

You can park up for free all along the beach front at Seaford, managed to get a spot close to Seaford Head an area known as Splash Point. Was now rushing around trying not to miss the sunrise. Had no time to setup tripod so was handholding the camera, F8 aperture and 200 ISO to get a reasonably fast shutter speed and some depth of field.

The rising sun was slowly coming around the cliff edge of Seaford Head. There was a few people around and one mentioned I had made it just in time. But wished I had arrived 30 minutes earlier. So glad I got out of bed. You just dont know what the conditions will be until you get outside, especially along the coast when shooting seascapes.

There is a single sea stack at Seaford Head but unfortunately from the limited angle of view from Splash point could only shoot with the cliffs behind rather than the orange sky.

High Dynamic Range

With the high dynamic range of light, was shooting bracketed two stops apart with intention of merging them post processing. Should have began shooting bracketed from the get go. Problem with exposing for the highlights you will get noise in the shadows. So want to expose for the shadows as well.

Over Seaford Head

With the best of the sunrise over decided to head over the cliffs of Seaford head towards Cuckmere Haven and check out the views. Not done this walk before, although visited Cuckmere Haven a few times before.

Despite the warnings and fences about staying away from the cliff edge as a landscape photographer you cannot resist. Was rewarded with a good shot of a gap between the cliff face of Seaford Head and the sea stack. Not seen any sea stacks since Old Harrys in Dorset.

Seaford Cliffs Walk

Its a nice walk over the cliffs from Seaford Head towards Cuckmere Haven. Not too demanding and the grass pathway not too muddy for this time of year.

Some nice views and vistas worth capturing with the camera. Still handholding but no need to bracket with the sun now higher in the sky. The dynamic range of light between the highlights and shadows now less. Some nice cloud formations out to sea but heading this way.

Hope Gap

Towards Cuckmere Haven I was pleasantly surprised with a new discovery known as Hope Gap. Some steps leading down to a rocky beach with great views of the Seven Sisters. Amazed I had not discovered Hope Gap before.

It was later in the morning once reached Hope Gap so the light was not optimum for such a great viewpoint. Also it was high tide so was tight under the cliff face.

Tried a long exposure using both a Polariser and ND filter of 6 stops but the result is not great. Not really doing this composition justice. Low tide and sunrise or sunset will be a lot better. Hopefully next weekend…