Most of January 2020 and half of February I have been travelling abroad so not done much winter landscape photography around south east England.  Still I managed a few trips to the coast around east Sussex for some seascape photography.
Since October its mostly been wet, blustery stormy weather especially the weekends.  I spent 6 weeks away hoping when I returned spring would be in full swing with some fair weather.  Not so, the weather seems to be getting worse.  Still not working now, during the week if there is a break in the weather I can get out for a walk.  Rather than go inland over the high weald where it is flooded and very muddy the better choice is coastal walks and seascape photography.

Hastings Pier Sunrise

In January I managed one trip out with my compact camera to Hastings Pier for a sunrise.  Good thing with this time of year you not have to get up too early for a sunrise, around 8AM they occur.

Still I was rushing around trying to find a composition.  I like this shot with the empty bottle, the morning after, as I feel it tells a story.

Exposing for the highlights of the rising the sun, the shadows are a little underexposed, the silhouette of the pier is effective. Still, even handholding my compact I could have bracketed multiple shots in quick succession and then blended them post processing in Photoshop.  Often you can recover detail from the shadows but never from blown out highlights.

Beachy Head to Seven Sisters

I had to take my car for its service to Eastbourne, it would be in the garage for most of the day so decided to kill two birds with one stone.  Took my camera, dropped my car off then hiked to Beachy Head then over the Seven Sisters to the country park where I would catch a bus back.

It was a very dull and windy day.  No colour, so for the first time I converted the images to black and white post processing.  While post processing the images they lacked any punch, converting them to black and white changed that.

With no colour, you rely more on form and lots of contrast.   In the seven sisters photo the people on top of the cliff in the mid-ground provide scale.  With the eastbourne Pier shot would have liked some seagulls in front of the sun but not have the patience to wait.   I am experimenting more now with shooting vertically or in portrait mode, even recently invested in an L Bracket for my tripod so can switch orientation efficiently.

Camber Sands Windswept

Midweek there was a lull in the wet stormy weather so headed to Camber sands for a morning beach walk and some sunshine.    I parked further up the road along the beach where its free and then walked down towards the sand dunes.

Although the sun was out it was still very windy from the north west.  This created some unique conditions with the sand being blown towards me.  I should have set up my tripod and took longer exposures to accentuate the sand streaks.

I need to invest in gloves where you can pull back the finger and thumb.  It was just to cold to fiddle about with my tripod and filters so stuck with handholding.  Again, the people on the beach add scale and the low cumulus clouds add interest to the sky.  Best to visit Camber Sands during low tide in the winter as vast stretches of sand are laid bare.

Rye Harbour to Camber Castle

Another mid week lull in the dull wet weather so planned a walk along Rye beach during low tide then up to the mysterious Camber Castle.  Beautiful sunny morning and down on the beach was sheltered from the cold wind.

Actually setup my tripod for the above shot of Rye beach at low tide with the Mary Stanford lifeboat house memorial  in the mid ground and Cliff End in the background.  I was not using a polariser for the above composition.  I did shoot some better compositions taking my time due to using my tripod but then used my screw on polariser with its coating fading in places.

You can see patches of polarisation in the blue sky above due to it being uneven.  Consequently the polariser is now in the bin.  You need to be careful how often you clean your filters and lenses and what with as you can remove the coatings.

I first discovered Camber castle on OS maps and its a fair trek up from Rye beach.  Difficult to get a good composition of Camber castle by now the light was harsh and I was getting tired but has lots of potential for a good photograph.  Not nearly visited as much as nearby Pevensey Castle.

Thats it for February seascapes around the coast of East Sussex.  Next week hoping to get out and photograph some Daffodils in full bloom.