The end of the beginning

British Summer Time has ended; Storm Benjamin has skimmed the south coast and moved east; the sky is clear and it's low tide at dawn. It's the combination of the last two that has me out well before first light, in search of a subject to photograph.

Finding a tide pool for a composition is one thing, but it staying pristine before it gets trampled on by dog walkers (and their dogs), and early morning exercise enthusiasts before the light is right, is another. 

Today I'm lucky.

© 2025

Blue

                                                                                   Blue wall, blue sign.

© 2025

A fleeting glimpse

When going out in the early morning with heavy cloud cover there's always the chance that I will return empty handed from a photo shoot. It nearly turned out that way today, but for the ten minutes of light immediately after sunrise. 

After that the sun rose above the distant cloud bank and disappeared for the day.

© 2025

Beach reclamation

The summer holiday season has all but finished and the beaches are being reclaimed by the locals. Seafront cafés and entertainment installations are either being dismantled, or abandoned until next spring.

My season has only just begun.

 2025

Work in progress

Comissioned street art is becoming commonplace, with murals sprouting up everywhere I look. This one, on the wall of a beach facility, is a work in progress.

© 2025

On the lookout

I'm rarely alone on a beach when there's the expectation of something worthwhile to photograph. And why would I be? We all want to get take good pictures (and preferrably something others don't get), but the two or three fellow photographers that are set up before I arrive are in a cosy clump; all with long lenses pointing in the same direction; all getting roughly the same shot; all waiting for the sunrise.

Instinctively, I move further along the seashore in search of something they will miss, and I start shooting  before the sun has risen.

 © 2025