Moving waves

It's the last day of the year (it's also the last sunrise of the first quarter of the century), and winter takes its first real bite on the south coast. Overnight temperatures have dropped to 0º C, but what little wind there is makes it feel closer to -4º C. But that's no excuse to avoid being out with a camera.

It's clear from the offset that the sky won't be happening any time soon, so I concentrate on shapes made by waves lapping onto the beach as the golden hour begins.

© 2025

Avoiding the cliché

It's rare for one of my local piers to be open before 8 a.m. at any time of the year, but today its gates are wide open to the public well before sunrise. I most likely have departing fishermen to thank for that as the pier is regularly used for this purpose overnight.

The scene has been photographed ad nauseam by photographers, both local and visiting, but the early hour plus the warm glow of the lights on the wooden decking make for a composition of colour more than the subject itself.

© 2025

Eureka!

The Eureka Skyway bridge that spans the M20 at Junction 9 is something of a pet subject for me. Opened in 2011, the 140 metre long footbridge and cycleway at Ashford links two retail parks on either side on the motorway. Because of its striking design (at least for a motorway bridge), I tend to visualise it in black and white terms.

© 2025

08:07 - 16:04

For the first time since I first picked up a camera in anger, I've managed to photograph the winter solstice sunrise as an event. Adverse weather conditions in the past have blocked the view, or life's minutiae has gotten in the way. It's also a good thing that I didn't trust any of the forecasts for this morning, as they all predicted either overcast skies or worse still, rain.

Technically speaking the solstice is a specific moment, and this year it occurs at 15:05 GMT. It also signifies the start of astronomical winter. The figures in the title are today's sunrise and sunset times at my latitude and longitude.

© 2025

Less is more

At my latitude there's now less than eight hours of sunlight a day, and as the winter solstice approaches my seascape season is reaching its peak. 

 © 2025

Waves on the beach?

There are times when it seems that all I have to do is to wave the camera about and fire the shutter. Okay, an exaggeration, as composition and timing are of equal importance. But when - for the second day running, I'm presented with a sky such as this it makes seascape photography a piece of cake.

© 2025 

Leaving a deposit

Storm conditions not only stir up the sky, they also stir up the ground, creating all manner of photogenic subjects. This shape on my local beach was formed by running water from recent heavy rains, depositing minerals and sediments to form the pattern.

© 2025