Today is the fifth day of my photography challenge – Adventures in Photography

The weather looked a little more promising this morning so I headed down the road to Bawdsey Quay where I thought I would play with some long exposures. The tide was on the ebb and conditions seemed perfect for some moody shots.

The coast at Bawdsey is a jumble of ruined groynes and coastal defences and is great for long exposure photography especially at low tide. I arrived about half an hour before sunrise but could see that there was a huge bank of grey cloud on the horizon so instead of heading round to the sea straight away I spent some time capturing the early morning light over the Deben.

This was my first image of the morning. It was taken about 20 minutes before sunrise and was a 10 second exposure at F14.

Heading round to the sea I realised that the sun had just managed to peak through the clouds on the horizon bathing the water in a lovely pinky light. However the direction of the sun didn’t really work with the compositions that I had in mind so I abandoned the vivid colours in favour for something more moody. The following shots all feature the posts and concrete debris that are uncovered at low tide. They might not be everyones favourite subject matter but I think they make characterful images. I used a 6 stop ND filter for all the images and a 0.9 ND graduated filter.

This images was a 54 second exposure at F16. I love the old sea worn wood on these groynes, it is so characterful and the colours are beautiful.

This image features some old wooden posts and a concrete pipe. They are not traditionally beautiful subjects but I love the different textures and the way the long exposure and the light softens everything and makes it slightly more dreamy and attractive. This was a 38 second exposure at F16.

This is a shot I have taken many times but I loved the light on the water this morning so it seemed a shame not to take it again. This was a 35 second exposure at F16.

My final shot of the morning features these old concrete structures. I have no idea what they were but I love the old chains that link them together and I felt they worked well with the moody sky. This was a 38 second exposure at F16.

Whilst I might not have captured this morning’s brief display of colour I felt the moody sky suited the atmosphere on the beach and it was lovely to just sit and watch the sunrise and reflect on the beauty of the natural world.