With a day off work, myself and a fellow photographer headed to East Lane beach in Suffolk.
Meet time was 06:00 so a fierce 04:10 rise and shine was in order!
My last visit here was in January 2024 where I enjoyed exploring the location for the first time.
I must admit, I was wondering if there’d be much to see as I knew the somewhat famous lone tree on the clifftop had fallen a while ago.
Other than the same subjects as last time, I wasn’t sure what this place would offer, but I was blown away but what emerged.
The Shoot
We walked the usual way from the car park to the beach, and wandered up to the trees that sit across the shoreline.
The tide was about an hour or two from high tide and we made our way to the top of the beach at the Bawdsey end so that we could see what was there.
We walked past some interesting metallic posts with concrete bases but decided to keep going so we could finish the reccé and the we would double-back on ourselves.
We had safety in mind and talked about shooting subjects but keeping an eye on the incoming tide, and moving back from where we came as the morning developed.
We reached some groynes and some really interesting triangular concrete structures.
It was time to take our first shots of the morning.
I found these structured amazing and tried to capture one with a bit of swooshery.
We were blown away by the possibilities here and decided to walk back down the beach.
‘Ladder Gate’
We had spotted a ladder on the beach walking up, and on the way back we thought we would engineer our own bit of minimalism.
We placed the ladder half in the sea and half on the beach, and took some shots.
What happened next was bizarre…
We were quite happy shooting away when a woman walking her two dogs stops, mumbles something about damaging the ladder, and proceeds to walk straight in front of our tripods and pulls the ladder out of the water and back onto the beach.
While she was doing this, we both looked at each other speechless and not quite sure this was happening.
My fellow photographer asks her what she’s doing, and she replies that the ladder belongs to a friend of hers who uses it to climb down to the beach.
She explains that the ladder is often at the Bawdsey end but is washed down this end.
She then continues to walk up the beach.
We couldn’t believe what had happened but mostly why she hadn’t engaged us in conversation first before any movement of the ladder and rudely disturbing our shooting!
We had always intended to move the ladder back where we found it and both of us had carried it to the position for the shot with no intention of causing damage.
There’s nowt so queer as folk! (ref).
For a moment, we pondered whether or not to put the ladder back but we’d done enough and decided to move on.
Later on, the woman walked back with her two dogs and passed us with no words by either party.
On another day, and in a less favourable mood, I may have been tempted to exchange verbals in a more challenging way, to seek fairness and balance and politeness, but it just wasn’t worth the hassle.
People like that have an attitude and a self-entitlement which I doubt will ever change.
Beach Protectors
Next up was a row of metallic posts with concrete bases, which were an amazing feature and an excellent subject to photograph.
I took various shots here at differing shutter speeds.
The sky was developing really well with lots of clouds, and sun rays shining through.
I decided to try and isolate one of the posts.
My friend was also photographing a single post but as a much more minimalist shot, which looked amazing on the back of his camera.
I didn’t want to copy but he suggested I took a similar shot but from the other side.
We had planned to visit two other locations but this was such an epic morning, we decided to stay put.
The tide was still coming in, and as the water started to cover the posts, I grabbed a shot of the metallic post sticking out of the water.
While it was tempting to do a long exposure, I felt the subject would suit a shutter speed where you can see the water splashing against and over the subject.
We had finished a superb session exploring this beach and decided to walk back along the beach and back to our cars for sustenance.
A debrief, some grub and coffee and my fellow photographer suggested we call by the River Deben in Woodbridge.
Kyson Point, Woodbridge
We arrived and walked along the river bank and although the sky was now really plain and bland, and any morning light was extinguished, we were enjoying being out.
We walked along until we arrived at Kyson Point where the high tide prevented us from walking to the hut.
We took a few shots here, and I tried to capture the reflections of the fence and bench in the water.
One or two people took their shoes and socks off and decided to walk across the water covered track.
The lady above was far more comfortable than her dog walking across the high water. Much to my amusement, the dog was raising each leg in turn trying not to get wet.
We wandered back to the quay and along the way, I couldn’t resist a few boats shots.
A walk around the quayside and it was a wrap.
We had another chat about our day and headed home.
On the way home, I was thinking about how thrilling it was on the beach, to explore, to find new things, to be in good company, and to watch the morning develop.
I had a huge sense of wanting to this more often, and what options I have ahead to make it happen.
I remember hearing someone say that time is one commodity you cannot buy. Very true.
It’s times like these you learn to live again, it’s times like these you learn to love again. (Foo Fighters, 2002).
I had a couple of hours of Zzz’s on return and got my pics uploaded and initial edits underway.
Onwards and upwards…