March and April in the calendar are interesting times of the year for landscape photographers.
Sunrises (Dawn)
Sunrises will have been edging to a much earlier time for some weeks, which for those of us who struggle to get up is very challenging.
7-8am sunrises can suddenly move to 6-7am and once the clocks change, this will move quickly to 5-6am and earlier as the Spring takes us towards Summer.
When taking into account travel time to get to a location, this can mean a fierce time to roll out of bed.
The photography club I belong to starts to move from sunrise shoots to sunset shoots in April/May.
Sunsets (Dusk)
Sunsets are without doubt easier with no disruption to one’s sleep schedule. However, the day ends sooner and the Winter seasonal weather makes really good or epic sunset light and colours infrequent.
As with sunrise though, the changing of the clocks draws the evenings out and arrival of sunset to 7-8pm and longer similar to that mentioned above, as Spring moves to Summer.
Recently, I’ve visited a favourite location of mine at both ends of the day, Caister-on-Sea.
Caister-on-Sea
Caister-on-Sea, also known colloquially as Caister, is a large village and seaside resort in Norfolk, England. It is close to the large town of Great Yarmouth.
At the 2001 census it had a population of 8,756 and 3,970 households, the population increasing to 8,901 at the 2011 Census.
With my photography club members, I have visited Caister a couple of times. First one two years ago for a sunset shoot.
It was this visit which prompted me to enter the club’s POTY competition with the shot below my very first entry in the theme of that round called ‘Minimalism in Colour’.
I was at Caister again that year (2021), just before Christmas and really liked the very first shot I took.
Caister-on-Sea in 2023
More recently, club members got up early (arriving on the beach in darkness) for a sunrise.
Visit at Dusk
In March 2023, I decided very last minute on a Sunday to call in at Caister. Some of the guys from the club had visited recently and seemed to have got some good shots.
I arrived later than planned with about an hour and a half left of afternoon light and a brisk walk from the car took me to the zigzag groynes.
En route from the car park, I bumped into a nice chap called Bert who was metal detecting, and said he was also a photographer so Instagram handles were exchanged.
The light dropped to almost darkness so I decided to head back to the car. I had not had time to look at the pillbox so there was a desire to return soon.
On the way back, I bumped into Bert again talking to another chap. Bert and his friend had a lot of knowledge of this area having lived in Caister, or near to here for many years.
They said the beach has changed a lot. We talked about the extreme changes in Hemsby and Happisburgh but conceded that any sea defences installed may well just move the erosion problems somewhere else.
Visit at Sunrise
Two weeks later and I was back at Caister for sunrise.
With the clocks changing, sunrise was now at 06:10 so I was out of bed before 05:00 but the sunny forecast had motivated me.
On the way to Caister, it appeared a little misty which worried me that the morning’s early get up would be a waste of time. I did for a moment consider diverting somewhere else, such as a Broads location that I haven’t done with mist yet. But I kept on track and was committed to Caister…
I arrived on the beach at 05:55 and it looked hazy with less mist and some promising light. As I did a few shots, it didn’t look like we were going to get much from the sky.
My first set of shots were involving this groyne post sticking out from the beach.
I walked up to the post and took a shot out to sea, which is one of my favourite shots from the morning.
I was initially disappointed with the morning light and shots, and started to walk down the beach. I did consider calling it a morning but I persevered, something I would later be so pleased I did.
I stopped at the pillbox but it was not inspiring me, and I thought it had more sand cover than shots I’d seen online recently.
I decided to capture a shot of the wind turbines which is always tempting when at Caister because they are such a familiar scene.
I arrived at the zigzag groyne and had a wander around first. I’d seen others shoot this with light shining through the gaps and that was what I really wanted.
I walked up to the dunes to see if a shot from high up looking downwards would work but the tide was too far out, albeit it was coming in.
In the end, I set up my tripod close to the zigzag and adjusted the tripod as high up as I could and began taking shots, whilst trying to time the exposure as the incoming waves receded. I have a couple of favourite shutter speeds for this technique.
The time was now 07:35, over 2.5 hours since I arrived, and I was getting some awesome shots, and really enjoying myself.
The shot below is probably my favourite of the morning with the shadows and the light rays from the morning sun on show.
I did need my filters at this point, an ND just to slow the shutter speed down, and a grad filter to control the sky, as the sun was now high up in the sky.
I did loads of shots here experimenting and grabbing lots of differently timed captures.
When I finished, I walked back up the beach and decided to call it a day, since Ronald’s finest breakfast muffin was increasingly on my mind.
Since it was still early, I searched out breakfast locations nearby such that I could call in at Strumpshaw too and be home for a family excursion later.
Strumpshaw was relaxing and I got one or two keepers, including what I hope is a half decent shot of a marsh harrier.
It was a great morning with the sunny weather meaning the birds were out.
In the afternoon, we had a walk round Blickling and I took a few shots with my Fuji.
This particular bank holiday Sunday had been knackering but amazing, Three locations, lots of exercise (FibBit went passed the 20,000 steps), quality time with family and me time, fresh air.
Needless to say bank holiday Monday was a lazy one and the weather suitably traditional with it raining all day long.
Onwards and upwards…