Hopton-on-Sea was the latest pick for a sunrise weekend visit, which for early September for me meant a 04:15 time to peel out of bed.
The forecast was good and some of the guys had recommended this location for some time. I’ve never been here, only driven past it, so I was really looking forward to seeing what it had to offer.
About Hopton
Hopton-on-Sea is a village, civil parish and seaside resort on the coast of East Anglia in the county of Norfolk. The village is 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Great Yarmouth, 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) north-west of Lowestoft and near the UK’s most easterly point, Lowestoft Ness.
The village has many amenities for tourists with amusement arcades and food outlets. It is also home to Potters Resort, the first permanent, mixed-use holiday camp in the UK, founded in 1920.[2] This employs approximately 560 permanent staff making it the largest private sector employer in the area.
Every January, Hopton-on-Sea hosts the World Indoor Bowls Championships at Potters Resort with players, spectators, the BBC and many others staying in the village for what is regarded as the biggest event in the bowls calendar.
The Shoot
We parked near one of the caravan park and a ten minute walk later we’re descending down the steps to the beach in semi darkness.
The forecast looked very good and there was already an orange colour cast being propelled onto the sky by the rising sun.
We walked along the shoreline to see several rock formations that stretch out in a quarter of a circle shape, and a groyne post sticking out of the high tide water.
I set up and took my first few shots of what was an epic sunrise sky and colours.
I spent a long time in that position, but eventually decided to budge and move back along the beach from where I’d walked earlier on.
it’s interesting to note fellow photographers approach to a location shoot. Some like to stay in one or two spots, some dart around like there’s a stopwatch running.
I stopped halfway along the first stretch of beach and tuned my attention to a composition looking out to sea and the post.
I did a few shots in this spot which was getting more of a challenge as the sun was rising in the sky.
I really like this next shot due to its simplicity and the vignette around the edge makes me think of the eyepiece of a periscope, hence the name.
No coastal photography trip would be complete with a minimalist and/or groyne post snot would it?
I had been trying to avoid filters all morning by narrowing my aperture to the max but I did eventually start deploying the filters (ND to slow down exposure, ND grad for the sky, and even the reverse grad) as the narrow apertures we’re showing up sensor spots big time.
I moved along the beach to grab a shot of the curvy rock formations as one of my last shots of the morning.
And with that shot, we called it wrap and headed back to the cars for a debrief.
We all enjoyed this trip and considered Hopton to be something of an all-year-round option with lots of potential, particularly for minimalist shots.
We and I shall return, and soon.
I still cannot believe this was my first ever trip to this location!
Onwards and upwards…