Landguard Point, Felixstowe in Suffolk was the club’s landscape sunrise trip for December. This would be my second visit here having called by back in October – see here for that blog post.
With a meet time of 07:00, it meant being up and on the road at 05:30 (ouch)! I needed to be on time too as the forecast was for freezing temperatures so driving more slowly than usual was essential.
Sure enough, the temperature was -1 on leaving home and -2 on the road down there.
As I reached Felixstowe, a more reasonable 3 degrees displayed on the car’s temperature gauge. I could see signs in the sky that we would get some great sky detail and colour this morning.
We met at the car park at the Landguard Fort with the Felixstowe docks in plain sight.
With dawn yet to emerge, we took some shots of the docks and a pleasing shot has been captured and by narrowing my aperture, I could get the starburst effect from the lights.
There’s some lovely colour reflections in the water – no filters used here, just a slow shutter speed (10 secs).
Further up the beach and I was prompted by a fellow member to take a look from the viewing platform. I got this alternate shot of the docks from here.
As I walked off the viewing platform, I felt I needed to start capturing the amazing emerging sunrise sky and colour. I took the shot below using the decking and railings as a leading line. It’s one of my favourites from the shoot.
I made my way up the beach as the guys were wandering up ahead to the point. I took a quick shot where they had all been standing – well it had to be done.
It could be worth seeing if I can crop right in and isolate the groyne posts – something to check out on the computer with the benefit of a larger screen.
As I walked briskly to catch the guys up, I had to get a shot of the amazing sky, so stopped and grabbed this shot with only a small pylon as foreground interest.
On wandering further up the beach, I took a shot of this WWII bunker and it’s one of my favourites from the trip.
As we reached the jetty, we lined up beside each other to do the classic view – I’ve done a black and white too but the colour one is amazing. You can easily see that many viewers may think the colours have been enhanced but the deep blue of the sea and the sky were this colourful on this morning.
I wandered onto the beach and did some ultra wide shots just to add something different. I like this shot but I guess it’s not a crowd pleaser!
On the wander back, I ventured onto the jetty and further down to grab another angle.
We all started meandering back to the car park pleased with the experiences from the morning. Jeez, it was cold but worth it.
Cobbold’s Point
We drove over the Cobbold’s Point to extend our Suffolk visit.
The tide was out so we could easily walk along the beach to the bottom of the rocks and close to the famous curving sea defences.
I took a few shots and initially I left those images unattended as my perception was I got nothing worthy of editing and sharing.
However, in writing this blog I’ve gone back to take another look and am very pleased with the different shots of the sea defences.
I’m really pleased with these shots, and I really like the ones where I’ve got closer to the sea defence structures. They are much bigger than your realise and such an interesting shape.
The shot below is my favourite as you can see a whole structure and there’s a view of the docks in the distance.
Looking back at previous visits to this location, I had forgotten that I have done a shot of the structures close up before but never shared the image.
Read about the last visits here, and see a shot from 2020 below, just before the second Covid-19 lockdown:
It was bitterly chilly now with the wind picking up so I welcomed getting back to the car, getting out of my wellies and changing my socks where I realised my toes were numb.
I really do need to invest in some lined wellies, or hunt out some heated socks, if such a thing exists?
One of Ronald’s fine breakfasts and a leisurely drive home finished off an enjoyable morning.
I was cream crackered due to the very early start but it was a fantastic trip out. I climbed into bed for a couple of hours shuteye.
Onwards and upwards…