Happisburgh was the chosen one for sunrise this week, with a meet time of 06:45 so a roll out of bed at 06:10.
We had heard that due to the ramp down to the beach collapsing, we would likely have to climb down from the gap half way along the cliff. This was correct and we also noticed a corner of the entrance to the car park is fenced off.
Like many coastal areas, Happisburgh is being attacked by the tides, increase in rainfall and flooding, and with soft sandy clay soil is vulnerable to the increasingly aggressive climate.
The risks to the main car park have led to the local council starting to consider alternative car parking arrangements – see here.
It won’t be too long (5-10 years I think – although I have expertise and no evidence to back this estimate up!) before the lighthouse is under threat.
The lighthouse is such an iconic sight, we can just enjoy shooting this location over and over again, as we and future generations can enjoy the documentary record we are contributing towards.
The Shoot
We made our way to the car park end of the beach, as far as we could to start shooting the time and tide bell. I last shot this last Summer – see here.
The sky was amazing this morning, full of orange and pink colours.
First shot was obvious – directly at the sculpture and with some wave action.
I saw that I could go higher up and maybe get some rocks in the foreground so made my way to that spot, and am very pleased with this shot as I think it’s got a lot of interest.
Walking back to near my first position, I couldn’t resist a bit of ICM.
The sky and rising sun looked amazing and the light was quite bright now. I took this image of a fellow photographer taking a shot of the rising sun.
The scene back on the higher vantage spot but in the opposite direction was pointed out to me by a fellow photographer so i wandered up to take a look, and capture a few shots.
I’m not wowed by this scene but the colours and the sky were nice, and you get a glimpse of the erosion.
For my final few shots, I went back to the first vantage point, and shot a few more from there.
I really like the shots below of the inbound wave cutting across the scene. There’s texture there and swooshery, but it’s the undulating curve of the wave that I like.
I have some other shots of the same composition, for example the one below with better splashing of the waves but I don’t think it’s as interesting as the one above.
And that was a wrap.
We wandered back along the beach, up through the eroded gap in the cliff face, and back to our cars.
Coffee, chat and debrief then depart.
Yeah, unsurprisingly I was a willing participant in Ronald’s breakfast convenience.
There would be another sunrise shoot tomorrow, a ‘double bubble’ but surely not another breakfast my Wife asked? Hmm, can I deny myself? Have I any self-control? Let’s see…
Onwards and upwards…