This weekend I was advised by the regional weather team that Saturday was going to be a taste of winter not a day for photos. Disappointing, but they sometimes can get it wrong, or you hope. With all this positive thinking I set off at Midnight heading north to only arrive at Blakney to cloud, wind, and rain. A day that would be impossible to achieve anything worth taking. On this note I used the time and day to search for that shot for tomorrow. We were promised the sun would come out tomorrow.
I decided to move around the coast slowly heading back to Norwich. I briefly stopped at Sheringham beach and hoped dawn would give me something, but unfortunately the rain was fogging my lens as quick as I was drying it off. The wind was making it a little impossible to achieve a sharp detailed image.
The only two photos were of the rock formation, no colour, no inspiration, but I felt I needed to take something for all my trouble.
However, I had noted three or four shots that had some promise for tomorrow. Sunday we had been advised the weather would be back to sun sea and sand, holiday weather.
I headed home to an early finish to the day, a need to clean all my filters and lenses due to the water getting in everywhere, time to dry me out and re pack for tomorrow.
Sunday Morning, the alarm set for 4am, I look out of the window, through the black sky I could see the cloud slowly breaking up, this had potential, so off we go, first stop North Cromer to catch the dawn.
What a difference a day makes, I arrived to find the tide just about full and very windy sending a mist across the beach, but the feeling was electric, this was going to be a good day.
While I was waiting I played with reducing the speed of the waves as the colour was starting to bite as dawn was arriving and with the added bonus with the moon in the sky, who could not get excited over a morning like this. The wind was warm the waves loud breaking around me just made you firstly pleased for not turning over in bed and missing this, but the excitement growing as you knew this was going to be a good day.
From here I headed straight up to Cley, I had visited the windmill yesterday and had an idea of what I was going to take, but now I was chasing the light. Luckily as I had done my homework I knew exactly where I was going to stand, a shot taken by many of us, but my hope was the morning sun would make all the difference if I catch it right.
I took this photo in three shots to make sure i achieved the clarity from front to back, the detailing the reeds was important as my intention would be to have this printed in a large format to allow the detail to show through. Due to the planning I wasted no time in walking straight to the point, shot within five minutes and on to the next.
From here I was straight off to Morston, the tide would be on the way down giving me access to the salt marshes. I arrived at the car-park for around 8am, I am on a mission, the only car in the car-park. I liked the feeling of the place being deserted, it gave me a relaxed feeling to allow me to take my time and enjoy the morning and slowly walk and take in the opportunities.
As you approach the quay you pass over the first bridge which takes you into this land of flat boggy, muddy footpaths, leading you down to the beach edge, it looks to be miles away, and my thoughts were more of how do you get back in time if the tide comes in.
I finally made it to the beach, I didn't get blown away, but it was by now a dull sky the blue had left and the dark clouds of that pre-rain was starting to wrap around me. Time to head back, but I will come again, as this is a coast line I feel you would always find something to take as the biggest influence here was the sky, the big sky of Norfolk.
5th October 2018 North Norfolk Coast