We headed for Birling Gap this afternoon having seen that a Super Moon was due to rise at around 17.30, this coinciding with low tide at the Gap. Low tide there allows for the possibility of getting out to an area of wet sand, creating wonderful reflections of detail and colours - something I have experienced previously there so I knew where I wanted to be.
The hope was that the moon would rise in the right position to be visible in the sky and reflected in the wet sand. Sunset was due around the same time, so there was the added hope that a few small clouds would capture the glow opposite the sunset.
Having parked, free for NT members, I set off for the area of wet sand. The sun had started to set and was just behind a couple of strata of cloud on the horizon out to sea. Small strips of orange glow peeked through the gaps in the cloud and reflected off the wet sand, creating foreground interest in the little pools and streams of water that dissected the sand.
I chose to move a bit further forward, happy that I had captured enough of the detail in the sand that I was going to walk over. I took a few more, using an ND Grad filter. I stuck with ISO 100, so exposure times increased, creating blurred small waves on the now incoming tide.
Moving further towards the sea, as time moved on as well, I was greeted with a lovely pink glow in the clouds as the 'after glow' of the sunset suddenly created some great colour. The colours were beautifully reflected in the wet sand, with the sand in the foreground being made a little more wet as small waves washed in and receded again. I had now replaced the ND Grad with a solid ND filter. opting for longer exposures which I knew would create blurred waves.
30secs exposures gave photos that looked great on the back screen of my camera, so I continued to look at different angles and compositions and shoot the lovely colours and reflections.
I continued to shoot, with the pink now being replaced by a more orangey glow and I moved my view to include a few small rocks that were dotted around. The glow and an increased ISO was still giving me 30secs exposures and good depth of field and I shot a few more.
Checking the time on my phone, I realised that the moon rise should have now happened and I realised now that I was probably in the wrong place for the moon rise.
True to form, as I returned to the car there was the sun behind the car park and brightly shining. However, there was nothing in the foreground to create interesting pics.
Thinking about it afterwards, i would probably have done better for the moon rise by heading for Cuckmere Haven and standing on top of the cliffs at Hope Gap and getting a general view to include sea, cliffs and moon - maybe then I would have managed to capture sunset glow plus the moon in same pic.
BUT, hey-ho, there you go.
I did achieve some wonderful colours and reflections in my sunset photos - images that are totally different to anything I had previously captured - and I returned home happy and looking forward to downloading the photos. I had seen them on the camera screen and was very keen to see them larger on the laptop.
I did take a couple of pics of the Super Moon from the car park, but they are disappointing to me. The moon is too bright in the pics and there is nothing else in them to give interest or perspective - so, something for another time perhaps.