Heybridge Basin Beach Huts
Feb, 2018Views
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Contest Finalist in Black And White Landscapes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 45
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at Heybridge Basin, Essex. It’s a popular spot for photographers so I was looking for something different to the usual compositions that can be seen of these unusual beach huts.Time
I wanted a long exposure of the huts whilst the tide was in, so timing was everything, from finding my way from Colchester to Heybridge (even though it’s only twenty minutes away I hadn’t been there before), find somewhere to park and find the huts. They are actually close to the shore and the water is not that deep, so there’s just about half an hour to get the perfect water height. On this occasion high-tide was at 2:00pm.Lighting
As I wanted a long exposure shot and using an ND filter good clouds with some movement were more important than great light, but for February it was actually a bright, warm(ish) day. It wasn’t even too cold standing in the water!Equipment
I used my pretty standard kit: Nikon D5500 with an 18-55mm Nikkor lens; a Cokin Nuance 10 stop filter; and a tripod. Settings were f11, 18mm, 30 seconds, ISO 100.Inspiration
I had seen other photos of these huts on Instagram and could not believe my luck when I found out that they were only 20 minutes from my house. I must have driven past them a hundred times before and never realised that there was even any sea there.Editing
There was not too much post processing needed. I followed my usual Lightroom workflow - brining down the highlights, opening up the shadows and adding a touch contrast. I did remove some buoys also from the sea.In my camera bag
I don’t carry an amazing amount of kit with me, just the standard kit lens and a 70-200 zoom, some ND filters, and of course the D5500.Feedback
If you have not done much long exposure photos before, then my best tips, from my limited experience, woul be: have charged batteries, don’t forget to cover the eyepiece, use manual mode, cover your tripod legs in plastic bags held up with elastic bands if venturing into salt water, take lots of shots trying to vary the exposure tomes, an last, but not least, don’t drop your expensive glass ND filter.
