I photographed the West Pier in Brighton using my new Lee Circular Polarising filter in this shoot. A polarising filter enriches colours and reduces reflections and glare from surfaces. These examples show a before and after using the polariser (left without – right with polariser). Polarisers also darken blues in the sky and enrich the colours here too. The exposure time is reduced by a couple of stops.
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Left: Without Polariser Right: With Polariser
The West Pier is a very popular shooting location and the beach was packed with photographers. The clear sky was going to produce a wonderful sunset and so many people were eager to get a shot of the pier at the optimal time during golden hour. Here’s my main shot using a Grad Filter and the Polariser and another using the Big Stopper to smooth out the water.
West Pier in the Evening, 2015
West pier in the Evening – Long Exposure, 2015
Moving slightly further along the beach towards the pier, I wanted to find some kind of foreground detail to add something more to the image. I’d specifically gone to the beach at low tide, so this groin was visible in the shallow water.
West Pier at Low Tide, 2015
Just as the sun went down, I had a sudden urge to use the boys room and when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go. Considering that there were too many other people photographing as well, it was quite distracting and I prefer the peacefulness of the countryside as I’m sure you can see in my portfolio. I decided to go back along the beach to the restroom and then spotted these men fishing in the post-sunset twilight. It would have been nice if they had actually looked like they were fishing, I think they were just using lines straight off the edge rather than rods.
