Awesome Sunset

Having finally bought a 'new for me' but used 24-105mm zoom lens to fill the gap in the range of the 2 zooms that I have been using, I was eager to venture out for sunset to try that lens out.

The forecast was correct and after a mainly sunny day, with the tide being between low and high but on the way in, I set off to see what I might capture.

I actually set off a little early, as the sun was still up and quite bright, so I initially focussed on the incoming small waves where the sun was lighting them as they rolled over and burst into a foamy white on East Beach, Littlehampton.

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i played around with composition and the wave motion patterns for a while, until looking West for sunset was a suitable level. Initially that was quite golden, as the sun was still in the sky, and the reflections of the colour in the breaking waves created a lovely foreground glow.

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I decided to try some more looking South out to sea, as colour was still reflecting in the shallow water of the breaking waves.

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The sunset colours became a bit less golden overall as the sun set lower towards the horizon, but still with nice reflections.

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Once the sun had dipped below the horizon, the colours started to change towards a more pink and red hue and the hoped for after glow seemed quite likely on this occasion.

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I took quite a few as the colours strengthened, but the incoming tide kept pushing me further up the beach due to my preference for keeping my shoes dry. Altering my position on the beach to a slightly higher point, actually made me step back over one of the wooden groynes and presented me with a stunning composition of the groyne silhouetted against the increasingly colourful sky.

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The the colours took on an even stronger red glow and the scene just lit up in front of me, begging to be captured - it really was as a passer by said to me "just too good to miss".

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I then opted for a final view along the beach without the groyne, as the red glow was very nicely reflected in wet sand and the shallow water as the waves washed ashore.

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After another magical 10mins of that fiery glow, the colours started to fade and it was time (belatedly, though I had good reason) for me to get home and apologise to my wife about being a bit later than expected for dinner. I did apologise, though rather excitedly as I described why I had been 'unavoidably' delayed on the beach.

A truly awesome sunset.