Wave Motion - East Beach

I had a plan to capture wave motion on incoming waves, concentrating on just that, with the best location appearing to be East Beach at Littlehampton as it has a very gentle slope to the sandy part of the beach which allows good space for the waves to wash in and then ebb back.

My plan revolved around going to the beach ahead of sunset and having the sun behind me to light the scene, with my hopes extending as far as the setting sun providing some glow to the waves and maybe some glow in small clouds in the sky.

Setting up my tripod on the beach as close to the incoming waves as I dared and framing up my initial composition, I soon realised that my grad ND filter would be required to slow down the exposure sufficiently to blur the wave motion as intended.

I gradually moved my viewpoint along the beach, to alter my composition and to keep my feet dry, with similar results and then chose a spot where a couple of posts from one of the groynes on the beach could be placed centrally.

Then I reverted to straight shots out to sea as the waves continued to wash in and move me further up the beach.

By now the time was getting on and the sun was setting behind cloud cover and hadn't provided the glow that I had hoped for. I was being pushed further up the beach by the incoming tide, but I suddenly noticed one last composition whereby I could include a wooden groyne from the corner of the frame to act as a natural lead-in line.

So, a satisfying hour on the beach and an idea that worked well despite the lack of sunny glow. I especially like that last photo for the composition.