My main New Year resolution is to pay more attention to the world around me and to take time to really look at something each day. This is not going to be too difficult to adhere to because since taking up photography I have started to do this. Day 2 into 2012, was going to be a great day to pay attention.
It was a glorious day, icy cold wind, but nevertheless glorious, with hardly a cloud in the sky. A very different day to the stormy one a couple of weeks ago and my contribution to the Weekly Photo Challenge of Winter. I know we Brits are renowned the world over for talking about the weather, but we have had some dreary, damp, wet and cold days recently. Like us all, I need sunshine and today I had my fill.
When I go down to the sea I generally visit the part of the coast that is my side of the town. Today, I decided I would go to the Eastern side and view the wonderful shoreline from a different perspective. Usually my photos of the pier show it down the left side of a shot, but to do something different each day is my mantra for 2012 (NY resolution #2).
The great thing about the sea is that it is never the same, which makes taking photographs very exciting. Today, it was calm and the incoming tide was rolling in gently.
The seagulls were out in force, feeding off the pickings on the sand. When I saw them all in a row on the groynes it was too good a shot to miss. I had difficulty in getting these because every time I managed to get the birds into focus, a dog raced along the sand and chased them off.
The majority of the fishing boats are moored on the shingle at this end of the beach. Just note how blue that sky is…. no Photoshop or touching up used here, it really was that colour.
The blue boxes in the middle of the picture are what the fishermen use to sell their catch each day. During the Winter months you will usually find Cod and Dab for sale. In the 19th Century fishing was the major economy for this area, although as an industry fishing goes back as far as the 16th Century and earlier with the main catch being mackerel and herring.
Since taking up photography seriously, one thing I am discovering is an eye for detail. I see things now that make patterns and shapes that I would otherwise have ignored before. This pile of fishing nets, is a prime example.
There is an area to the east of the pier called Splash Point. This part of the shore front was gun emplacement during the Second World War as well as being Worthing’s very own Speaker’s Corner with a bylaw that allows “Sermons and Speeches”. The white cliffs in the distance are the Shoreham and Brighton coastline.
In recent years Splash Point has been subject of a regeneration project and the cycle path is always busy, as I learned very quickly today having nearly collided with a couple of bikes as I headed towards a pair of beautiful granite seats. The simplistic smooth design is striking against the roughness of the boulders. Some people have been quite rude about them, saying they would have cost less to have bought them from IKEA. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. I like them so much you will have noticed that I have now used this picture as the header to my blog.
To finish off a day of marvellous weather, I then drove up to the top of the South Downs, so that I could share with you what fabulous landscapes roll down to the sea. It is a very narrow, winding road but once there well worth the drive. I was aware that the wind was cold but when I got out of my car, it was cutting! I didn’t stay out too long because my ears and nose were beginning to sting with the cold. Below are just a selection of some of the photos of the rolling Downs with Sussex villages one side and the sea the other.
What a wonderful world this is.
