I’ve never been to Suffolk before, but I have been Suffolk-curious for a while. In the middle of the year I decided to rectify the geographic omission and book a trip down to explore the area. One option would have been to buy a guide books, such as the FotoVue book by Justin Minns. The alternative was to find a short workshop around the area. Happily, Justin himself advertises a two day workshop on his excellent website.

So, at the end of October I joined Justin and a lovely, sociable group of photographers at the Westleton Crown for a couple of days of coastal photography. I’ll say in advance that I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Suffolk; the Crown was an excellent base, while the food and conversation was superb. Justin himself is easy company and has the knack of leaving you alone if you’re engrossed, but offering support, advice and suggestions if he can see you struggling. I have been on a few workshops now and I think he hit the ‘Goldilocks’ sweet spot of being neither too intrusive, but still accessible.

This isn’t going to be a wordy post - hopefully the images will speak for themselve. I will say, again, that one of the beauties of workshops is that someone else does the driving, knows what will work and when and takes care of the logistics. All this worked well.

Walberswick

We hit Walberswick in the afternoon, with an exceptionally high tide and stayed for sunset. While we has some pleasant light, the sunset teased but didn’t catch. It’s a good location though and worked well for the first evening.

Southwold

Our sunrise stop on the first morning was Southwold. As with the night before the light teased, but didn’t catch. Nonetheless there was enough movement and drama in the sea to make the images work. This seems to be one of the popular spots for photographers and it’s easy to see why. It’s definitely worth a return if ever we’re back in the area. We also had time to explore the very photogenic beach huts before returning for breakfast.

We returned to Southwold after breakfast on the final day, this time to explore the harbour. There are masses of detail and little vignettes that could keep a photographer happy for days…

*Signs of Neglect*
Sony A7R V | Various Settings

Sizewell

Construction related to the building of Sizewell C has made a mess of the surrounding roads and country, but the beach is well worth a visit. Sizewell B in particular could make an interesting subject in the right light but, for me at least, the main attractions are the cooling towers which have something of the air of Brighton’s West Pier.

Aldeburgh

Our sunset destination on the second evening was Aldeburgh, although we did get an opportunity to explore what is a very pretty town a little in the afternoon. One object of fascination for locals and tourists alike is the Scallop sculpture by Maggie Hambling. For sunset we positioned ourselves further down the beach by a couple of long-abandoned boats.

Lowestoft

The final morning took us out to Lowestoft and the old pier there. We were also rewarded with the best show of colour for the trip and it was a great way to round out the trip.

The Photography Bit

I thoroughly enjoyed myself in Suffolk. Justin and the rest of the group were easy company, the locations good and the photography very enjoyable. It was good to get out and so some good old-fashioned landscape photography: big tripod, graduated filters, exploring compositions and getting lost in the process. I’m happy with the set of images that I brought back and while you can always wish for different light, conditions were pretty good throughout. I’d definitely repeat Suffolk and I’d definitely book with Justin again. I’m not sure I can say more…

There was also a bonus. I’d arranged to stay in Norwich the night before to break my journey. It’s not a city I’d ever visited and I was very pleasantly surprised; it’s a much prettier city than I’d expected and may well be worth a repeat trip.

Wild Suffolk Coast