A road trip to the seaside!

Yesterday I went to the seaside to take an image of a groyne on the beach.

(Groynes are structures built perpendicularly from the shore to protect beaches from erosion. Learn how they work, what materials they are made of, and how they affect different coastlines).

I decided to go to Portobello beach, which is near the capital city of Edinburgh. I drove for approximately 50 minutes through to outskirts of the capital, passing the Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith. I also passed the Water of Leith, where I spotted branches of trees sticking out of the water. The road in Leith passes quirky bars and cafes, I’ll go there at some point to relax and take some photos. I parked the car in Bridge Street, and walked to the promenade with Betsy, going straight onto the beach. The weather was nice, and it was breezy, making it nice for some images with the nice blue sky and clouds. I arrived on the beach at around 1430. The tide was almost at its highest, and I checked the tide forecast before leaving.

The last time I was in Portobello was around 50 years ago going to Whitley Bay in the car, going on holidays! The main street is the same! This road went onto the old A1.

Portobello is a nice seaside resort, it reminds me of going on a holiday, sitting in the sand eating chips or having an ice cream, rather than scouting around looking for an image.

I decided to take a photo of one of the groynes, I got the tripod set up and my camera and the 10-24mm lens. I used a polorizer and a 10-stop ND filter. I was happy with what I got and went home after a walk on the beach. On my way home however I should have taken another image as a panorama, as I think that would have also worked, maybe two inages stitched together. Ill go back and try it, as its another perspective of one of the groynes. I should have taken more time at the location, I did have time and did not really maximise the time that I had. Lesson learnt.

I will go back again, and take the panorama image. I am happy with the image, and converted it into black and white as it looked a bit more dramatic, rather than been in colour.

10mm, f16, ISO 100, 30s exposure, 10-stop ND filter and a CPL polarizer. Converted into black and white in LR.