Spring Tide 2012, Brighton Beach

Part one : Thursday 8th March 2012. During March, the orbital alignment of the sun and the moon creates a strong gravitational pull on Earth's oceans, resulting in abnormally low tides. Coastal features normally hidden at any other time of the year are revealed. Brighton beach is the place to be during the spring tides. I had the pleasure of meeting Alex Lawrence and brightondj for the first time and once again, I bumped into Finn Hopson. Alex and I probably spent more time chin-wagging than taking photographs. He also let me try out his 10 frames-per-second Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, which he uses in his job as a professional motor racing photographer. In part two, I will revisit the beach at the weekend, when the forecast is for bright sunshine. I will also have my new Canon EF 100-400mm lens by then, replacing the copy destroyed at Beachy Head on Monday evening.

Spring Tide, Brighton Seafront

Spring Tide, Brighton Beach

Spring Tide, West Pier, Brighton

Spring Tide, Brighton Beach

On Saturday 10th March 2012, the water level fell to 30cm on an unseasonably warm evening. In places, one could walk at least 150 metres from the pebble line and 250 metres from Brighton promenade.  Indeed, 250 metres south of the Brighton Wheel is where I found Finn Hopson taking pictures after dark. I enjoyed a walk between the West Pier and Brighton Pier the most, because I could appreciate the serene twilight through my own fragile human senses. It was the sort of occasion I will recall for years to come, as truly mesmerising. Finn Hopson agreed. I started this week on a bad note, dropping an expensive telephoto lens into the sea. I head into Sunday, having enjoyed the perfect Saturday : I have a new lens, my starling photograph was selected for the Flickr front page, attracting enough views to populate Hove (and favourites to keep Arundel overcrowded with tourists) and now I am off to the local curry house for a vegetable Phall and a few ales.

Brighton Beach, Spring Tide

Spring Tide, Brighton Beach

Brighton Beach, Spring Tide

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