West Pier, Brighton, Sussex
This is what remains of the 1866 pier that when constructed was 1,115ft in length. It closed in 1975 and since then the pier suffered structural damage due to the Great Storm of 1987, and access from the shore was removed for safety reasons in 1991.
Two large fires in 2002 and 2003 led to some of the structure to collapse into the sea in 2002 and 2014. I was born and raised in Blackpool and there are three piers still remaining from the 1860's era, so I can appreciate the value and historical importance that these structural icons possess. What a shame West Pier should fall in this manner.
Regarding the image, I arrived on the shingle beach of Brighton at 5am and 22 minutes later, I had set up this shot. I decided to shoot the scene using my wide angle 16-35mm f4 lens on my Canon 5D MK4 but the difficulty
I had was two fold.
Firstly in order to frame the old pier within the pier sanctions, I had to get quite close to them but I also wanted the tide to surround the pillars and fortunately I timed the tide height just right but crashing waves onto the beach meant for difficult conditions to shoot in. Copious amounts of sea spray that constant cleaning of the filters was necessary as well as having to step back on the odd occasion when a large wave hit leaving the camera and tripod standing alone until I was able to step forward to grab it again.
There were a few bum cheek clenching moments I can tell you but with a shutter speed of only one second, the images turned out sharp time and time again thanks to the super study 6ft+ Gitzo tripod.
There is plenty of detail and texture to be found, especially in the sky.and overall I am delighted with this image. I hope you like it too and please feel free to SHARE if you wish.
Canon 5D MK4
Canon 16-35mm f4 @ 16mm
f11
1 sec
ISO100
Nisi 0.6 ND Soft Grad filter
Nisi 3 Stop Filter
Nisi Polariser
Gitzo GT3543XLS carbon fibre tripod
Gitzo GS3121LVL low profile levelling base
Manfrotto 405 geared tripod head
Mindshift Backlight 26L Bag
UK & Iceland Landscape Photography Workshops, 1-2-1 Private Tuition, print sales and camera club lectures available
website: www.melvinnicholson.co.uk
email: info@melvinnicholson.co.uk
facebook: www.facebook.com/melvinnicholsonphotography
flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/melvin_nicholson
youtube: www.youtube.com/c/melvinnicholsonphotographycom
tripadvisor: Search for Melvin Nicholson Photography
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West Pier, Brighton, Sussex
This is what remains of the 1866 pier that when constructed was 1,115ft in length. It closed in 1975 and since then the pier suffered structural damage due to the Great Storm of 1987, and access from the shore was removed for safety reasons in 1991.
Two large fires in 2002 and 2003 led to some of the structure to collapse into the sea in 2002 and 2014. I was born and raised in Blackpool and there are three piers still remaining from the 1860's era, so I can appreciate the value and historical importance that these structural icons possess. What a shame West Pier should fall in this manner.
Regarding the image, I arrived on the shingle beach of Brighton at 5am and 22 minutes later, I had set up this shot. I decided to shoot the scene using my wide angle 16-35mm f4 lens on my Canon 5D MK4 but the difficulty
I had was two fold.
Firstly in order to frame the old pier within the pier sanctions, I had to get quite close to them but I also wanted the tide to surround the pillars and fortunately I timed the tide height just right but crashing waves onto the beach meant for difficult conditions to shoot in. Copious amounts of sea spray that constant cleaning of the filters was necessary as well as having to step back on the odd occasion when a large wave hit leaving the camera and tripod standing alone until I was able to step forward to grab it again.
There were a few bum cheek clenching moments I can tell you but with a shutter speed of only one second, the images turned out sharp time and time again thanks to the super study 6ft+ Gitzo tripod.
There is plenty of detail and texture to be found, especially in the sky.and overall I am delighted with this image. I hope you like it too and please feel free to SHARE if you wish.
Canon 5D MK4
Canon 16-35mm f4 @ 16mm
f11
1 sec
ISO100
Nisi 0.6 ND Soft Grad filter
Nisi 3 Stop Filter
Nisi Polariser
Gitzo GT3543XLS carbon fibre tripod
Gitzo GS3121LVL low profile levelling base
Manfrotto 405 geared tripod head
Mindshift Backlight 26L Bag
UK & Iceland Landscape Photography Workshops, 1-2-1 Private Tuition, print sales and camera club lectures available
website: www.melvinnicholson.co.uk
email: info@melvinnicholson.co.uk
facebook: www.facebook.com/melvinnicholsonphotography
flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/melvin_nicholson
youtube: www.youtube.com/c/melvinnicholsonphotographycom
tripadvisor: Search for Melvin Nicholson Photography
SIGN UP FREE for my regular NEWSLETTER
www.melvinnicholsonphotography.co.uk/newsletter