The Chattri Memorial

The Chattri Memorial is a place that we have been meaning to visit for months, but haven't. Until today. The site is on a hill, away from any roads, and can only be reached on foot across fields. We meant to arrive there in time for sunset but were a little late. As we were approaching the site, we saw some smoke and quite a lot of people who were just starting to head back from The Chattri. When we asked what was going on, we found out that Red Earth had just had a gig there, as part of the Brighton Festival of World Sacred Music (of which I have never heard until now). The sun was rapidly going down and the light with it, so we took a few shots and decided to go back tomorrow.

And the sea is still beautiful

We hadn't been by the sea for two days. Before going to Brighton this evening, we went for a little walk on Castle Hill, and as soon as I saw the sea from there I felt very happy and calm. I love the sea. I love living by the sea!



These are just quick, low quality snaps with the pocket camera.



Late in the evening we went for a walk by the beach and took some long exposure shots while Z played on the pebbles, occasionally knocking one of our tripod legs... I was hoping to get some moonlit shots, but the lights by the seafront were much more brighter than the light from the full moon, so we ended up getting this incandescent light rather than a cool moonlight in our shots. Must get further away from any artificial lights next time!

Back to the past?

I've been trying to do shorter walks with the puppy in an attempt to let his dodgy leg rest, so a few times we've just been for a walk around the back of the houses in the neighbourhood. Whenever I see this car parked there it makes me feel like I've time travelled to the 50's or something. Not that I know exactly how old this car is...

Graduated ND filters Part II

Today I went to try out the grad filters on Newhaven beach.

Graduated ND filters

Zebedee has had a sore leg for almost two weeks now and when I asked about it at the vet's the other day, they said that it's most likely he has just pulled a muscle and that I should rest it for a few days... give him only a limited amount of exercise; no running around at all, just short walks on the lead. You gotta be kidding me. He is a six month old springer puppy! The vet joked that perhaps she should give Zebedee sedatives for the next week or so.

All that in mind, we went for a little walk to St. Ann's Well Gardens rather than the usual long walks in the Downs. The day has been beautiful and the light in the park was lovely.





I bought myself some cheapo ND grad filters the other day, and went to test them in Birling Gap this evening. We were a little late (because there were too many squirrels to chase in the park...) and as soon as we got to the beach, the sun sank below the horizon. It was a cloudless sky so any use of the ND grad filter for the sky would have been incredibly boring, which made me try out some of the fancy coloured grad filters. Here is one shot taken with a blue grad on top and purple at the bottom. (click to see it bigger)

Evening drive to Camber and Rye Harbour

What a lovely day. We spent the late afternoon and evening in Camber beach and Rye Harbour.






Zebedee was fairly well behaved at first; he was running around in the sand and stopping every now and then to dig a hole and find a mussel and eat it (including some of the shell!). He reminded me of polar bears that find seal pups by sniffing them under a thick layer of icy snow. Then, the juvenile delinquent that he is, he snatched a stick from a little girl!



The girl looked hopelessly on...



...as the puppy started to destroy her precious find.



What's that? A giant mussel approaching?



The beach can look a little out-of-spacey in places.






Zebedee enjoying one of his seafood delights (being distracted by something in the distance mid-munching).











On our way to Rye, I stopped the car so we could admire the view.



Rye Harbour



(I actually left all my memory cards at home, so I had to borrow Miles's pocket camera... with which all the above photos have been taken.)

Calla Lily

I bought some Calla Lilies today. To tell you the truth, I didn't get great photos of them... I'll try again in the next few days when they have opened up a little more.






A few shots from our afternoon walk.