Early mornings test your photography skills, pushing you to think fast and frame carefully when conditions shift unexpectedly.
Coming to you from Mike Chudley, this reflective video follows him through a series of sunrise photography walks, beginning at Shoeburyness near Southend-on-Sea. Chudley openly admits mistakes, such as arriving late and missing the richest light, reminding you that timing is everything. His candid talk about adjusting settings under pressure—missing a perfect shot of a golden retriever paddling through sunrise reflections—feels relatable. Moments like these stress the need to know your gear intimately.
Chudley explores Southend with a refreshing honesty, focusing on spontaneous compositions rather than predetermined scenes. He notes how the simplicity of seaside landscapes—straight horizons, clear lines—helps build stronger images naturally. There’s no elaborate formula here, just a thoughtful acknowledgment of how the environment itself guides your framing. Interestingly, Chudley reveals a practical insight about crop ratios, mentioning how unfamiliar he found the Hasselblad’s 3:4 format compared to the more traditional 2:3 full-frame aspect. This seemingly minor detail underscores how personal comfort with equipment shapes photographic choices, influencing the final image more than you might think.
On another morning, Chudley ventures to Maldon, a sailing town with a distinct atmosphere compared to Southend’s bustling seaside. The quieter setting encourages him to engage differently, prompting interactions he might normally avoid. Taking spontaneous portraits becomes more appealing, partly due to the Hasselblad’s image quality, but mainly because the slower pace feels right. His genuine conversation with John, a retiree who spends mornings reading newspapers by the water, quietly emphasizes how photography can bridge simple human connections. Chudley challenges the cliché that gear doesn't matter, noting that the equipment you choose genuinely influences the images you decide to take.
These mornings also hint at a larger, developing personal project. Chudley briefly considers documenting shopkeepers and seaside cafés, showing how everyday routines could evolve into deeper photographic exploration. The possibility of building a cohesive body of work emerges naturally from these unstructured walks, highlighting how valuable casual exploration can be in uncovering potential themes. Chudley doesn’t force this point but lets it gently surface, suggesting a meaningful approach to photography projects that start casually but grow organically. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Chudley.
