5 easy and accessible East Sussex locations for amazing photography

Dew pond at Ditchling Beacon

Best Time to Shoot : Sunrise / Morning Golden Hour

Best time of year to shoot : Works anytime of the year but particularly in the winter months as the sun will rise to the south east behind the tree

Where to park : Ditchling Beacon National Trust Car Park (Stanmer, Brighton BN1 9QD)

What3words shooting location ref : ///lifestyle.vowel.sagging

Recommended Kit : Tripod (if shooting in low light or to get long exposure), wide or ultra wide lens, ND filters, standard zoom

The dew pond that sits between Ditchling Beacon and the Jack and Jill windmills in Clayton as a gem of the south downs, and attracts many photographers each year. It’s a short 10-15 minute walk from Ditchling Beacon car park and on a calm morning after at least some recent rainfall can offer a wonderful reflection opportunity nested into the beautiful surroundings of the South Downs. Head west out of the car park (Don’t cross the road) and stick to the south downs way path, you’ll not be able to miss the dew pond if you do this as it tracks right past it.

The great thing about these awesome locations on the south downs is that there are usually loads of other things to shoot, so taking a variety of kit will come in handy here, as the dew pond won’t be the only thing you’ll want to shoot.

Bonus tip - Since the dew pond sits high on the downs and is pretty exposed to the wind, even the slightest of breaths of wind will create ripple on the water. Depending on the strength of the wind, it doesn’t have to be a problem, but there is another consideration here which is the tree.

If it’s a mild breeze, where the tree isn’t moving too much, then a slightly extended exposure will smooth out the water but won’t blur the tree. If it’s blowing a gale, then the tree will be moving too, so a long exposure will result in a blurred tree which won’t be a desirable outcome. In this instance, you can get around it by doing two exposures and blending them post, one longer for the water and a shorter for the tree. You could, if your post processing skills allow blend a long exposure of the entire scene to get some movement in the clouds also, but this will take time and can be pretty frustrating if you don’t enjoy working with layers in photoshop.

View from Falmer looking towards Kingston Windmill

Best time to shoot : Sunrise

Best time of year to shoot : Spring / Autumn

Where to park : lay-by on ridge road (grid ref : 50°52'19.4"N 0°04'55.0"W)

What3words shooting location ref : ///wonderfully.crispier.traded

Recommended Kit : Telephoto zoom (70-200mm or something similar)

In my humble opinion, this view is one of the very best that you can shoot in the whole of Sussex. It is a sunrise location and in the right conditions, the interlinking hills and zig zag tree lines will cast amazing shadows shortly after sunrise. This vantage point will often give you misty conditions which look great with the south downs as a back drop. This location will work in any format, landscape, panos, portrait, wide or zoomed in can work here, so you can really use your create juices to create an image you love. For me, the best composition will be at a focal length of about 70-100mm but there really is no right or wrong here.

There are several ways of getting to this location, one being to park in the previous location car park at Ditchling beacon, walk across the road and head south on the south downs way, it will take you about half an hour to get to this location depending on how fit you are. You can also get here by parking anywhere in the flamer area and walking up a road (not sure if it’s private) towards “South downs unleashed” farm from the a27, However, if you go with my preference, it will get you a lot closer and involve a shorter and easier walk. There is a small lay-by just past Sussex University on ridge road, there is only room for 2 cars max, but early morning it is unlikely that anybody else will be parked here. From here, there is a small path leading north which is easy to see from the lay-by. Once on the path, keep walking north past 2 or 3 large farmer fields. You’ll eventually come to the South downs pathway, when you do, double back on yourself back towards “South downs unleashed farm”. The fields here are private, and used for crop, and I don’t believe there are any public paths leading across, so please do not be tempted to cross the farmers field on the way as I’m sure it won’t be welcomed if you are seen.

As many of the locations on the South downs, there are always other bonus views that you will get if visiting this location. If you visit here in late summer / Autumn, there is a fair chance you will get to see hay bails scattered over the local fields which if you compose correctly can make for another awesome image (see image below).

Bonus Tip : If you come here for sunrise, remember to bring a head torch. The path way I suggest also can become over grown in summer, so long trousers will help if you don’t want to get stung by the nettles.

Chattri Memorial at Pyecombe nr Brighton

Best time to shoot : Sunrise / Morning

Best time of year to shoot : Anytime of year but late Autumn through early spring will offer the best angle for the sun appearing over the rolling downs in the background.

Where to park : lay-by (free) on Braypool Ln, Brighton (BN1 8YF)

What3words shooting location ref : ///quilt.jaundice.creamed

Recommended Kit : Standard zoom (24-70mm)

Chattri memorial sits between Pyecombe and Patcham, sitting closer than most people think to the A23. Its listed on google as Brighton, but it isn’t really, but you do get views of Brighton from here. Chattri was built as in honour of 53 Indian soldiers who gave their lives in WW1 and were cremated here.

Getting to Chattri is easy enough, but depending on where you park there is a small hike, albeit a very scenic one to take into account. many people will park at the Jack and Jill windmill car park at Clayton and walk here from there, which will take about 30 odd minutes. However, since we are listing this as easy and accessible, I will give you a location that is closer and easier. Just off of the A23, heading from Patcham to Lewis a lay-by just before you hit the A27. You can’t miss it as there is a permanent snack bar parker there. You can park anywhere along there, and you’ll easily see a gate on the left hand side of the single track road which will then give you access to public footpaths north onto the downs. I think there is also a signpost here for Chattri so that should help too. You want to walk north only for about 10 minutes, there is a mild incline to take into account, but nothing to worry about at all. There will likely be cows grazing but they are very used to humans as this is a well trodden and cycled path. Once you get to Chattri there is a small gate on it’s western side that will give you access to the site itself. Again, remember a head torch, if for no other reason than to aviod the cow pats.

Once inside, the compositions are endless. Take some time to respect the location, breath in the atmosphere, you can really feel it. The pathways around the memorial building have been designed to be identical, and have beautiful yellow flower in bloom which make awesome foreground. Standing at the top end of the memorial will give you views south where you’ll see zig zagging hills leading down towards Brighton (see image 2). You’ll be able to clearly see the Brighton coastline from here, with the i360 attraction in easy reach of zoom lenses. Get here for sunrise as as soon as the sun is high enough to have climbed over the south downs you’ll get really nice areas of light and shade that works wonders for showing the contours of the hills that surround Chattri.

This location is also a decent spot for star trials at night shooting north. Shooting south you’ll get a lot of light pollution from Brighton, so it’s not ideal for milky way photos but they are certainly possible from here. For Astro, what works the best is to set up just below the memorial peak with the north star above it. The result will be circular start trials going around the memorial and it looks amazing.