Radiance

There's something magical about arriving at a beach just after the tide has receded. The wet sand becomes a perfect mirror, doubling whatever beauty the sky decides to offer. This November morning at Worthing, I positioned myself on the beach while it was still dark, waiting for the sun to make its appearance behind the pier.

As dawn broke, the sky exploded with colour. Warm golds and fiery oranges spread across the horizon, and the reflection in the shallow water left by the receding tide was absolutely stunning. Worthing Pier stood in perfect silhouette, its elegant Victorian structure mirrored in the wet sand below. I worked quickly to capture this panoramic composition, knowing that these conditions—the perfect tide level, the calm water, the brilliant sunrise—wouldn't last long.

What I love most about this image is that sense of symmetry and radiance. The pier appears twice, once real and once reflected, while the warm tones of sunrise envelope the entire scene. It's moments like these that make those early morning wake-up calls worthwhile—when the elements align to create something that feels almost too beautiful to be real.

When you look at this photograph, I want you to feel that warmth radiating from the sunrise, to imagine standing on that wet sand with the cool morning breeze, watching one of nature's most reliable yet endlessly captivating performances over the Sussex coastline.