We use cookies to improve your experience and help us understand how you use our site. Please refer to our cookie policy.
You can change your cookie settings cookies page at any time.
I first visited Deal in 2023. On a rain-sodden day with a bitter wind whipping in from the channel I trudged a high street loaded with discount retailers and charity shops. One visit seemed enough.
A friend insisted I try again. On my second visit the town was bathed in sunlight and a different route revealed Dickensian back streets, alfresco dining, delis, art shops and streets bedecked with flowers and bunting. After a good lunch at the Frog & Scot (since departed) I moved in.
I didn't know anyone and spent my mornings roaming the beach at dawn, contemplating life choices and taking photographs.
The beach here is unspoilt. There is a pier but few seaside ornaments to go with it save for a chic cafe. There are spots where gaggles of open-sea swimmers launch themselves at the channel, where buddhists meditate, where anglers cast their lines in all weathers at all hours.
And there are boats. Scattered along the seafront in various states of repair. There is no dock so they appear marooned, with little evidence they ever leave except for black oily trails on lines of logs leading to the sea. Visit at dawn and it looks like a ghost beach.
Boats were central to Deal's maritime economy back in the day. Launching from the steep shingle beach, they served fisherman and smugglers and made daring rescues from Goodwin Sands (home of 2,000 ship wrecks and 700 grey and harbour seals).
Ten Deal fishing boats took part in the Dunkirk evacuation during World War II. Seven returned.
By the 1970s, the fleet reduced to just a few. Today, it is mostly pleasure-craft and only one commercial fisherman remains - 71 year old Dave Lawrence. He goes out most weeks for herring, sprats, skate and dog-fish and sells his catch from the roadside as soon as it's landed.
You can see Dave's stall in the first photo in this gallery. Check Lawrence and Son on facebook for opening hours. Best hurry or you'll miss him.
Most of these shots were made at dawn when interesting things are happening with the sky.
I use a tripod with a slow shutter (1/8 to 1/30 sec) and medium aperture (around f/8.0) to preserve some foreground and background detail. ISO on Auto with an upper limit of 1600. If there are birds about I bump the shutter speed up to catch them.
28mm and 43mm lenses lenses (one wide, one normal) shooting in RAW (important for editing).
If you like any of the images in this gallery, send a message here. Limited edition fine art prints are available in sizes from A5 to A0.