Grey seals are a common sight in British coastal waters with 40% of the global population living in and around our shores. They’re not all that tricky to spot bobbing above the waves but photographing seals on dry land is a different matter.
The best time of year to photograph seals is when they’re in pupping season because this is when they spend the most amount of time on or near shore. On the beaches of Norfolk, this typically takes place in November and early December though it’s slightly different at other spots around the country. But I was quite surprised to see the colony at Horsey Gap already in position in mid October.
I had intended just to have a bracing beach walk before getting in the car to head home but was so enthralled by seeing the seals that I stopped and watched them for a while.
There were around a hundred seals of varying ages in the colony and they were lolling on the beach in the autumn sunshine on either side of a groyne. The lighter coloured ones were last year’s young and there weren’t any new pups yet.
Having spoken to several wildlife photographers and written pieces about it for Eye for the Light in the last year, I firmly told myself to watch first and get the camera out later.
I spotted canoodling couples and lolling teenagers as well as combative and splash-happy specimens of all sizes. I began to marvel at how the dark grey blobs in the water shone and sparkled in the sunlight as they emerged from the gentle waves. Their mottled, spotted and silky pelts covered a whole spectrum of greys and it was incredible to see how these colours changed once they started to dry off and took on a furrier and fluffier look in the sun’s rays.
I scrambled down the dunes and got a little closer. There were a handful of other watchers and photographers milling around. The seals didn’t seem the least bit concerned by the presence of humans and it almost reminded me of the pictures you see of photographers on the Galápagos islands getting really close to big mammals. I didn’t go any closer than the edges of the dunes, even though some other photographers thought that was ok.
My time spent watching the seals quickly informed the vision I had for the photos. It was the colours in the sunlight that most grabbed me but I also wanted to use the backdrop of the sea to create a contrast that would set them off.
In this picture I chose to use the white of the waves breaking in the background to highlight and frame the seal’s speckled grey tones.
In this shot I was trying to use the break of the waves to create texture around the seal’s face.
And in this one the white of the young seal’s fur came alive with the darker tones of the grey sea behind it.
I couldn’t help but capture their behaviour too. The lolling and preening was quite captivating. And it was this seal who seemed the most expressive.
If you’re interested in finding out more about photographing seals as well as conservation and protection at Horsey Gap in Norfolk Friends of Horsey Seals have loads of information on their website as well as an up-to-date instagram account full of latest sightings.
