Rampion Wind Farm, Sussex, UK

Yet again, I am taking walks around my hometown with my camera, trying to get the steps in as I rebuild my energy levels after contracting CFS/ME/Long-COVID two years ago. This time, I wanted to try to shoot the off-shore wind farm off the south coast of the UK.

The light was pretty good, a little flat as there was no direct sunlight, but it created a lovely backdrop to the wind farm.

^{"Peacehaven Cliff's just before Sunset": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/6.3, Focal Length: 200mm, Exposure: 1/160 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:33}

The Carrion Crow from my previous post was still hanging around; some restaurants are there, so they probably live pretty well off dropped scraps near bins.

^{"Carrion Crow, looking at the camera": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/11, Focal Length: 500mm, Exposure: 1/100 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:39}

The wind farm was finished in 2018 and currently powers about half of the homes in Sussex when it's at its peak. The boxy structure on stilts is the off-shore substation where the cable runs across the sea bed and makes Landfall at Brooklands Pleasure Beach.

The farm is named after the "Pride of Sussex" flower, the Round-Headed Rampion. This was chosen as the county flower for Sussex, sadly I don't have a photo of this flower.

^{"Shot of the Rampion Wind Farm and Substation at sunset": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/11, Focal Length: 600mm, Exposure: 1/500 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:37}

The wind farm, and many like it, works by converting the wind's energy into electricity through 116 off-shore turbine generators. Each turbine creates 3.45mw of electricity at peak with three blades measuring 55 meters each. The turbines stand 80m off mean sea level; while they may look small in the pictures, they are huge.

^{"Shot of the Rampion Wind Farm and Substation at sunset": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/6.3, Focal Length: 600mm, Exposure: 1/1600 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:33}

The wind farm was situated around 18km from where I was standing, which was about 2m back from the cliff edge on the path. This was the first time I got clear shots at 600mm, as atmospheric distortion over that distance can create extreme artifacts.

^{"Shot of the Rampion Wind Farm at sunset": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/6.3, Focal Length: 600mm, Exposure: 1/3200 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:34}

I did a lot of experimenting with angles, changing my angle to try and get the turbines spread out enough but keeping multiple rows in the shot.

^{"Shot of the Rampion Wind Farm at sunset": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/11, Focal Length: 600mm, Exposure: 1/320 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:36}

As the evening set in, a small boat crossed the scene, adding some interest and an idea of the vast expanse compared to a small boat that the sea represents.

^{"Shot of the Rampion Wind Farm at sunset with a small boat in the foreground": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/11, Focal Length: 202mm, Exposure: 1/250 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:41}

I'm not sure what kind of boat this was, but it seemed to be navigating from the east to the west towards Brighton or Shorham.

^{"Shot of the Rampion Wind Farm at sunset with a small boat in the foreground": Photographer: @richardslater, F-Stop: f/11, Focal Length: 600mm, Exposure: 1/500 sec, ISO: 800, Camera: Sony α7R V, Lens: Sony 200-600 F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Taken: Sunday, 07 January 2024 15:41}

I hope you enjoyed getting up close and personal with these mammoth machines off the coastline. They have fascinated me for years, and I'm glad I was able to Zoom in a little.