Photograph grey seals at Horsey Gap with expert guidance, capturing natural behaviour, coastal atmosphere and unforgettable wildlife moments

Winterton-on-Sea & Horsey Gap Seal Photography Day

Join the Wex Events Team and SONY for a full-day Norfolk coastal wildlife photography experience, combining the dramatic dunes and seal colony at Winterton-on-Sea with an extended session at Horsey Gap.

The day is designed around photographing grey seals, pups, coastal landscapes and the surrounding dune environment, while developing long-lens technique, composition and wildlife photography skills.

SONY will be on hand with the latest cameras and lenses to try for FREE. Sony offers on the day.

Meeting point

Winterton Beach the morning meeting point.

The Winterton Beach car park is directly associated with the beach and provides a straightforward starting point for the morning. Friends of Horsey Seals identifies the Winterton Beach car park as being at the top of the dunes, with access towards the beach and seal viewing areas.

Meeting point: Winterton Beach Car Park
Location: Winterton-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, NR29 4DE

A particularly useful meeting landmark is the Friends of Horsey Seals hut at the far end of the Winterton Beach car park, close to the black fishermen's huts.

Suggested Photoday

9:00am — Meet at Winterton-on-Sea

We'll meet at the Winterton Beach car park and begin with a short briefing.

We'll cover:

• The day's itinerary.
• Seal behaviour and welfare.
• Camera settings.
• Long-lens technique.
• Autofocus settings.
• Exposure for pale seal pups and darker adults.
• Safe positioning.
• Working around other photographers.

The emphasis will be on photographing responsibly without disturbing the seals.

9:15am – 12:00pm

Winterton Seals & Coastal Landscape

We'll explore the Winterton area, concentrating on the seal colony and the surrounding coastal landscape.

Winterton offers excellent opportunities for combining wildlife and landscape photography, with the dunes providing elevated viewpoints and opportunities to include the wider environment in your images.

We'll look for:

• Grey seals.
• Seal pups.
• Adults and pups interacting.
• Seals resting.
• Seals entering and leaving the water.
• Environmental portraits.
• Dune landscapes.
• Coastal vegetation.
• Winter skies.
• Wide-angle wildlife compositions.

Photography Challenge

We'll work on creating three different types of seal image:

Portrait — isolate the animal.

Environmental — show the seal within its surroundings.

Storytelling — capture behaviour or interaction.

12:00pm – 12:30pm

Coastal Photography & Final Winterton Images

Before leaving Winterton, we'll take some time to concentrate on the wider landscape.

Potential subjects include:

• Dune textures.
• Beach and sea.
• Coastal grasses.
• Seal tracks.
• Reflections.
• Winter light.
• Abstract patterns.

This gives photographers the opportunity to create images beyond straightforward wildlife portraits.

12:30pm – 1:00pm

Travel to Horsey Gap

We'll travel to Horsey Gap.

Horsey Gap is the ideal afternoon location because its car park provides direct access to the dunes and beach, with the first seal viewing platform only around 5–10 minutes from the car park.

1:00pm – 4:00pm

Horsey Gap Grey Seal Colony

Horsey provides an opportunity to spend a longer period concentrating on the seal colony.

During the winter pupping season, the beach is closed to visitors and photography is undertaken from the dunes and designated viewing platforms.

We'll work from the permitted viewing areas and look for:

• Seal pups.
• Adult grey seals.
• Mothers and pups.
• Seals resting.
• Behaviour between animals.
• Seals moving towards the sea.
• Wide colony scenes.
• Individual portraits.
• Environmental compositions.

The official Horsey Gap guidance asks visitors to maintain at least 10 metres from seals and never come between a pup and its mother.

Photography Techniques

Throughout the day we'll concentrate on practical wildlife photography skills.

Autofocus

We'll explore:

• Continuous AF.
• Animal subject detection.
• Tracking moving seals.
• Selecting appropriate AF areas.

Shutter Speed

We'll compare settings for:

• Static portraits.
• Walking seals.
• Swimming.
• Fast movement.
• Interactions between adults and pups.

Long-Lens Technique

We'll look at:

• Handholding long lenses.
• Monopod technique.
• Tracking subjects.
• Maintaining sharpness.
• Using focal length creatively.

A 300mm+ lens is recommended for the dune viewpoints, with 400–600mm particularly useful for frame-filling images.

Creative Challenge

During the afternoon, participants will be challenged to create a six-image seal story:

1. The landscape
2. The colony
3. An individual
4. Behaviour
5. A detail
6. A memorable moment

The aim is to return with a cohesive set of photographs rather than simply hundreds of individual seal portraits.

Equipment

Recommended:

• Mirrorless or DSLR camera.
• 100–400mm / 150–600mm / 200–600mm lens.
• 400–600mm prime or zoom if available.
• Wide-angle lens for landscapes.
• Monopod or tripod.
• Spare batteries.
• Plenty of memory cards.
• Binoculars.
• Waterproof clothing.
• Warm layers.
• Waterproof footwear.

A long lens is particularly important because getting closer to the seals is not the objective — producing better images from a responsible distance is. Friends of Horsey Seals specifically recommends a good zoom or long prime and tripod for seal photography.

Seal Welfare & Responsible Photography

This is a wildlife experience first and a photography experience second.

Participants must:

• Remain on designated paths and viewing areas.
• Follow instructions from seal wardens.
• Keep a safe distance.
• Never approach or chase seals.
• Never block a seal's route to the sea.
• Never position yourself between a mother and pup.
• Never enter restricted areas.
• Keep noise to a minimum.
• Never use the photograph as a reason to disturb wildlife.

During the breeding season, visitors are asked not to walk on the beach at Winterton or Horsey and to remain on designated routes and viewing areas.

Parking

At Horsey, the Horsey Gap car park is the closest parking for the beach and dunes. It is privately operated, with pay-and-display parking; the official site currently lists all-day parking at £8.50 and an overflow field when required.

At Winterton, the beach car park is privately operated and parking charges apply. The Friends of Horsey Seals advises that Winterton parking is cash-only and the car park closes at 4pm, so the day's timing should allow participants to leave well before then.

From the quieter, expansive landscape of Winterton to the spectacular seal colony at Horsey Gap, this photoday offers a mixture of wildlife, landscape, action and storytelling photography while keeping the welfare of the seals at the heart of the experience.