Recommend Photography Locations & Inspiration In Portsmouth - Part 1

A city full of history from across the years and being at the forefront of the British economy, Portsmouth has plenty of places for you to get out and about with your camera in hand and find something that catches your eye. From the naval base that still harbours ships of old and news to the modernising city areas like Gunwharf Quays; to the historic areas of the city where architecture is still old to the seafront and the lengthy beaches hosting what you’d typically find at any seaside town, the city has it all.

And that’s why I’m writing this piece for you: to highlight some of these locations!

One thing to note before getting into things is the fact that most of my photographs in Portsmouth were taken prior to me having my camera so it’ll be hit and miss on getting those useful camera settings across to you. I’ll do my best to give you a starting point as to what I’d use if I were to go back.

Enough of that anyway, getting scrolling to find out everything you need to know.

Camera settings:

Left hand picture: Exposure 1/15s, f/6.3, 18mm, ISO 3200
Right hand picture: Exposure 1/15s, f/6.3, 18mm, ISO 6400

Location: Portsmouth Guildhall (Google Maps)

As you would expect, Guildhall in Portsmouth is quite the building and a very photogenic one at that. Whether from afar taking it all in or up close to get the details of the stone work, this building can look good from most angles. Don’t worry, the Guildhall in Portsmouth does also look great at times other than Christmas, it just so happens that my favourite two from here were at that time of year.

Looking at those camera settings, two things are clear. Firstly, I didn’t have my tripod at this point hence the compromise on the exposure time to ensure no blur. Secondly, that ISO… why did I use to have it so high?! This was because I was using the guide on the camera to set it up, knowing no better.

So what would I do better? ISO down for a start. Around 400 would be ideal for this one. Exposure time? A little longer for them both really, looking at around 1/6s with a nice steady hand. Aperture would be wide for the left hand picture with it around the same value for the right hand picture to give that depth of the tree in front of the Guildhall.

Camera settings:Exposure 1/5000s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 25 (Automatic on iPhone XS)

Location: Eastney Beach (Google Maps)

Found whilst I was out on a run and couldn’t resist whilst I was there. That’s a point, you see me talk about these locations but may not know how I go about finding them. Well, I wrote a blog on that which you can check out here!

Anyway, back to this blog post.

Found on the seafront of Eastney beach, this array of colourful beach huts provide a great location for you to capture a picture or two. Add in the possibility of a sunrise or sunset to bring a different dynamic to it and you’ve got yourself a great location to use.

This is the first picture of the blog that was captured whilst running thus on my iPhone. However, I will be sure to help you out by giving you a breakdown of how I’d try to capture it on a camera. Shooting into the sun is always a difficult one as you can imagine. Exposure time would be very short, looking at 1/2000-1/5000s with a narrow aperture and ISO around 400. I’d use this as a starting point before adjusting as required to get the result I wanted.

Camera settings:

Left hand picture: Exposure 1/1000s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 25 (Automatic on iPhone XS)
Right hand picture: Exposure 1/4s, f/4, 25mm, ISO 6400

Location: HMS WARRIOR (Google Maps)

As I mentioned before, there’s plenty of naval history in this city and one of those pieces of history is HMS WARRIOR that sits proud in the dockyard here. Staying picturesque all year round, especially when it is dressed for Christmas, it’s a certainly a great location for a photograph later in the day, whether this be for sunset or during the night time hours.

As you can see, as great as the picture on the left is, it was taken automatically by my iPhone so means that I had no control over the settings I’m afraid. If on a camera, I would have the ISO around 100-400, aperture wide and the exposure time in the 1/250s region as a starting pointing and move around from there.

However, the right hand picture is very easy to talk about when it comes to the settings that were used. ISO was far too high. Taken early on in my photography days, if I remember rightly, I tried to follow the guide for ISO on the camera giving me this really high number and with it, plenty of noise! The exposure time could also have been a little shorter to ensure that there’s no blur in the photograph if taken by hand., looking at around 1/10s. Obviously, if on a tripod, you have full range of exposure. Aperture for this one is about right.

Camera settings: Exposure 1/120s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 50 (Automatic on iPhone XS)

Location: Victoria Pier (Google Maps)

Another location discovered whilst I was out running during the sunset that I couldn’t resist taking a photograph of. On its own, it is a great location for you enjoy whilst the sun is setting but if you time it right, you could get either small pleasure craft or a huge warship sailing through the frame. Another idea would for a timer to be set and you or someone you know in the frame. A location with plenty of potential.

The fact this was taken whilst out running though means one thing: iPhone photo and not DSLR photo again. Don’t worry though, I’ll be sure to help out with settings here. The exposure time is about what I would go for to ensure that I got the colour of the sky without washing it out and the detail of the pier itself. The ISO would be kept in my usual 100-400 range, experimenting with whichever works to get the right balance of foreground to background. Finally, the aperture would be a wide one though I would see about a narrow one to really focus on the pier and allow the background to melt away.

Camera settings:

Left hand picture: Exposure 1/480s, f/2.8, 3mm, ISO 100 (Automatic on GoPro Hero 7 Black)
Right hand picture: Exposure 1/4000s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 25 (Automatic on iPhone XS)

Location: Southsea Beach

Left hand picture (Google Maps)
Right hand picture (Google Maps)

The beach at Southsea stretches all the way around from east to west of Portsea island and with that, gives plenty of variety of locations and frames for you to use, as shown by what’s featured above. On the left you have a sunset shot just outside the hoverport facing west, whilst the picture on the right was taken just south of the rock gardens during a sunrise facing east.

Let’s get into camera settings and how I would set up for these pictures. The left picture was a little bit of cheating as it used the GoPro’s SuperPhoto setting which gives some amazing results! To be fair, the settings aren’t too far off what I’d use. ISO nice and low, aperture pretty wide to get it all in and exposure time around the 1/250-1/500s mark as the sun was still fairly bright.

The right hand photo would be much the same, with the exposure time a bit more than the recommended amount for the right due to the sun being higher in the sky and aperture would need to come down a little too.

Camera settings:

Left hand picture: Exposure 1/5700s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 25 (Automatic on iPhone XS)
Right hand picture: Exposure 1/120s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 50 (Automatic on iPhone XS)

Location: Under South Parade Pier (Google Maps)

Now I’m sure there are plenty of photographs you could get from on the pier itself but for me, it’s underneath that caught me eye on a run one morning and gave me somewhere to keep returning to a regular basis to capture new shots.

This location gives you great versatility, allowing you to get pictures both at sunrise and sunset with different backgrounds on both sides. As you can see from what’s featured above, there are plenty of angles that you can use to creative the frame that appeals to you, whether this be up close, far away, including the sea or just the sand of the beach.

As much as I love these pictures, frustratingly, I didn’t take them on my camera so the set up isn’t under my control! I feel this gives me a very valid excuse to get up early one morning and return so that I can see what my Nikon can capture.

That wraps up another photography locations blog, giving you another six great locations for you to explore the the camera and get creative with. Whether it be something new or similar to what I managed to achieve, me sure to tag me in it so I can see! If you know of any other spots in and around Portsmouth, let myself and the other readers know in the comments section below.

If there are any pictures in this blog that you liked the look of and would like to purchase it for your own personal use, be it a wall print or otherwise, then be sure to head over to my Alamy portfolio where you will be able to view them, along with . If what you’re looking for isn’t on there, then send me an email quiltycoversblog@gmail.com and I’ll be able to sort this out for you.

Like the content of this photography? Then be sure to check out my other photography blogs, letting you know how I go about finding my photography locations and giving tips and tricks for other locations that I visit, providing inside thoughts on how to capture the shot you’ll want.

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