Just to the east of Portsmouth, between the island of Portsea (on which the city sits) and Hayling Island, there is an area of natural marshland. Over the years it’s proven to be a lovely place for a walk around, and it’s popular with locals who like to cycle or jog in the area too, and birdwatchers often gather in little flocks of their own to enjoy the sights of numerous bird species that come to the area. On top of all that, this was one of the decoy sites used during World War II to divert German bombers from Portsmouth and try to get it to bomb a mostly empty adjacent spot on the coast instead of the important naval port.
This photo was taken in 2013 and is looking north towards Portsdown Hill.
There has been only the slightest of modifications to this shot that is otherwise taken directly out of camera. A very slight tweak to the colour grading was made to increase the orange in the highlights and pale blue in the shadows. Some sharpening – but not too much so as not to lose that weakly warm evening feel – and then a translucent colour pop layer over the top just to put more emphasis on some of the details and highlights in the foreground grass.