This is the last blogpost from the ‘Cold weather saltburn’ outing. I meet up with a Helen and martin. I have photographed the couple before and decided to take some more images on this occasion.
I experimented with different backdrops, my favourite being the painted wooden arbour. Helen and Martin photograph very well and look natural in front of the camera.
I found inspiration in these bright and cheerful looking surf boards. They contrasted with the bleak day which I found interesting. When I came to have a closer look I noticed a little frost on the boards which I found ironic. It’s not a classic shot for a seaside place which I like because it’s unconventional.
The surf boards seemed to have a bit of character particularly within the setting and time of year. But theres some very brave surfers in Saltburn so I expected there to be a couple on the beach or in the sea.
I came across some blue surf boards all placed out across the seafront against a railing. I took the opportunity to get some close up shots to show off the modern structure of the boards.
Saltburn seafront is like a haven for any photographer. While many choose to photograph the cliff or pier, on this occasion I was interested in some old boats and tractors. Unfortunately the light wasn’t ideal; it was very strong and hard to get the right exposure.
After adjusting my camera settings a little, I started exploring the area. There was quite a lot of rust which would work wonderfully in macro. I came to a window of a tractor and came up with the idea of framing the pier within this window. The final impression looked quite vintage which I liked probably due to the natural light on the day and subtle editing on Photoshop.
This category of photos has a consistent colour palette. There are some icy tones including blues and greys. These tones are primarily there already but slightly developed through editing afterwards.
The simplest way I found to do this was change the photo to monochrome. On some of the colour photos I added a grey/blue tint or increased the natural tones using a action called auto colour on PhotoShop.
Many of these photos are macro, using a very short depth of field. For example I used a short f-stop while photographing some ice on a fence. This created an intense effect and much of the surrounding area was blurred while the focus of the ice in the middle was very clear.
As you may already know I love to photograph dogs. When I visit Saltburn by the sea I often meet new dogs and there owners. I bumped into a lovely dog by the gardens. It was all wet and seemed to have been swimming. I spoke to the owners who seemed quite happy for me to take a couple of pictures of their dog.
The pics came out well and I love the close focus achieved. I would love for you to contact me if you are the owners at helen@helencapstick.com. I know I passed on my business card. Sorry for the delay of this blog post.
What I liked about taking abstract shots is most of the time, they can be taken almost anywhere. A trick I find that works well is to look at form, texture and shape very closely. Zooming in can get rid of off-putting elements too.
As we were walking down the steep road at Saltburn I noticed quite low light and consequently longer shadows. I also liked the colours achieved on the ground.
The shapes in focus seem to be the double yellow lines and the overlapping of the shadows adds interest to the picture. The photo is fairly simple but I think the lighting really adds to it.
