More classic shots of Saltburn can in some ways be much harder to capture. So many photographers have previously been and taken those classic shots and it’s hard to make new shots look unique.
I like the challenge of this though and find it motivating to try and create original photographs. From the classic Saltburn theme, I wanted to make sure anyone who looks at my images would recognise the location quite quickly.
To achieve this I developed ideas around typography. The surfboarding sign I spotted seemed like a good choice. I chopped off the other information, leaving the word Saltburn next to a silhouette of a surfboard. Despite the framing being slightly off I was pleased with the results.
I always manage to photograph this theme each time I’m out; it’s kind of an obsession. It’s a great way to photograph people without revealing their identity and it has developed as an interesting project.
For example working with reflections can be fun. A particularly shot from the day consists of Helen & Martin standing next to a puddle. The reflection in the puddle is quite clear. I centered the camera so the ground was somewhere in the centre, creating a fascinating appeal.
This series is the first of many from a trip to Saltburn in January. I remember it being bitterly cold but we persevered and produced some lovely shots. Are first stop was the tractors on the seafront, we then walked through the gardens, up the steps and into the centre.
I got chatting to a fellow photographer by the tractors and we talked about how the tractors made a lovely framing device for landscape shots. We bumped into a few people we knew. We saw a couple of folk in the restaurant/bar on the seafront. I think people were huddling inside because of the freezing weather.
This group of shots includes all the photos that didn’t really fit into any other category. My favourite from the bunch is the one of the chain fence as it looks quite eye-catching with the bright white as a monochrome.
The theme of this session of Messy Church was the creation of the world. All the arts and crafts projects were focused on this and symbolized fitting ideas. There were some great games which were also very visually pleasing to photograph.
Examples include fizzy pop cocktails consisting of lemonade and blue food colouring. These were decorated with fancy umbrellas and other fun accessories. Another popular game was the pipe cleaner insect making. This too was quite camera-friendly to document.
Another helper and I prepared a game involving blue balloons. These balloons symbolized the world and the children had to draw on the countries in felt tip pen. The children seemed to have fun with this.
To celebrate Christmas and New Year at the Youth group where I volunteer at decided to throw a lovely party. We had party food, games, Christmas crackers, music playing and much more.
I made a game beforehand which was called funny faces. It included a board of celebrities pulling faces. There was a pile of cards, each player taking turns to pick a card up. On the back of the card is a face from the board. They must mimic the face until other players match up which celebrity face they are making. The game went down very well.
In addition the other leaders had made games and I felt inspired with new ideas. One of the games consisted on finding as many objects in the room which start with each letter from the word Christmas. Another included passing a polo mint to one another using a drinking straw. There was a real mixture of games and the event has quite successful.
This is the second batch of photos which are my favourites from the day. I also put a selection of these ones on facebook and got a great response. Because of this I decided to use some for photo cards and I was pleased with the effect. I will make sure to blog the photo cards soon.
