64 Practical PhotograPhy
W
e’r e fortunate
to enjoy such easy
access to the coast
here in the uK.
our miles upon miles
of beaches attract
streams of visitors.
the majority of beach-goers treat our
shared environment with respect,
but there are always the unfortunate
few who leave their litter behind.
this has a devastating
and lasting impact onthe
cr eatures that inhabit
the beaches and theseas.
Evoke emotion
on the long list of
photogenic subjects
available at the beach,
rubbish isn’t high up.this
can make it a challengeto
capture a pleasing photo,but
we have a handy trick.ratherthan
hi ding how ugly discardedplasticcanbe,
use it to emphasise just how beautiful
the environment would be without it.
avoid composing your photo with just the
rubbish in the frame. instead, get down
low to the ground and frame the rubbish
against a naturally beautiful background.
Set up your camera
contrasting the beauty of the beach with
the ugliness of the rubbish will create an
imagethathelpsto provokea response
fr omyouraudience.to makethis
te chniqueeffective,usea wideaperture
and placeyourfocuspointon therubbish
intheforeground.thiswillrenderthe
contrastingelementsin thebackground
out of focus,whiletherubbishwillbe
sharplyin focus.an apertureof around
f/ 5.6willworkbest,as youdon’twantto
gotoowideandmakeyourbackground
subjectstooabstract.use a shutter
speedof 1/125secif you’re
workinghandheldto avoid
anycamerashake.
Saveyourbeach
in 2018, the Swedish
tr end of ‘plogging’
increased in popularity
across the uK. this
practice of combining
picking up litter with
jogging was the perfect
wayto get fit while helping the
environment.our own humble alternative
is ‘phogging’. capturing images that
document rubbish at our beaches is one
thing, but once you have the shot you
want, pick the litter up, bag it and bin it.
take along a bin bag and pair of gardening
gloves for this purpose, and you’ll be
joining the cause for cleaner beaches as
well as having documented it on camera
to raise awareness. encourage children to
get involved too. the ultimate aim for all
of us should be to create an environment
where there’s no opportunity to capture
shots of litter on beaches – whether it has
been left behind by visitors or washed up
from the sea – but in the meantime, we
can do our bit. let’s hope these shots are
soon a thing of the past.
capture hard-
hitting reportage
AboveComposeyourshotwiththe rubbish
in theforegroundanda beautifulbackdrop
behindforultimateimpact.
Seaside Projects
tip
goafter
badWeather
Stormsandhighwindsoften
blowrubbishto theshore,
sotryvisitingafterbad
weatherto capture
your shots.
project #2
Above Set your camera to RAW to capture
extra data in the shadows for editing.
se amind224 paul carstairs
eisenhans
