How To Photograph Coastal Images With A Creative Twist
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Loading... - Katrien Vliet
- 24 Apr 2023
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Flotsam may not be the first thing you think of when you think of coastal photography but when captured in the right way, driftwood and other items washed up with the tide can make interesting photographic subjects.
As an island nation, many of us live fairly close to the coast and as well as tidal patterns in the sand, surf, sand dunes, grasses and breakwaters, the coast is host to a certain amount of flotsam. Although, rightly, we consider flotsam as undesirable rubbish, it doesn't necessarily mean that it won't make a good photographic subject. In fact, a day on the beach finding flotsam can be a great photographic challenge.
Where To Look For Flotsam
Finding flotsam is not too difficult, selecting what to take and making anything of it photographically is the most challenging aspect. Apparently the most common piece of flotsam is the humble cotton bud, but they're not the most exciting photographically. I like to look for shapes and textures – from rubber gloves to tin cans, which work best in close up using parts rather than the whole, giving a more abstract appearance.
I once found a broken plastic "beach" tennis racquet, and a few metres away from a smashed tennis ball – they simply had to go together. A partly submerged skateboard made another great subject – because only the end of it was sticking out of the sand it had a really discarded feel.
Old nets from fishing boats snagged on breakwaters can look good too, and washed up wood that has been eroded into smooth sculpted shapes by the sea can look fabulous. Read More…
