Beach Chairs
Sep, 2014Views
751
Likes
Awards
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I came across these beach chairs on the west coast of Florida in a little beach town called Boca Grande. They weren't quite set-up in a straight line outside the seaside watering hole, so I took the initiative to line them up for the sake of the photo.Time
I captured the image in the late morning, around 11 a.m. After seeing the chairs, I put down my beach supplies (towels, cooler, umbrella, etc) and walked back to get this image. Because the town is very far off the beaten path, with only one access road into it, the place was delightfully deserted.Lighting
The lighting, as you can see, was pretty much straight-on sunshine. The nice factor I had is that the backs of the chairs did not get the direct light, while the very tops did, giving a nice framing to each colorful chair.Equipment
I used my D-90 from Nikon, with a 18-105 Nikkor lens (DX, AF-S)Inspiration
The beautiful colors of the chairs, set off by the white sand, blue sky and some tufts of beach grass inspired me to capture this image. I only took a few angles of the scene, and it was the first image I captured that you see. An immediate hit!Editing
I only did normal photoshop processing, correcting the exposure, clarity, saturation, and contrast - all features found in the RAW window of PS. I also applied a small amount of DNR processing (mainly the detail adjustment). My goal was to just get the image to look like what I saw with my eyes, as it was a nice, colorful beach scene as is.In my camera bag
My camera bag has an extra (Charged!) battery, lens tissue, a small spray bottle withe water, my business cards, some spare change, matches, a flash unit, a telephoto lens (Sigma 70-300 with macro), some lens attachments for my smart phone (fish-eye, etc), and some old analog lenses (28 mm, 35 mm) that fit my camera lens mount, but don't interact (F-stop readings, etc) with my DSLR. However, with instant feedback, I can manually adjust my shutter speeds and/or F-stops when taking sedimentary objects to correct the exposure with these lenses. I also usually have a pair of earbugs and a magazine, as well as a Gorilla tripod attached to the outside of the bag.Feedback
This image just jumped out at me in the actual environment when I walked by. But I did make some adjustments - straightening the chairs, smoothing out the drag marks in the sand from doing that (the chairs were heavy!), and contorting my body to get the proper framing. I basically got lucky, as all the elements for a great picture were there, but you still have to be aware, see the image with your eyes first, and then do whatever is needed to get the optimal results. I do remember the sand being very hot (this was in August in Florida) so after laying down in the sand a bit to get this angle, I put the camera down and took a dip in the ocean to cool off.
