An afternoon at Hornsea seafront

Photograph of the boat launch at Hornsea, with the sea in the background. The building has been converted to a café and various posters and signs appear in the windows. There is a Union Jack in front of the building and to the side a lone male figure stands with his back to the camera. — Hornsea boat launch

Hornsea boat launch

This first image was almost the first picture I took after leaving the car park. It took a couple of goes to get the composition right, but I like this one because it says a lot about where we are and what we are doing:

We are in Britain
We are by the sea
It is Windy
This is not a posh seaside town

I like the clutter and the slightly chaotic nature of the image. The building shows signs of being well-used, having a history as a working building and not merely a tourist attraction. There is still a Covid-19 poster in the window.

The flag has clearly been placed haphazardly, and recently, like a lot of British flags in recent years. One thing that I notice when taking pictures of public buildings is how many of them have flags in front of them now compared to their Wikipedia pictures from several years ago.

I think the composition has worked well here. I had to decide whether to keep the windsock in frame or crop it out. In the end I decided to keep it because it adds weight to the right hand side of the frame, stopping the viewer’s eye from drifting out of frame, and forming a triangle with the flag.

Photograph of a man and a woman sitting on some rocks at the beach. Five small dogs mill around their feet. The man is bending down to take the lead off one of the dogs and the woman is looking at the camera. — Taking the dogs out

Taking the dogs out

This one I really like because it was the first picture I took where I asked the subject if I could photograph them. I just liked the activity of the five dogs and the couple were framed really nicely on the rocks. There’s a lot of depth to the image even though it’s simple – dogs in the foreground, couple in the midground and the sea wall and sky in the background.

I would call this a semi-candid shot. It’s not posed, but she is looking at the camera and aware the picture is being taken. It’s not intrusive although it has caught them by surprise, and the picture feels alive as a result.

I might have preferred the light a little bit softer on this one, but it was taken at midday so, in that respect, it is what it is. I like the sharp focus and long depth of field – this adds to the candid street style of the picture.

Photograph of the Hornsea seamark taken from land. The seamark is a tall tapered post, painted reddish brown and chrome, with a slupture depicting waves at the top. To the side is a signpost and in front of this two men stand with their backs to the camera. In the background is the sea, and in the far distance wind turbines can be seen. — Signpost and seamark

Signpost and seamark

I composed this with just the seamark (a landmark visible from the sea) and signpost, and then took a few exposures with different people moving through the shot. This one was my favourite. The two lads are stood naturally, casually, unaware of the camera, but it doesn’t feel intrusive. They are not obstructing anything important and their position in relation to the other elements adds depth to the composition. The one on the left is looking to the right, drawing the viewer’s eye back into the frame and towards the other subjects.

The seamark forms a strong triangle with the sea wall and the other elements. There is symmetry between these two elements, in both form and function. It is visually and narratively pleasing, if I say so myself.

This was taken later, a couple of hours after midday, and the light is a lot softer as a result, almost flat. This effect wasn’t deliberate, but it feels nostalgic, like holiday snaps taken on a cheap 35mm compact camera.

Conclusion

Thank you for persevering to the end of this fairly long post. This is the start of a journey for me and the first step is a very small one. These are not exciting pictures or particularly well written words, but they represent a genuine effort on my part to learn, improve, and create something meaningful.