Street Photography on a Cornish Beach - A YouTube Journey

Introduction

So if you have read my blog posts, you know that I'm a fan of the Cornish coastline. I have been to Perranporth in Cornwall many times in my life.  So last time I visited, and stayed in a hotel that was literally on the beach, I thought I would create a YouTube video where I hit the beach with my trusty GoPro on my head to film some of my favourite street photography - Streetscape photography.

Armed with my Ricoh GRIII, I traversed the expansive and beautiful, sandy beach, looking for light, interesting people, possible stories, and interesting people creating possible stories who are standing in the light.

The Photo Walk

I was fortunate that it was a nice afternoon and there was some decent sunlight. 

Street photography really is about capturing the light, and hoping that you find people doing unique things; and unlike the city streets, people on the beach are usually doing some kind of activity which is exercise, fun, or relaxation related.

And because I was on the beach, I had no problem looking a bit silly with a GoPro on my head. It never goes down that easily on the city streets.

Not only do I have to put up, looking like a bit of a strange character (to put it nicely), I also had to mount my camera on a selfie stick, and have the camera attached to a wired shutter release cable. Such is the annoyance that I as a person with a disability, has to face. But I don't let that bother me too much, because I love street photography.

Settings

My camera settings were as follows: I shot in Aperture Priority, using the setting - Auto ISO and Minimum Shutter Speed. My minimum ISO was 100 and my maximum ISO was 800. Because the weather was so nice I don't think my camera changed from the minimum ISO throughout the session. And my minimum shutter speed was 1/250 SEC. This is the perfect shutter speed for beach conditions, as there were people surfing, paragliding, and walking around, so I could be sure that with this shutter speed, I would be able to capture any human or animal-related action. My aperture was at a constant f/4. Why this aperture you might ask?

Shooting with an aperture of f/4 on the beach means that I can still get enough depth of field (because I'm shooting people from a distance) and also keep that fairly soft and dreamy vibe that I like in my images.

The Conclusion

I think every aspiring street photographer should try shooting street photography on the beach. It is particularly easy because you don't need to get in people’s faces and visitors are always doing interesting things. Because you are on a natural piece of land (the beach), most of the time you can incorporate the sandy and watery scenery, so it is like a mashup of seascape, landscape and street photography

Anyway, enough of me talking. Watch my video and enjoy. I hope that you learn something new.