While I was at Stinson Beach recently shooting photographs, I saw the lifeguard stations spaced along the length of the beach and wanted to get the perfect composition including one of them. It was the weekend of Father’s Day, so there were a lot of beachgoers crowded close to the first lifeguard station closest to the restrooms and parking lot. Since I typically don’t like to include recognizable people in my compositions, I started walking farther down the beach where it was less convenient to amenities and also less crowded. I came upon one lifeguard station that was relatively isolated and unmanned. I stood and waited until one of the many seagulls came into the frame and I started shooting.

This was the shot I liked most as it came straight out of the camera…

The composition wasn’t perfect because of a few things that I didn’t have much control over. There was unwanted composition clutter like the couple, beach towels, the flip flops strewn about in front of the lifeguard station, and the car that drove into the shot just as the seagull flew in at the right time.

Using Photoshop’s latest CC version with it’s great content-aware patching tool made cleaning up the unwanted composition clutter fairly easy.

Then I needed to focus on the points in the composition that I did want to highlight. I wanted the eye of the viewer to move through the composition in a sort of modified S-curve from the top of the hill to the seagull in flight to the lifeguard station below and then the sand on the lowest right edge of the composition.

I played with some of the actions that I have in my arsenal and found that SunKissed by CoffeeShop (free to download here) worked very well and added the warmth I wanted to convey in this beach scene as well as a subtle lens flare in the upper right corner to push the eye toward the hill on the top left. I used exposure, levels, and vibrance adjustment layers to pull out the aqua color I wanted in the lifeguard station. I also did a little burning with the burn tool to enhance the shadows on the seagull so it would stand out more against the hillside.

In the end, I came up with a final photograph that has an interesting vintage feel to it like one of those old black and white postcards that’s been colorized. It conveys the peace and solitude I wanted while also having motion from the seagull. I got the warmth I wanted to convey as well as if the viewer can feel the coastal sunshine emanating from the frame to warm them. I want the viewer to feel like they could step right into the scene and be there… to feel it… to smell the salt air… to hear the seagull’s calls overhead.

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