Alone at the beach | Travel and Landscape Photos | Photo Forum

Taken with a Canon 450d
Tokina 400mm f/5.6 RMC converted from FD to EOS mount by the Lens Doctor UK.
Aperture f/8
Shutter Speed 1/1250 second
ISO 200

Why I think this photo works:

Obviously the “rule of thirds” was not followed but in this case when I saw this photo opportunity I felt that the photo was more balanced with the subject of the green umbrella in the middle of the frame and was offset with the blue sky. This old manual focus lens put a nice natural vignette which helps keep the eyes drawn to the green umbrella.
Also the advantage of using a 400mm lens is background compression which brought the sea closer to the umbrella. The strong heavy wind gives form to the umbrella but the 1/1250 sec shutter speed was enough to freeze any motion and produce a sharp image.
This was not my setup as I found it without any people in the frame while I was exploring the Delta L´Ebre natural park about 2 1/2 hours south of the city of Barcelona, Spain.

I also admit that this photo is probably about a full stop underexposed however with the strong sunlight this was pretty much what I saw through my sunglasses that caused me to stop and capture this photo.