St Abbs Bollard

by Steph
(Scottish Borders)

This shot of a bollard was taken at a little harbour called St Abbs (on the English/Scottish border) on a cold Sunday afternoon. I liked the rusty ancient look of the bollard.


This is one of those interesting photo propositions – you see an intriguing item and start snapping away.

On the face of it, this is no bad thing. I'm a great believer in giving a photo a try to see what happens. I'm also a believer in trying a shot from a few different angles to see if there is something there. The rusty bollard is one of those propositions.

So how has it come out? Well, I'm left feeling a little cold by this photo (maybe it's the Scottish weather!).

I like the colours in the rust of the bollard, but I would have liked this to be more of a focus, rather than seeing the whole bollard itself. I'm also no fan of the seagull droppings dripping down the right hand side!

Here's how I would have taken the shot. First I would have circled clockwise around the bollard so that the droppings are out of shot.

I would then have gotten in close to the top section of the bollard so that the top bulge, and just a short section of the 'stump' would be in shot, covering the left half of my photo. The right side of my photo would be the sea in the background. This doesn't follow the rule of thirds, but I think this could be one of those photos where the rule can be broken.

I would still have fired the flash (as appears to have happened in Steph's original) as this would brighten the colours of the rust.

Maybe somewhere on Steph's memory card is just such a shot?

I like the photo, I just think there's a better way to approach that bollard!

Ed.