Beth Easton + The Story Behind

“The Earth has music for those who listen.”
-Shakesphere
We have always been drawn to Beth’s images and the way she incorporates nature into her photos of her family. She reminds us that there is beauty all around. We just need to stop, look for it, enjoy it and cherish it. We are so happy because this week, we are sharing with you, Beth and The Story Behind her magnificent photo:

IG Handle:.
@seasalt.and.evergreens

What inspires you?
My children exploring nature inspires me. The world is so beautiful, especially with children in it – I hope to capture those two magical things about life. Specifically, seeing my kids in scale with the Earth’s beauty makes my heart happy. I hope my boys know that no matter how beautiful the location, watching them explore is the most amazing part of every adventure.

Where was this photo taken?
Pacific City, Oregon.

How did the location add or hinder to your image?
This is by far my favorite beach to shoot photos. However, this evening was very windy, and shooting kids running quickly in backlight is hard for my dinky camera to process well. We were also walking along the beach with my in laws and husband, and so I was trying to balance keeping them out of the shots and all of us watching the kids in the water at the same time.

DSLR, iphone, instant or film?
This was shot on a Panasonic Lumix GX7 with a Lumix 20mm 1.7f pancake lens.

What were your camera settings for this image?
ISO 200 F3.5 1/3200.

Can you tell us “The Story Behind” this shot?
We visit this beach a few times a year, but have not before or after had such a great sunset for shooting. We were walking along the beach with family after dinner, and I was snapping the kids as they played. I got many good shots this night, but this is by far my favorite (maybe that I have ever taken.)

What speaks to you about this image? What specifically made you press the shutter?
I love to sit back and watch how they interact with the world around them and I love how this captured their playful nature and their brotherly love for exploring together.

What was your composition technique with this shot?
I tried to make the monolith center and the kids rule of thirds.

Did you have any lighting challenges/How did you light the image?
Yes! Backlighting while kids are moving fast is hard for my dinky camera to process. I undersexposed a tad and brightended up the kids and foreground up in LR during post processing to help with that.

Was this photo happenstance or did you visualize it prior? If so, how did you envision the image and set up for it?
It was a little of both. I didn’t set out to take this photo, but as we walked, I knew I wanted to get a wide angle of them running through the tide-pools, and so I purposefully positioned myself away from them for awhile to get the shot.

Did you use a preset to edit this image, your own selective edits or a combination of both?
I used my own personal presets.

Do you have any addition information you would like to share with our readers?
This is a very special place for me and my family. When posting to social media, I tend to not put a specific location in order to preserve the area and follow “Leave No Trace Center’s Ethical Guidelines for Social Media.” This specific spot is in a town, so I don’t mind sharing here, but I would encourage any who visit this place and the nearby natural area to use the beach and dunes carefully and respectfully while exploring. Don’t go off trail or portray the area by showing off-the-trail or non-beach boundaries just for the photo or just for social media.

If you want to see more of Beth’s work, just click on the links below:
INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST