Lifeguard, 2023, shot on iPhone 13 Pro. Photograph: Bertram Greenhough View image in fullscreen Lifeguard, 2023, shot on iPhone 13 Pro. Photograph: Bertram Greenhough Smart shot Photography ‘You can feel the warmth of the sun’: Bertram Greenhough’s best phone picture The Brighton-based photographer was walking along a crowded beach looking for ice-cream when he spotted this calm, minimalist scene
Prefer the Guardian on Google B ertram Greenhough had promised his six-year-old daughter Audrey an ice-cream. It was a warm June day in Brighton and the pair were playing tourists in their own city, having just visited an upside-down house near the i360 observation tower. The beach was packed, and they were heading in the direction of the Palace Pier so that Greenhough could stay true to his word. Along the way, they passed this lifeguard shelter.
Read more “I often walk around Brighton with my SLR film camera – very hipster of me. However, that day I only had my phone,” Greenhough recalls. “But, as the adage goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. I saw this calm, minimalist scene suspended above thousands of people and I remember saying to my daughter, ‘Oh, look at that, I need to take a picture!’ She had no idea what I was talking about!”
A second later, the lifeguard moved and the composition and harmony had gone. It was, for Greenhough, “a decisive moment”.
Later that evening – Mr Whippy with a flake secured and devoured – he used one of the presets in Lightroom to make some edits. “I tend to use them as a starting point,” he says. “I often find how I see a scene and what the camera actually records can be quite different, so I increased the vibrancy of the yellows and reds, and adjusted the hue of the blue sky to complement the other two colours.
“I hope it gives people a sense of peace and security,” Greenhough adds. “Perhaps, like me, they can feel the warmth of the sun.”