Remember summertime when you were a kid? The possibilities were endless and the days lasted a lifetime. The epitome of a summer day was being on a beach or by a lake and posting all your activities on Instagram while your best buds ignored you to play games on their iPhones. No? Is that not the childhood summer you remember? Right, most of us didn’t even have the internet when were kids let alone constant-companion pocket-computers.
Even though tech has only become ubiquitous in the past 2 decades, it’s hard to imagine a time without it. But in stock photography, stock footage and all kinds of visual content there’s a pervasive theme that’s popping up for all the tech-dependent millennials and gen-Xers: the desire for the digital detox.
More and more people are taking time from the technology overload of the modern age and returning to nature to connect with the inner self. Some may have forgotten what it’s like to have an attention span, but others have recognized the anxiety-inducing effects of being perpetually connected and need a break from it all. It’s important to think about what it is that people are trying to reconnect to. For most, it’s slowing down, taking time with friends and family, and living in the present. And for those that grew up in the pre-digital era, the epitome of living in the present was being a kid, in the summer, at the beach, with nothing to do.
Images through the perspective of the device-free, summertime kid, really capture the essence of freedom. They can bring that child-like feeling into your work for something nearly everyone can relate to (and would love to revisit).
Showcase kids at the beach that know nothing of social media – the inner 8-year-old that was full of imagination, with no cares in the world and nothing but time. Here are some themes to think about that will get your audience back to nature and in the spirit of being a kid at the beach this summer.
BEACH VIDEOS + PHOTOS OF SAND PLAY
The sand is there for so much more than just getting into your food and the lining of your swimsuit. Kids manage to find all sorts of things to do with sand to turn the beach into a playground of endless possibilities. Beach images can show kids drawing pictures in the sand, hanging out in the shoreline with a pale ready, or there’s always the classic buried in the sand look.
IMAGERY OF TAKING THE PLUNGE
Remember when you used to jump off nearly anything to get into the water? Maybe you weren’t that kid. But for a lot of kids, docks, rocks, or cliffsides acted as platforms for countless leaps into the watery depths. When designing your summer campaign, capture that exhilarating feeling with stock footage of that fearless kid jumping over and over again into the welcoming water below.
MAGIC HOUR
Using imagery of summertime magic hour at the beach or lake communicates the very essence of the endless summer. As a kid, there’s no reason to lament the end of beach day. As children tend to live in the present, all that exists is that moment when your skin is warm from the day’s heat and you have nowhere to be but in this magic hour moment — except soon there may be dinner before going to bed and doing it all over again tomorrow. No email notifications found here.
AUTHENTIC STOCK PHOTOS + FOOTAGE OF FOREVER FRIENDS
If there’s one thing that makes summer at the beach all the more memorable, it’s when you’re accompanied by your best pals or a slew of siblings. There’s a camaraderie that comes about when you spend all day with the same group of friends, making up games, jumping off things, eating ice cream, and burying each other in the sand (Stand By Me or Now and Then anyone?). Capture this feeling with authentic stock photos + footage of being a kid at the beach or lake, having a laugh with your besties, with no technology distractions to be found.
Stocksy is a royalty-free stock media agency specialized in conceptual and authentic visuals that capture the modern world. We are committed to enabling the entire creative class to execute — without compromise — meaningful, forward-thinking work that drives social progress.
