This Black Friday we shut shop & took part in Blue Friday instead


The Adventure Photographers teamed up with ethical adventure centre Ocean Vertical to take part in their annual day of environmental action focusing on our oceans.

Ginger bearded adventure photographer Steve is smiling with a binbag on a beach clean. Dogs & walkers in bay behind him
Jacob of OceanVertical picks up an old fishing creel in front of sunrise on a beach clean litter pick for Blue Friday

It was a weekend of litter picks, fire pits, speakers, drinks and marshmallows. A pretty wonderful counter to the traditional - not so magical - American holiday.

Photographer Kirtsten Cronie in blue jumper & jeans walks along the water's edge smiling with plastic in her hands
Peering over the heads of an audience in a warmly lit room, a woman from the Scottish Seabird Centre talks into a mic
Stevie Boyle of OceanVertical watches on as Jacob picks up a piece of marine litter with the sea in the background

Friday evening we heard about the great work of the Scottish Seabird Centre, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity and The Scottish Coastal Clean Up who are all making positive waves for the ocean and spreading the love of our big blue lifeline.

Back in Ocean Vertical HQ Laura from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue talks to the sitting audience with Alan Nash
Stevie - a white man with brown beard & shoulder length hair laughs with a microphone in hand looking out at audience

Finisterre - a certified B-Corp - were there representing another business rooted in sustainability and donated the grand raffle prize of £250 towards their functional & sustainable products made to last.

Alan Nash a white man with brown beard smiles as he points animatedly over the heads of the audience during a raffle
Alan Nash AKA Nashy talking to young boy on stage at the OceanVertical Bue Friday raffle. Woman smiles behind.

Our lead photographer Charlotte was invited to speak about the environmental ethos of The Adventure Photographers and share some tales from her epic Greenland expedition and our upcoming film Split.

A film that tackles the contradictions and conflicts of adventuring in a time of climate crisis.

Nashy sits smiling as interview host in front of a screen that reads The Adventure Photographers Charlotte Workman
In a big blue sky the title SPLIT is above 2 silhoettes pulling sleds across sea ice with pointy icebergs on the horizon
Charlotte Workman of The Adventure Photographers speaking to an audience at Ocean Vertical. White woman with brown hair

After collecting rubbish & old creels accumulated at the far end of Belhaven Bay, we walked from Gullane to Yellowcraigs armed with bags and an eye out for nurdles. We had learned the night before that, although they might sound delightful, nurdles are actually little plastic pellets wreaking havoc in our ecosystems.

Two women crouched on the beach picking microplastic out of seaweed. Behind the sun shines over the bay
A cupped hand holds colourful microplastic pellets known as nurdles. The hand owners' legs blurry in the background

Once we started looking we found hundreds of them. It was actually a very satisfying & meditative way to enjoy our coastline. We all got so absorbed into picking up plastic we eventually got benighted on the beach.

Charlotte & Kirsten litter picking in the dunes above an empty beach in the sunshine
Torch light visible through vegetation as two people spot something yellow in the bushes
An old yellow kayak washed up is illuminated by torchlight as two people look on, one taking a phone photo

It goes without saying that what we did this weekend is only a drop in the ocean for global environmental conservation. But, the ocean is made of drops! And when you’re out in the sun on a gorgeous coastline with your pals, listening to the ocean, returning smiles to strangers and collecting what could be deadly snacks or snares for wildlife, that is a

good day well spent.

Kirsten running down a sand dune with a piece of plastic pollution in hand smiling into the sunshine.
Stevie & Jacob smiling as they speak to each other adding litter to their bags
Steve Small of The Adventure Photographers celebrating with his arms wide in the sand dunes holding a piece of litter
Three shadows of figures holding up litter bags stretch across sun-soaked sand dunes with a moody sky above

Inspired by Ocean Vertical's Blue Friday and also the work of Trash Free Trails we are definitely going to have a litter bag to hand on our adventures wherever we go and strive to leave a better trace.

Inspired by Ocean Vertical's Blue Friday and also the work of Trash Free Trails we are definitely going to have a litter bag to hand on our adventures wherever we go and strive to leave a better trace.

Photography mostly by The Adventure Photographers with additional photos from Jacob Allan of Ocean Vertical


If you have feedback on how we can make this page more accessible, please let us know.