10 Beach Photography Tips
Here in Australia we love to hit the beach.
We’re one big island and most of our population is scattered along the coast line so the beach is a natural place for us to go both on day trips and longer holidays.
Beaches present digital camera owners with a number of wonderful opportunities as they are places of natural beauty, color and interesting light. However they also present a variety of challenges including camera damage, privacy issues and making large open spaces interesting.
While it’s not really beach going weather at present here in my part of the world I know that many readers of this site are getting close to Summer and beach photography will be high on the agenda of many (I’m so jealous).
Here are 10 tips for when you head to the beach with your digital camera next:
1. Look for focal points
A friend of mine once told me that they don’t bother taking their camera to the beach because all beach shots look the same. i thought that that was a pretty sad thing to say because when I go to the beach I see it as a place brimming with photographic opportunities if you have the ability to look beyond the cliche shots. For example while many people take shots looking out to sea I find it interesting to go to the water’s edge and then turn completely around and see what’s in your frame from that angle. One common problem with landscape beach photographs is that while they might capture a beautiful scene they actually have no point of interest and can as a result be rather empty and boring. When taking a shot look for a point of interest or focal point that will give those looking at your photo a place for their eye to rest. Perhaps it’s a pattern in the sand, a set of footprints, the crashing of waves over a rock, a life saver’s tower etc. Also look for the little things that tell the story of going to the beach like shoes at the waters edge, sand castles, sunglasses, sunscreen lotion etc. Sometimes these can make wonderful little feature shots to break up your vacation album.
2. Timing is important
The start and end of days can present the best opportunities for shooting at the beach. For starters there will be less people there at that time of day but also you’ll find that with the sun shining on an angle that you often get more interesting effects of shadows and colors - particularly in the evening when the light becomes quite warm and golden.
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3. Watch the Horizon
One of the most common problems in beach photography where there are wide open spaces with a long and often unbroken horizon is sloping horizons. Work hard at keeping your horizon square to the framing of your shot (more on this here). Also consider placing your horizon off centre as centered horizons can leave a photo looking chopped in half (more on this in our post on the Rule of Thirds).
4. Head to the Beach When Others Avoid it
Another timing issue is that the beach can really come to life on those days that everyone avoids it because of inclement weather. Stormy seas, threatening and dramatic clouds and wind slowing lifesaver flags and trees over call all make for atmospheric shots.
5. Exposure Bracketing
One of the challenges of shooting in the middle of summer on a beach is that it can be incredibly bright and your camera could want to under expose your shots if you’re shooting in Auto mode. If your camera has a manual mode it can be well worth playing with it at the beach and experimenting with different levels of exposure. I find that I get the best results when I look at what the camera wants to expose the shot at and then over expose it by a stop or two. Of course this depends greatly from situation to situation - brightly lit landscapes are generally very tricky - especially if you have shady areas as well as bright ones. Sometimes it’s a matter of working out which area you want to be well exposed and focussing on that area as to get everything right is often impossible.
6. Spot Metering
If your camera has spot metering you can overcome some of the above exposure problems. Spot metering is a feature that some cameras have whereby you tell the camera which part of the image you want to be well exposed and it will get that bit right. This is particularly useful in bright light when you want to get a shady area exposed well. It will optimize the shady area (and the other areas will be over exposed - but at least your main subject will be ok). This can be effective especially when photographing people as it allows you to face them away from the sun and to meter on their shadowy face and therefore avoid squinting (a common problem with photographing people at the beach).
7. Fill Flash
If you’re photographing people at the beach as a portrait and it’s bright you’ll find that they will almost always have shadows on their face (often cast by hats, glasses, noses etc). Switch on your flash and force it to fire when shooting in these situations and you’ll find the shadows eliminated and your actual subject is well exposed. This is particularly important when shooting into the sun when without a flash you could end up with your subject being at some stage of becoming a silhouette). If your camera gives you some level of control over how strong a flash to fire you might want to experiment with this also as firing a full strength can leave your subjects looking washed out and artificial. If your subjects do look overexposed and you cant decrease the flash strength try moving back a little from your subject and using your zoom to get a tighter framing as this will decrease the impact of the flash. As usual - experimenting is the key.
8. UV Filters
UV filters are useful for DSLR owners a couple of reasons in beach photography. Firstly they act as a protection for your lens (see below) but also they do filter out ultraviolet light in a certain range. This can cut back on atmospheric haze (often a blueish haze/tinge). The visual impact that they have is not great but they are the first thing I buy when I get a new lens for my DSLR.
9. Polarizing Filters
One of the most useful DSLR lens accessories that you can add to a digital camera is a polarizing filter. Without getting too technical, a polarizer filters out some light that is polarized. This means that it reduces reflections and boosts contrasts. The most noticeable places that this has impact is with blue skies (potentially it can make them incredibly rich and almost dark blue) and in water/ocean in which it can give a variety of effects. The way many people explain the results of a polarizer is the difference that polarizing sunglasses can make when you put them on (in fact I know quite a few photographers who shoot through their sunglasses if they don’t have a polarizer with them. Get a polarizing filter and experiment with it and you’ll quite literally be amazed by the results.
10. Black and White
One technique that I’ve been using a lot lately in beach photography (and other genres also) is to do a little post photo production and see what impact stripping a photo of color has upon it. There’s something about a black and white shot at the beach that completely changes the mood and feel of a shot. It’s also a great way to bring to life beach shots taken on dull or overcast days which can often leave a beach scene looking a little colorless.
Related Reading: Also read our post on Beach Photography and Digital Camera Maintenance
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May 31st, 2007 at 1:44 am
Great Post. I’m in Australia too and the winter months are no excuse. The heavy clouds can create some dramatic effects, especially when in Black and White as mentioned.
Don’t forget the hours before and after the sun is up/down. You can get some really great shots for half and hour or more either side of the sunset/rise.
The beach is an awesome spot, everyone is usually relaxed so it’s an opportunity for some candids too.
May 31st, 2007 at 7:39 am
These are great tips! You really know how to break it down and that helps!
Thanks!
Now, all I need is…
a beach.
;)
Sylvia C.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:45 am
Another superb article. Bookmarked.
Could have done with this last night!!
May 31st, 2007 at 11:41 am
I hate you. I haven’t gone to the beach all summer, and I was fine… until I read this.
I officially hate DPS for making me miss the beach so bad.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:11 pm
What’s so, about this site is that the info is broken down so nice for people to understand and the quality of knowledge. Thanks everybody for making it so simple to understand.
May 31st, 2007 at 4:30 pm
sorry but those photos are so obviously touched up
what a crock
May 31st, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Mark…What does it matter if a photo is touched-up? There are some excellent tips here and the photographs that accompany it are nice examples of beach-shots.
I have never understood this ‘out of the camera’ is better than post-processed mindset. What’s important is the final image, not the stages we go through to get to our final image. Yes it might be more rewarding to the photographer to know that they have exposed perfectly/got great tones/perfect crop in the shot but most just like to see nice photographs.
Bad Post-processing can ‘ruin’ shots just as easily as bad exposure/composition, but we should judge a photo by what it is, not how it became.
May 31st, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Ah, now I get spot metering.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Great tip I had to blog about this I still need a SLR camera I haven’t had one for like 3 years now but wanted one just invested more in my PC, Car and money going to God and the work :D
well great blog check mine out at http://ibox-security.net/laurence1987/
Keep it metal and holy :D
May 31st, 2007 at 9:06 pm
very nice tips
May 31st, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Most excellent ideas and information. I am now excited to bring my camera to a beach soon! http://pixelspotlight.com/
May 31st, 2007 at 11:17 pm
“sorry but those photos are so obviously touched up”
Taking the photo is only half the job. Making the photo is the other half.
Ian
June 1st, 2007 at 12:32 am
Another awesome article!
June 1st, 2007 at 2:20 am
awesome tips!
June 1st, 2007 at 2:21 am
I love the beach and to swim, and I also love photo. Thankyou for the tips!
June 1st, 2007 at 3:31 am
I agree with your use of a UV filter when shooting in conditions where saltspray or dirt can get on your lens, they also make for a good general protector (rubber lens hoods are even better.) However, modern digital cameras are for the most part insensitive to the UV part of the spectrum so you really don’t need the filter for that purpose anymore. I’ll also add the warning to buy as good a quality a filter as your budget allows. Most UV filters you find in the stores are made of cheap ‘green’ glass, uncoated and those can lead to a color cast and loss of contrast in the picture. Some can even effect sharpness of the photos, cause more flaring when shooting towards the sun or any bright light source. Hoya and some other brands come in differing levels of quality so be aware of what you are buying. Look for ‘multicoated’ filters but even there quality, and durability, can vary a great deal. Even the material the ring is made out of can vary from plactic, to aluminum, to brass (the best). Be aware that using dissimilar metals can cause binding of the filter to the lens. Thickness of the filter’s ring can cause vignetting when using wide angle lenses. Be especially careful of this when using more than one filter and/or with a lens hood.
June 1st, 2007 at 3:58 am
Great article!!! Take your camera everywhere but especially the beach. There is always something to photograph!
June 1st, 2007 at 1:44 pm
What a great article for novice photographer… Cheers :)
June 1st, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Amazing snaps. The tips are really good as well. I stop using automatic mode at the beach..much better to use fully manual - the snaps just turn out better.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:21 am
These are some very useful tips, Thanks alot for this post. Very good
June 4th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
great tips …
thanks for sharing …
June 4th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Really very usefull tips especially for me who live in Greece having all these very beautiful beaches across the Aegean. It would be very helpfull if you had some more tips refering to the use of neutral density filters in beach photographies and mainly the photometering details using graduated filters
June 4th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
The really great picture!
June 10th, 2007 at 12:28 am
These tips are really useful for me as an amateur photographer. I’ll be sure to remember them when i hit the beach next month! thank you!
June 10th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Great tips!
Another tip for those who use a polarizer filter. If you turn it, it could make a bigger difference to your photos. I made this mistake once at the beach. I put it on and went out to shoot photos. I couldn’t see it making any difference to the shots I was taking. When I went online to see why that was, I found out it was because I needed to turn the filter (it has an outside layer that can twist). Next time I tried to use the filter, I could see the difference as I turned it.
June 18th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
is there any chance i could have such a beautifull shot like that with my pocket camera Kodak Z730..?
:)
nice pictures
June 26th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Im 16 and i love photography! Im getting into it alot latly and i loved your beach tips. If anyone else has any other sites i should read let me know! anyway i enjoyed your article! :] God Bless! stormluvsya@gmail.com
July 3rd, 2007 at 5:27 am
Great tips! How did you make the sky look so blue in the first image and how did you make the second image fade out to black around the edges. I’ve been trying to figure this out with photoshop and can’t. Thanks.
July 4th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Those pic are very nice and very interesting. have fun.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Good pics and tips. I also agree with your advice. As to the critics of the photos being touched up, I agree that you make the image correct the first time but I also don’t believe you should throw out a good image if touching up can turn it intoa money maker.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Your tips are nice and can give a big help for my campus journalism……….thank you….I hope you can give more tips to help people like me….:-)
November 21st, 2007 at 5:09 pm
“sorry but those photos are so obviously touched up”
if you’re against post-processing, then WHY go to a website called DIGITAL photography school?! you seem to be more of a hasidic man.
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
Great tips for Beach Photography, there are a lot of things that make Destin Photography diffrent than any other beach location, due to the sand being sugar white, it will mess up your white balance, you have to do your Destin Beach Photography different,when you are shooting weddings on the beach
November 28th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
I’ll practice it
i believe it’ll be very helpful for me with no experiment.
thanx alot
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 am
Hey, these posts are very helpful. i’m still a beginner and these tips are awesome. please keep updating your website. thankyou for all your help!