Ocean Photography

[Ishyid]

Okay, so I am going camping at Grayland Beach on the coast of Washington in two weeks. I figured I would start this thread early hoping to get a lot of responses. I would like to know what you all know about ocean and coast photography. The do's and don'ts, composition advice, sunset/sunrise advice, wave advice, slow shutter speed advice. Anything you know would be greatly appreceiated. Thanks in advance.

Joshua

[kencaleno]

If you want to catch crashing waves,set camera to continuous shooting mode, and hold down shutter button for a couple of seconds.If you want to capture silky ocean movement as for waterfalls,try images with 1/4 second to 4 seconds,by adding ND filters (a polarizer will become a 2-stop ND filter, at a pinch). Ken

[Ishyid]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

If you want to catch crashing waves,set camera to continuous shooting mode, and hold down shutter button for a couple of seconds.If you want to capture silky ocean movement as for waterfalls,try images with 1/4 second to 4 seconds,by adding ND filters (a polarizer will become a 2-stop ND filter, at a pinch). Ken

Iv'e been looked around a little bit for a ND filter, and my local camera shop doesn't have any for a 72mm lens size. I was wondering if you know of a good website that has them for sale at a decent price. Also what brand, and how many stops should I get to start out with?

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Ishyid

Iv'e been looked around a little bit for a ND filter, and my local camera shop doesn't have any for a 72mm lens size. I was wondering if you know of a good website that has them for sale at a decent price. Also what brand, and how many stops should I get to start out with?

Cokin are your best bet for filters, most of the big websites have them and you can get some good bargins on ebay as well if you don't mind rip offs of the holders and lens adapters.

Don't get too hung up on the filters for the ocean photography, they will help in some scenarios but not all.

One thing to remember for landscapes is that composition is key. Things like foreground interest and the rule of thirds really come into play, especially at the coast where there is a large exapnse of water. It is very easy to end up with empty shots with a lot of boring empty sea if your not carefull. Look for leading lines and interesting rock formations, maybe shoot along the coast rather than out to sea. Do some research on flickr by looking at the places you will be going, look at shots you do like an work out how they did it, look at some you don't and note what they do wrong.

Oh yeah and make sure you get your horizons level. There is nothing worse that sea that looks like it is flowing up hill!

[Ishyid]

Originally Posted by fletch

Cokin are your best bet for filters, most of the big websites have them and you can get some good bargins on ebay as well if you don't mind rip offs of the holders and lens adapters.

Don't get too hung up on the filters for the ocean photography, they will help in some scenarios but not all.

One thing to remember for landscapes is that composition is key. Things like foreground interest and the rule of thirds really come into play, especially at the coast where there is a large exapnse of water. It is very easy to end up with empty shots with a lot of boring empty sea if your not carefull. Look for leading lines and interesting rock formations, maybe shoot along the coast rather than out to sea. Do some research on flickr by looking at the places you will be going, look at shots you do like an work out how they did it, look at some you don't and note what they do wrong.

Oh yeah and make sure you get your horizons level. There is nothing worse that sea that looks like it is flowing up hill!

I have heard people talk about rule of thirds a lot on here, but what exactly is that?

[fletch]

Search is your friend

http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

Rule of thirds is a compositional tool to help your photos look more balanced whilst drawing attention to the subject of your photo. Best example relating to the coast is the horizon line, if you stick this dead central it divides the photo in half, on one of the thrids lines you attention is drawn to a key part of the image... (there is more to it than that!)

[Chewys Dad]

Also, step up rings can be used to allow the use of Filter or filter attachements such as the cokin GND filters as well. I use them and they work fine.
Chewys Dad

[captainkimo]

Don't forget bring a very sturdy tripod with you. You don't want other subjects in your photo to get blurred as you just want to catch the 'movement' of the water.

Cheers!

Captain Kimo

[inkista]

Just thought some visual aids might help. And I'm too lazy to start a SYS or "How I Did It" thread. Generally, I'm only getting the silky/misty-water effect around 30 seconds (which is also apparently the magic speed for erasing tourists). And for that, I need a 10-stop ND. 3-10s isn't quite doing it for me, but YMMV.

Without an ND filter:


Canon XT. adapted Summicron-R 35/2. Velbon MAXi 347GB tripod.
iso 100. f/13ish. 1/50s.

With an ND filter:


same gear + B+W #110 (10-stop ND) [I got the 58mm one for about $60 on Amazon which was substantially lower than B&H had it for. Think the 77mm goes for around $100. (I've got Ls. 77mm is the standard filter size for most Ls)]
iso 100. f/13ish. 39s.


iso 100, f/13ish. 25s

If you do get the B+W #110--shoot RAW or custom white balance--there's some light leakage at the infrared end of the spectrum, and using auto white balance will get you a reddish color cast. Also, get really used to using your distance scale or compose/focus before you put the filter on--you cannot see through it.

One of the main things to be aware of if you're shooting at a beach is that the reflected light from sand/water can throw off your metering. Check your histograms. You're gonna want to use compensation or manual mode. Also bringing a small towel of some kind to wipe off any moisture from your equipment or hands is a good idea.

[Ishyid]

What about sand and salt water. Is there any precautions that I should be aware of?