Take Beach Photos

Are your holiday snaps by-the-sea often disappointing? Beach images can seem repetitive, with little more than the water's edge and shore, or people on the beach. With a change of focus, your beach photos can be turned into unique and original images. This article highlights the most important steps to follow when taking seaside photographs.

Steps

1. Take a look at your surroundings and look for a focal point. While the seaside as a whole is beautiful to the naked eye when you're actually on the beach, it is less interesting as a photograph because the viewer sees only a wide, open space featuring blue sky, blue sea, and yellow sand - a fairly predictable scene. To provide something on which the eye immediately comes to rest within a photograph, find a "focal point" - this is the art of focusing on something out of the ordinary to bring the beach shot to life:
   • Find the focal point of interest - a shoe, a beach umbrella, a fish and chip wrapper, your child's toes, prints across the sand, a sandcastle, etc. Good focal points are often brightly coloured, or vary in hue from the other colours in the picture.
   • Find natural features of interest - some pebbles, rippling sand, the wave breaking at the water's edge, palm trees, shells, seaweed, etc.
   • Find something out at sea of interest - perhaps a boat with bright sails, seals playing, or a jumping dolphin.
   • Note that anything moving across water can create interesting ripples (a bird, sea creature, boat, or wind, can all create this effect), and movement in the water will distort anything reflecting in the sea water, which can heighten interest of the photograph in good light.
2. Avoid putting the horizon in the centre. Centering the horizon can give the viewer a sensation that the photo has been sliced in half, which can be disorienting, as long, unbroken horizons contain little of interest in a photo. Instead, break down the image into thirds (the "rule of thirds"), both horizontally and vertically, to create nine equal parts to your image. Keep the horizon square to the framing of your shot, in order to avoid a sloping effect.
   • When imagining the division of the image, focus on where the lines intersect - according to this classical rule of composition, these intersections create the optimum positions for the main subjects of your image.
3. Frame your picture. Look around you. Ask yourself what points of interest you can include in the photo. For example, are there any rocks, trees, beach houses, piers, etc., that you can use to add a natural frame to the picture? If so, use them. For example, framing a sea shot through trees can be particularly effective if you have a focal point out at sea, such as a boat.
4. Use differing levels and angles. Don't just shoot straight on, mix the angles up a bit. Aim for something kooky, funky and interesting. Get down low to photograph children and their beach activities, stand up high to take a tree, or lie down under a pier.
5. Use colour to break up the blues and yellows of a beach scene. Blue, more blue, perhaps some yellow: beaches aren't the most imaginative places colour-wise. This makes it important to capitalise on any splashes of colour. Vibrant colours will really stand out, and make your photo look doubly attractive.
   • For a DSLR, consider using a UV filter. This will reduce the atmospheric haze that is increased by the blueness of the sea.
   • Again for a DSLR lens, use a polarizing filter to reduce reflections and boost the contrasting shades. This can help to improve skies and ocean water by making them a darker blue.
6. Choose the best times of day to take beach photos. When the sun's riding high it might be a nice time for sunbathing, but it's the worst time of day for decent photos as the light is too strong and bright. The best times of day for beach photos are at the beginning and end of the day, especially around sunrise and sunset. The sun resting on the horizon looks brilliant, and it's hard not to take a decent snap at these times. As an added bonus, you will have less people on the beach at these times of day.
   • Morning air is usually still and the light is quiet, delicate and diffuse until the sun rises. Early morning light changes rapidly with the sun rising, so expect your exposure times to change rapidly and to move quickly to capture the special moments.
   • Evening light often has a warm glow that provides intense gold and rose colours. Haze and shadows are common features that you can draw on as the day draws to an end.
   • Take care not to include your own shadow when taking photographs early and late in the day when the sun's shadows are at their longest; check around the whole frame to make sure you're not forming a part of the picture! You can easily rectify this by moving to a different position.
   • Make the most of non-sunny days. Windswept, threatening weather can create incredible, mood-infused photos at the beach. With nobody about, you can take uninterrupted views and dramatic views of dark clouds and stormy seas.
   • Mist, fogs, and haze can all work to your advantage in creating interesting features.
   • Try shooting in black and white, or flip it to black and white using a photo program such as Photoshop when you get home to cover the overcast, cloudy, sky and make things look a whole lot more atmospheric.
   • Just after a storm moves through can produce dramatic light contrasts.
7. A clever use of black and white to make a silhouette rather than a shadow.Find the best ways to take portrait photographs. Photos of people on the seaside can be the stuff of nightmares – on a sunny day, it is all too easy for people to appear washed out and squinting. You have several options to ensure a good photo of people at the beach:
   • Wait for cloud cover to soften the light over their faces.
   • If there is no sign of cloud, use other cover, such as trees or umbrellas.
   • Have your subjects turn away from the sun and use spot metering to focus on their faces. This will allow you to expose their faces well while the image around the person will be over-exposed. You can use a photo program to put the entire image into better shape later.
   • Use the flash. Forcing the flash can take care of shadows caused by clothing, caps, sunglasses, etc., and will help to improve the exposure of the person. You might need to experiment with the level of flash, however, if relevant.
   • Consider using bracket exposures if you want to be sure of getting one really good shot. This means taking several pictures, one at the usual exposure and then others a stop more or less exposure than indicated by the meter.
   • Try photos from behind. They can be effective provided there is enough interest in the entire scene.

Tips

• Naturally, dusk and dawn provide some of the best scenery and colors to make your shot have that WOW factor
• Avoid sea spray problems on a lens by leaving on a protective skylight filter (salt spray can damage the lens). Clean the equipment as soon as possible if you've been exposed to salt spray while photographing.
• This is an easy one, and almost every camera has the option: Look for your mode settings and locate the P or M mode (available even on most Point and Shoots). This mode allows you to override the automatic settings of the camera. Locate the button or option represented by a +/-, which is EXPOSURE COMPENSATION. Set this option to "-" by one or two degrees. This will tell the camera to shoot with less light, and as a result enhance the colors beyond what traditional snapshots offer. Don't forget to change it back when you're done. Beautiful contrast and color are good to have, but you will lose shadow detail in portraits and everyday shooting.
• Simple shots that focus merely on the sea and the horizon can make good abstract compositions if the colours are superb; just don't rely on these as unique or interesting photos because there is nothing for the eye to rest on.
• Using the rule of thirds is great when you first start out taking photographs; as you become more familiar with taking photos, you will find this rule isn't as essential because you will come to rely more on your own intuitive sense of a well proportioned shot.
• An easy option is to use the Beach or Snow smart setting that most cameras have. This will compensate for the the unique lighting, brightness and contrast.
• Take care when handling your camera at the beach. Sand is not a camera's friend. Do not place it on the sand, handle it with sandy fingers, or shake sandy objects over it. On windy days, use a protector for it, such as waterproof housing.
• If your digital camera comes with a macro setting, use that to your advantage while taking pictures of seagulls, shells, or crabs.

Warnings

• Sand, sea spray and sharp objects can damage camera lenses. As outlined in the "Tips", take the appropriate precautions to care for your camera at the beach.

Things You'll Need

• Suitable camera
• Lens filters if relevant
• Protective items if needed such as filters, covers

Related Articles

• Photograph a Dog at the Beach
• Become Popular at the Beach

Sources and Citations

• Wikipedia on the Rule of Thirds - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

See also

• Photograph a Sunset
• Do Night Time Photography
• Photograph Fireworks
• Photograph the Moon
• Photograph the Night Sky
• Photograph a Tombstone
• Photograph a Parade
• Create a Panoramic Photo Using Hugin
• Capture a UFO Image on Camera
• Build a Panoramic Tripod Head

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