Beach Photography

So of course we have to have a beach photography post since most of us live in San Diego. I did some searching the other day and came across this article. I found it to be most helpful in this subject.

Beach pictures could be the most common images captured by photographers. Beaches set the scene for family vacations, weddings and intimate getaways. There is a reason beaches are so widely photographed. They are beautiful... But there are many common mistakes made in beach photography. This article will help you take great beach pictures that are creative and impressive.

Have you noticed all beach pictures look the same? There's the standard sunset shot, or the posed family members with shadows blacking out their faces? Here are some tips to avoid some of those beach photography pitfalls.

First of all, look all around you. Look down, look up. Are there unique details or small items you can capture? You could spend hours simply on macro beach photography, capturing seashells, crabs or small toys on the beach.

There is one mistake quite commonly made when photographing the beach: putting the horizon line dead center. While it might make sense, as it is symmetrical, it violates the photography rule of thirds. You should always be aware of lines when shooting beach pictures.

The rule of thirds

Take a look at your previous beach photos. Is there a horizon line in the middle? How does it look to you? This actually slices the photo in half for observers.

Instead, stick to the rule of thirds. This means you should place the horizon in the bottom or top third of the beach picture instead.
Frame your beach picture

No, this isn't about the frame you buy later... This is about giving an anchor to your image. Look for natural frames for beach photos, such as a rocky outcropping or a leaning palm tree. You are looking for something that naturally places a frame around the target of your picture, the beach.

Before you shoot, really examine all areas of the image. Is there something distracting or ugly in your shot that you didn't intend to capture? Cars, electrical lines, a stray sunbather...

Also be sure your horizon line is straight. Sometimes, especially if an element in the foreground distracts you, you can end up with a lopsided beach.

Don't just shoot the beach. I mean, how is that different than all your other beach pictures? Instead, look for interesting items to serve as a focal point with the beach as the backdrop.
Look for Unique Still-Life Images

Check the area for an interesting focal point. Perhaps it is a lone and empty beach chair, or a bottle of greasy, sandy suntan lotion, or maybe even a surfboard propped against a palm tree. Place this item in the foreground, and keep the beach scene in the background.
The sun and its impact

We've all seen beach pictures gone bad, with the subjects (usually family and friends) partially or completely obscured by shadows and bright backlighting.

Sometimes you want this, say if you're shooting a couple hand-in-hand at sunset. Many times, you don't. Be sure you have the sun behind you, the photographer, not the people or things you are shooting at the beach.

A slightly overcast day can actually be better than a sunny day, and morning and afternoon have better lighting than midday with the long shadows from an overhead sun.

You don't always have to point your camera straight ahead, or directly at the beach. Look for unique and interesting angles for your beach pictures.
It's all in the perspective

What if you get down on eye level with your baby playing in the sand? You could stand straight above a crawling crab, or point straight up to the swaying branches of a palm tree.

Look for unique and unusual angles and perspectives for your beach pictures.

Splashes of color

Since beaches often feature rather bland colors, like shades of sand and driftwood, also keep an eye out for interesting splashes of color. A bright red beach umbrella, green palm leaf or hot pink sandals can really add something to your beach pictures.


Positioning for beach portraits

Place your subject or subjects to one side, with the beach shoreline filling the rest of the frame. This will allow the person to pop out from the picture, while still providing a lovely setting for a portrait.

Get up close

You are shooting something big: the beach. But remember who your subject is: the person or people. They should dominate the photo, not be a blurry, tiny image lost in the frame.

Get up close to the person you are shooting so that they fill about a third of the frame.

Catch the action

Not all portraits need to be posed. Look for candid picture possibilities. Instead of people squinting or scowling in the picture, catch them splashing or chatting or playing with sand and a bucket.

This is a wonderful way to catch memories and moments, not just cheesy poses.

The information from this article was found at http://cameras.about.com/od/cameratips/ss/beachpictures.htm

The first picture on this post, and the pictures below are some of my own example shots that include some of these tips. For those of you who don't own a high end DSLR camera, this is a perfect example of what I have said before. It is not the camera that always makes the shot! The following pictures are all from my point and shoot camera. These were all taken in Puerto Penasco, Mexico last year during my Thanksgiving vacation. I highly recommend Puerto Penasco by the way. October/November is the perfect time to go. The weather is about 80-90 degrees and the water is in the mid to high 70's. It is just perfect! OK I will stop, now I sound like a commercial! :o) Although with all the violence in Mexico right now, I am not sure anywhere down there is safe... Anyways here are a couple of the pictures:

Diffused Window Lighting

Today I wanted to play around with window lighting. I really love this effect since it creates a nice soft diffused light over the subject you want to take a picture of. I went to Yardage Town after work today and bought some sheer white material. Which came out to be around $5 or $6, not bad... When I got home I hung up my sheer material on my living room window. After that I needed a subject. Since no one was home I had to improvise... I used my shoes-Which served as a dual purpose. I have been meaning to practice taking pictures of shoes to get a more creative mind when shooting them. Usually this is something brides like to have a picture of when they get married. So in order to do this I pulled out my T.V. Tray stand so I could put my shoes on it. After hanging the sheer material on my window, I used the left overs to drape over the stand. Once I did this I noticed that wood shows through sheer material! Duh! I had to get creative... So I grabbed my white fleece robe and draped it over my T.V. tray stand. If you can picture all of this, it really looked quite ghetto! But hey, if it works who cares right? So after creating my "ghetto studio" I arranged my shoes in different positions while shooting in different modes and using different settings. It is funny how one little setting can change a picture. Here are my end results:













In all these shots I am only using the natural light from my window, along with material to diffuse it. To get this shot, I had to play with the exposure a little bit. If your exposure is too low, you will get a very dark subject with a bright background. Now if you are trying to get a silhouette shot, than this would be good. If not, bump up the exposure until you get what you want. In my "3 Mistakes Photographers Can Make" post I covered a little bit on this subject, but I wanted to go into more detail about it with this post. Hope it helps!

4th of July Fireworks Slide Show

Here is a slide show of the photographs I took of the 4th of July Firework show in Santee. I really wanted to go down to Seaport Village/Midway/downtown area and take some cool shots there with some landmarks in the picture, but the news said it was going to be overcast down there. I think these photographs would have been stronger if there were some landmarks in the picture. Maybe the sky line of San Diego or that huge statue by the midway that has the sailor kissing his significant other. Oh well... maybe next year. I was still happy with my end result though. If you guys were able to read my blog in time or had the chance to take some firework shots, please share. I would love to see what you guys came up with too!

4th of July - How to Photograph Fireworks

So bear with me, this is something I have never done before and I am so excited to try it tomorrow night. This is kind of last minute and depending on your equipment you may or may not be able to pull it off. Plus photographing fire works is a little tricky. But hey, who doesn't love a good challenge. After tomorrow night, I will post a couple pictures that I shot during the fire work show. For now, here is the research I have found to get a great fire work shot.

Use a Tripod - This is a must! Exposure times can be up to 1 to 4 seconds, so unless you want your pictures to look like a bowl of spaghetti bring it. Also, if you own a cable release or some sort of electric release, use it.

Location, Location, Location - Get there early if you can and pick a spot that will have an unconstructive view. Watch for trees, buildings and people that may get in your way. Hilltops, lakes or riverbanks offer a good vantage point. Also a nice touch is if you can incorporate a city skyline, monument building or reflections on the water.

Settings – First set your camera to its highest image quality setting, RAW would be best. Read your manual to find out how to set your image quality to RAW. Adjust your camera to the bulb mode setting. (This can only be done on a manual camera.) When using Bulb shutter speed, you are manually holding the shutter open. If your finger is on the camera's button, this will create camera shake. Even on a tripod. You will have to use a cable release to use the bulb shutter speed. If your camera does not have a bulb setting, then set it to aperture priority or the automatic setting. Set your aperture to f8 and your ISO to 100 or 200; any faster you may experience digital noise. ISO basically means your film speed. The brighter it is out side, the lower the ISO you want to use. The darker it is outside, you will want to use a higher ISO. Keep in mind that the higher the ISO you use, the more grain you will get in your pictures. Anything over 800 will give you more graininess. Now with that said, using a high ISO is not good for fire work shots. Why you ask? Even though it will be dark outside, the fire work itself will be VERY bright. So in turn you will want to use an ISO of about 100-200. So that is the exception. And don't forget... turn off your flash. Using a flash will capture or freeze the moment, but your flash will be like a 'drop in the ocean' trying to light up the sky. Setting up your digital camera for long exposure shots will capture all the colorful trails of the fireworks.

Focus – Set your normal lens (50mm) or wide-angle lens to infinity. If your camera does not allow you to do this then focus on the furthest light source you can.

Picture Time - Another thing to remember, is keep the camera very steady when taking the picture. To do this you MUST use a tri pod. Than after that, you have two options. You can use the 2 second self-timer to take the picture-the only bad thing is that you will need to have good anticipation and timing if you use the self-timer. Or you can use a cable release with the bulb shutter method. You will have more control over the timing of the picture this way. You can release your shutter as you see the firework steaming up to the sky and release at the pinnacle of the explosion or as the fireworks descend to the earth. This process should take 1 to 4 seconds on average. Experiment with it to get different results.****Personally I used the self timer option because I couldn't get my hands on a cable release in time. But that is ok, because the self timer worked out just fine.****

Don’t forget – Make sure your bring extra batteries, memory cards and a flashlight. And last but not least, why not capture the emotion taken from people's reactions ... snap the wonder shown on their faces as the next firework booms into the sky ... Happy 4th of July everyone!

******Here is the grand finale from the firework show I shot.******



After I took these pictures I came across this tutorial for fire work shots. I found it pretty helpful as well. Good to have for next year!

http://www.webphotoschool.com/all_lessons/free_lessons/Shooting_Fireworks_with_the_E-3/index.html