My family and I were blessed this summer to escape to the beach for a week. While I was there, I set up several beach family photography sessions and even a stylized fashion photography shoot. Here’s what I kept in mind while shooting, and you should, too.
Choosing a beach
When choosing a beach to shoot at, you should consider the same things as you do when choosing any other location. Do I want a more private beach or more populated one? Do I want a boardwalk and piers or just sand and water? What is the look the client is going for? What is accessible to me? You should take all of this into account when choosing a beach.
Mess comfort level
Determine ahead of time what “mess comfort level” your client falls in. Is your client willing to wade in the water? Maybe they dropped a bunch of money on a special dress and would prefer not to even get their toes wet. Are you able to get poses with them sitting in the sand or do you need to bring a blanket? Make sure to discuss this with the client before you get to the beach so you can be properly prepared.
Prepare for wind
When preparing for a beach photoshoot, you need to take in account the wind. The wind, while great for kite flying, can add difficulty to your session. It can blow hair out of place and can disrupt clothing. Keep this in mind while advising clients what to wear, both seen and unseen. The wind can greatly pronounce panty lines! This may be a bit of an awkward conversation for your clients, but the pictures will make up for it. The wind can also be a bit of a helper, though. If you’re able to face your subjects into it, the wind adds some lovely motion to their hair as it blows out and away from their face. Just be quick to capture the photo before the wind blows the hair back out of place. The wind can also toss up a lot of sand at your clients, you, and your camera. If you haven’t done so yet, this may be a good time to invest in a protective lens filter. If it gets damaged, you’ll only be out $20 instead of hundreds of dollars for a new lens
Ditch the shoes
When shooting on the beach you’re going to need ease and freedom of movement. It’s hard to do that unless you wear the proper footwear. On many beaches the proper footwear is actually no footwear. Relax and enjoy the sand between your toes. This goes for your clients or models as well.
Harsh sun
Usually when shooting at a beach, you’ll be shooting in full sun. This can cast harsh shadows over your clients’ faces. Either schedule your session for the early morning or late afternoon, or, even better, try for a partly cloudy day. The clouds will soften the light, and you can doctor them later during editing to give them some great color that will add to the atmosphere of your pictures. Keep in mind, though, that one of the bonuses of the bright light is that you can turn up your shutter speed and get some great pictures of fast moving kids in the waves and sand.
If you keep these 5 things in mind before, during, and after shooting beach photography sessions, things will go just swimmingly. You’ll be more likely to get some great photos and you will make sure that both you and your clients have a great time.
