DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS FROM ePHOTOzine

 

1. What Gear Do I Need?

• Camera – Compact or DSLR
• Camera bag – Keep your gear safe from sand and sea salt when you're not using it. 
• Tripod – Something lightweight and portable will be perfect as it won't take up too much room in the car and your arms won't ache after carrying it around all day.
• Polarising filter – Help reduce reflections and boost contrast.
• UV filter – Protect your lens from scratches.
• Hurricane blower and lens cloth – Make sure your lens is free of sea spray and keep grains of sand out.

  2. How To Protect Your Gear

You might enjoy a day out at the beach but your photography gear won't. Make sure you wipe all of your gear down when you get home and leave it to dry out completely. Spiked feet will stop your tripod slipping into the sand as you're trying to frame up while a UV filter will help stop sand scratching your lens. When you're not using your camera, remember to put it back in your bag and if you're using a DSLR and want to change lenses, try and do it off the beach and out of the wind so sand doesn't get blown where it shouldn't be.
 

 

3. What About Time Of Day? 

The warm light of an evening will give you better results than midday sun or if you're a morning person, get up early when the sun's at a lower angle so your shots will be more evenly lit without large, deep shadows running through them. There will be less people around at this time too as most of the day-trippers will have left if it's later in the evening or not arrived if you're up at the crack of dawn. Don't dismiss shooting a few shots of a busy beach though, particularly if it's a hot weekend and the sand can't be seen for towels and seats.

 

4. Don't Just Look Out To Sea

Sweeping vistas of the ocean and cliffs do look great but do try turning around with your camera and photograph the scene that's unfolding behind you. Just be careful who you point your lens at as there is a chance it will upset some parents who'll want to know why you're photographing their children. Try capturing shots that help tell the story of what happened at the beach – close-ups of sun cream bottles, buckets, spades and dropped ice cream cones make great 'fill-in' shots for photo albums and photo books.

 

 

5. Look For A Focal Point

When you do shoot out to sea try giving the shot a focal point in the foreground otherwise it can look a little empty. Driftwood, rocks and footprints are just three things you could use to add an extra element of interest to your shot. Just check you're using a small aperture before you take your shot to ensure front-to-back sharpness.
 

6. Focus On The Water 

To turn the waves into a smooth, dry ice-like motion you need to set your camera on a tripod and dial down to a slow shutter speed. How slow you need to go will depend on the movement of the waves and how bright it is so some experimentation will probably be needed. If you're struggling to get the speeds you need use a polarising or ND filter to reduce the amount of light entering the lens.

 

 

7. Change Your View

If there's a pier get on top of it to give yourself some height. You'll then be able to get more of the beach scene in shot. If you're using a compact camera that has a tilt-shift mode, getting up on the pier will give you the chance to turn the people sat on the beach into model-like characters. If there isn't a pier try extending the centre column on your tripod to give you more height. You may want to pack a remote release in case you can't reach the camera's shutter button when your tripod's extended. It'll also help reduce the chances of shake spoiling your shot.

 

8. Check Your Horizons

You need to make sure your horizon's straight and try moving its position to draw the viewer's attention to a particular part of the shot. See our previous piece on Horizons for more tips.

 

 

9. Shoot A Sunset / Sunrise

You can't go to the coast without photographing a sunrise/sunset (depending on which coast you're on). Just remember to have yourself at your chosen location an hour or so before sunset/rise and make sure you pack your tripod as working hand-held in these low light situations will only cause shake. For more tips on this, take a look at our previous articles:

• Photographing Sunsets
• Sunrise Photography Advice

  10. Capture Some Close-Ups

Shells and pebbles are just two subjects you can use for a spot of close up photography on the beach. For more ideas and tips, take a look at our previous piece: Close Up Work With Compacts.
 

 

11. How To Deal With Exposure Problems

The problem with sand sat against a light sky is that it can confuse your camera into underexposing the shot so try using exposure compensation to deliberately overexpose the scene. It can be tricky getting the whole scene exposed correctly and bracketing can help, however, if you have subjects that can't stay still, your shots won't line up when you're back in front of your computer.

If you're working with a compact camera switch it to Beach scene mode from the camera's scene mode or picture mode menu. The Beach scene mode will increase the exposure slightly to compensate but also adjusts the white balance to make the sand look more natural.
 

12. Photograph People

To capture your kids running around switch to fast shutter speeds and continuous shooting mode. If you want to slow things down try getting them to do something that'll keep them in one place such as building a sandcastle you'll be able to get some great frame-filling shots of their faces to show their expressions but do zoom out a little too as this will give the shot context. If you find the sun's casting shadows on their face try adding a little fill-in flash and avoid positioning the sun behind you as this will only make them squint. For more tips on shooting portraits at the coast take a look at this article: Holiday Portraits.

 

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Photogenic lighthouses can be found all around the UK's coastline and many of us are close enough to head out for a day trip where a space for photographing a lighthouse, among other things, can be made. However, not all shots need be taken when there's plenty of light in the sky as silhouettes of lighthouses can be just as interesting as ones that capture textures and colour.
 

1. What Gear Do I Need?

You can use any lens for a lighthouse silhouette, depending on the type of image you are wanting to shoot. With a wide-angle, you will need to get in closer and that means converging verticals although that it not a problem with a lighthouse. However, the top will look rather thin and spindly.

From further away, you can frame the lighthouse along the base of the frame and let a colourful sunrise or sunset sky dominate. With a telephoto, you can retreat even further away so it really depends on the effect you are wanting to get.

It's always a good idea to use a tripod for landscapes as you need to ensure your horizons are straight and it makes it easier to adjust your camera settings too.

 

Always make room for filters as they can come in handy and plenty of camera bags have compartments for accessories such as these, plus they don't take up much room.

 

2. What Time Of Day Is Best? 

Timing your shoot is the key thing here. Of course, you can shoot silhouettes at any time of day, but they often look much better when there is some warmth in the sky, so early or late in the day is best.

Early isn't for everyone, however the advantage of sunrise, though, is that there are not many people around so it depends on the effect you are after.

 

3. What About The Weather? 

You are obviously very dependent on the sky for this technique and you can get good effects in all sorts of conditions – dull, even greyness is when it is not worth the effort.
 

4. Never Look Directly At The Sun 

One word of warning with the sun – you should never look through the camera directly at the sun because you can permanently damage your eyes. For silhouettes like this make sure that the sun is shielded by the lighthouse when you are framing up. Or if you want the sun in the frame, use the camera's Live View feature so you can frame up safely.

 

5. How Can I Create A Silhouette?

Aim a camera at a brightly backlit scene and a silhouette is often the result anyway. Some multi-zone metering systems will try to avoid that, though, and give you more detail than you might want in the shadows. This is easily sorted by aiming the camera up at the sky and using the auto exposure lock to take a reading off the brighter sky. You could use the spot or centre-weight light measurement modes of your camera but multi-segment should work fine too. Recompose and shoot for the perfect silhouette. Or just set -1EV or even -2EV on the exposure compensation dial.

 

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    Hedgerows divide land right across Britain, including many back gardens, and they're home to a wide variety of wildlife making them a perfect place for outdoor photographers. A hedgerow will give you a huge shot collection of flowers, plants, insects, small mammals and birds from just one location. You just need to know where to look and when.   What Gear Should I Take? 

 

If you're on the hunt for insects and flowers take your macro lens along but if you want to photograph the many birds and small mammals that live in the hedgerow you'll need a telephoto or zoom lens so you can observe and take your photographs from a distance that won't scare them off.

A tripod or even a beanbag will give your arms a rest and stop you shaking the camera when you're working on those frame-filling shots. Use a remote release or if you don't have one make use of the self-timer as this will give you enough time to press the shutter and move away so your movement won't blur your shot. As it's dark and shadowy inside a hedgerow take a reflector out with you to add and direct light into the shot.

If you're going to be working on the ground it's worth taking a gardener's kneeling pad with you to keep your knees dry and a little comfier.

 

Capturing Shots Of Flowers

 

Whatever time of year you do your hedgerow flower photography, if you use your lens' minimum aperture to give your flower shots greater depth of field, remember this will slow your shutter speed down so watch out for camera shake.

 

Top Tips On Bird Photography 

 

If it's birds you're searching for wrens and thrushes are just two of the species you'll find nesting in the dense cover. This can make them hard to spot, but most birds prefer taller, mature hedges where there are plenty of trees around they can perch on so keep an eye out for areas like this. Also, spend enough time around these older, well-developed areas and you may even spot shy blue tits, owls and even bats if you're out late enough. Keep your ears open for bird song too as this will give away even the smallest of birds locations.

If your focus is a particular branch have your lens focused and exposure locked in place so when the bird lands you can quickly snap your shot. You may find continuous shooting's useful and keep an eye on your exposure as a bright sky and a dark subject can confuse the camera into thinking it needs to underexpose the shot.

Make sure you don't disturb any nests and don't trespass! Stick to public paths or better still, your own garden.

 

Shoot From A Bird's Eye View

If you live near a hill or can get to higher ground try photographing a group of fields. The patchwork of colour, particularly towards the summer with rapeseed, separated by rows of hedges makes a great looking photograph. Try doing a year-long hedgerow safari too as the flora and wildlife will continuously change so there'll be ample to photograph.

 

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