From Sandcastles to Selfies: Experts Share Their Best Beach Photo Tips

Looking for some beach photo tips?

Whether you’re going on a summer vacation and want to immortalize the best moments or use the beach as the setting for your professional photoshoots, this post can help.

From safety to camera settings to composition, you’ll find a little of everything to elevate your beach photos.

Expert Tips for the Best Beach Photos

It doesn’t matter if you want to photograph your children’s sandcastles, take a selfie, or host a couple’s photoshoot – you want your beach photos to stand out.

Here are the best tips shared by experts so you can make the most out of your trip to the beach.

Protect Your Gear

Taking your gear to the beach means exposing it to some natural elements that can damage it. Avoid changing lenses, especially on windy days, because you don’t want sand to reach the sensor.

If you’re working close to the splash zone, use a weather-sealed camera. Also, don’t let your gear stay under the zone for too long.

Lastly, use a cleaning kit after every trip to the beach and take it for professional cleaning at least once a year.

• More: How to Clean a Camera Lens the Right Way

Stay Safe

It’s not just your gear that should be protected; you and your models should be protected, too. Make sure everyone is wearing sunscreen and doesn’t stay too long in direct sunlight.

Also, bring water bottles to stay hydrated throughout the photoshoot. Last but not least, don’t take any unnecessary risks. Safety first!

Fill the Shadows

 

Having a single light source – in this case, the sun – is bound to create shadows. Sometimes, they’re soft, or you can creatively use them in your pictures.

Then there are other times when they’re just unflattering for your model. You can use an off-camera flash as a second light source. However, this may be tricky because you need to balance the natural-to-artificial light ratio well.

You can easily use a reflector to bounce back the sunlight and fill the shadows it’s creating.

• More: Tips for Lighting and Posing Beach Portraits

Experiment With Shutter Speed

The shutter speed not only controls the exposure but also serves as a creative tool. By adjusting the shutter speed, you can either freeze motion or create a sense of movement by blurring elements in the image.

Of course, it needs to be compensated with the aperture so that you keep the correct exposure.

You can use fast shutter speeds to freeze the splash of a wave crashing against the rocks, a person surfing, or the water drops dripping from your hair.

Alternatively, you can use slow shutter speeds to create a silk-smooth texture on the ocean’s surface or create vibrant portraits of tourists passing by.

Create Different Planes

Adding depth to your pictures makes them more visually attractive. An excellent composition technique to achieve this is to create different planes, which applies to all types of photography.

Imagine you want to photograph your child building a sandcastle. Position a plastic bucket in the foreground, close to the camera.

Your child and the sandcastle should be in the middle ground, serving as the focal point of the image.

Ensure there are boats, palm trees, or other elements in the background that are slightly blurred to add depth and context to the scene.

By doing this, you create a more interesting and unique composition.

• More: How to Use Foreground, Middleground & Background in Photography

Try Burst Mode

Do you want to photograph beach sports or simply more dynamic portraits of your family playing in the waves? Well, burst mode is the ideal way to do this.

While in burst mode, the camera will keep taking photos for as long as you press the shutter. This way, you’ll never miss the perfect moment.

Most cameras and smartphones come equipped with this feature, so you can easily take advantage of it.

Shoot Silhouettes

Beaches are the perfect location to make silhouettes because you’ll probably have an unobstructed view of the sunshine or the sunset.

This allows you to have the sun close to the horizon and, therefore, behind your subject.

All you need to do is make sure your exposure is set to the light in the sky – this will underexpose the subject, creating a silhouette.

You can use all sorts of subjects, from people to boats to palm trees.

• More: How to Take Breathtaking Sunset Silhouette Photos

Use the Golden Hour

The golden hour is the moment of the day when the light is softer and warmer. This light will enhance the colors and textures of the beach.

It’s also perfect for portraits because soft light doesn’t create unflattering shadows. Plus, the warm tones of the light will make skin look more tanned – even if it’s your first day at the beach.

Don’t Forget About the Evening

When we think about beach photos, we usually think about daytime. However, photographing the beach after the sun goes down is also amazing.

You can take long-exposure photographs to capture the waves or even longer to capture the night sky. You can also try a time-lapse for astrophotography.

You can photograph friends and family having fun around a bonfire if you prefer the human touch. Make sure you check the local laws and regulations because bonfires aren’t allowed everywhere.

Alternatively, you can do some light painting or use fairy lights and alternative light sources.

• More: 20 Awesome Summer Photography Ideas

Close-Ups

If you’re tired of the usual landscapes, portraits while sunbathing, and other beach photography classics – why not look at things under a different lens?

Quite literally, change the focal length and start doing close-ups or even macro photography. You can shoot abstract patterns with sand or tan lines on the skin.

The way you approach it is entirely up to you. Beach close-up photography is full of possibilities.

Color Palette

Choosing a color palette is not only an aesthetic decision but also about storytelling.

You can select props and wardrobes based on complementary colors if you want vibrant summer photos. Then, take the pictures during the day when there’s white light.

Another idea is to use muted pastel colors and shoot during the golden hour to create a sense of peace and quiet. You should also consider the skin tone of your models so that the colors make them stand out.

If you’re shooting food or product shots, you must consider the colors based on the main subject and the story you want to tell with your pictures. Remember that we associate colors with emotions, so you can use them to communicate with the viewer.

• More: Guide to Color Theory for Photographers

Choose the Best Depth of Field

While some photographs, such as landscapes, benefit from being in complete focus, others are better when you use selective focus. A narrow depth of field can help the viewer navigate the picture, or it can be more evocative than one with a deeper DOF.

If you’re unsure which one to choose, take the picture with different variations. Some cameras allow you to preview the depth of field so that you don’t even need to take a photo to see and decide.

Remember that you can control the DOF by changing the aperture, focal length, and distance. If you’re shooting with a smartphone, you can blur the background using the portrait mode.