Beach Shoot - Need Help

DavidS

A friend of mine wants me to take portraits of his 18 year old daughter and 12 year old son at the beach. I live on the east coast and will be shooting in the late evening. I have never shot at the beach, so any tips or advise will be appreciated. (I will be doing a practice session with my kids tomorrow evening.)

pathfinder

I suggest you consider fill flash off camera if you have the capability.

Art Scott

I must agree with PATHY.....fill flash off camera....possibly on a flash bracket so that camera can rotate into portrait postion from landscape and the flash will still be over the lens as well as above it.....also consider some kind of diffuser, even if it is just a single layer of white kleenex taped to the flash.

PineapplePhoto

Keep sand and salt water off your equipment

DavidS

pathfinder wrote:

I suggest you consider fill flash off camera if you have the capability.

Are you referring to the use of a flash bracket or having an assistant hold the flash and firing it as a slave?

Antonio Correia

What I would do:
1. Fill flash off camera with an assistant holding it for shots against the Sun. Not an assistant that knows nothing of what is the purpous of the use of fill-flash, but one who knows what he is doing. I should say a cooperative assistant.:D It could be me for example.
2. Take advantage of the low light and get some motion: young people, jumping - second curtain flash with the assitant or not - paying with a ball, etc.
3. Most probably, later in the evenning, get the gray card and make a white balance correction just to see how it goes.
4. Shoot RAW files
5. Get low and height angles. is there any hight point in the beach ? like the one used by swim watchers (do I make myself understand?).
Lay on the beach, make them jump over you. (Watch the sand on the camera)
Make them run on the beach and get them from a hight point.
6. What else comes to you mind that may look fool but can produce great results. Then, young people laught at you. Thake advantage of that moment and get them!!
7. Use the water and them. Splashing on the water. Wetting each other. Whatch your camera.
Can we see the photos please ?

pathfinder

I would put my speedlite on a separate tripod and put my 16x20 softbox on it so that I have a nice soft light, almost 90 degrees to the axis I plan to shoot..

I would add a CTO gel to warm up the flash to better match the very late afternoon sunlight.

Is the sun still going to be above the horizon for this shoot or is it after sundown?

ibcrewin

I agree with pathfinder. The CTO gel is key.

unless you don't have the capability of off camera lighting. In which case might I suggest a large reflector. Foam board with aluminum wrap works nice and and can be had for less than 5 bucks. Backs to the sun

Scott_Quier

The CTO gel is a good idea, but you don't need full density. These gels come in various densities (1, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8); I would think about 1/2 or 1/4 as a start. You can layer them.

As for the time of the day - since you are on the east coast, morning might be an option to explore. This would allow you to face your subjects/models away from the sun, with the camera looking toward the horizon rather than up the beach toward land - unless you are on a finger of land with a west-ward facing beach?

DavidS

Thanks Antonio, Pathfinder, ibcrewin and Scott. I appreciate your help. I hope to buy the CTO gel and some type of reflector before I photograph my friends kids. I did not get to use a reflector or an additional flash when I shot my family, because my wife is my assistant and she was in most of the shots. She should be able to help with an additional flash and a reflector when I shoot my friends kids. I think morning is preferable on the east coast, but most people don't want to get up early enough for the good light.

I posted a few of the shots from the shoot with my family in the people forum. Here is a link to the rest of them.

http://DavidS.smugmug.com/gallery/3438618/1/193153479

What could I have done better?

Antonio Correia

David. Good evening.

You have done a very good work.
I only think that number 6 is not very well, is it ?

DavidS

Antonio Correia wrote:

David. Good evening.

You have done a very good work.
I only think that number 6 is not very well, is it ?

Thanks Antonio.

LiquidAir

Overall, very nice.

A few thoughts:

I think first series with them sitting in front of the grass would have been them looking a bit more into the sun to get more light on their faces.

There are a few where you are shooting from above which is rarely a flattering perspective.

You can enhance color in the sky by underexposing it and using a strobe to bring up the exposure on your subject.

Many of the shots put the horizon right at head level on your subjects which I find somewhat distracting. Try shooting from a slightly lower point of view so the horizon cuts below the shoulders. Alternately, shoot at f/2.8 (or wider if you can) to soften the line of the horizon.

SloYerRoll

LiquidAir wrote:

You can enhance color in the sky by underexposing it and using a strobe to bring up the exposure on your subject.

So how do you underexpose the sky when your using wireless triggers that can only sync up to 1/500 (They can sync higher, I like consistant results though)

pathfinder

If you set the flash exposure about one and a half stops brighter than ambient, then the background will be darker by that amount than the foreground. Then set your aperture for the flash lighting. You may not get to choose the preferred aperture due to the shutter speed synch limitation. But as the sun gets lower and ambient light falls, there will come a time when it is very easy to overpower ambient with your flash, at an aperture of your choosing.

In full sunlight at ISO 100 - f11 1/200th sec per Sunny 16 - so set your flash to expose at f11, and you shutter speed to 1/500th and you will under expose the background and light the foreground correctly with the flash. You may have to move your flash toward or away from your subject if you cannot dial the power up or down.

SloYerRoll

Thanks Pathfinder.

That's so obvious now that you say it. It's almost painful to know I asked that question.

I've already memorized the sunny 16. It's a great reference tool in my aresonal that most photogs are blown away by it when I small talk them about exposing off the top of my head w/o a meter. (and I'm DEFINATELY not a pro)

Antonio Correia

LiquidAir wrote:

... There are a few where you are shooting from above which is rarely a flattering perspective...

Kenn. Good afternoon.
Excuse me but I don't quite agree with you on this matter.
Photographing people from above makes their wrinkles not so strong in the shot because people are looking up a bit and that makes their face younger !

Try to look at yourself in the mirror with your face horizontal, face down, to the floor.
You are young and your wringles are not strong.
I will never show you a picture of myself in that position.

Now look at yourself in the a mirror face horizontal and up, looking to the ceiling, laying in bead.:D.

Now you see the difference in extreme situations.

Under that point of view this photo is more flatering than some of the others. And we are in the presence of young people, adult and child.

The horizon line in that shot is pushed up, over their heads.
I like that. I only don't like very much because they are neither with a real motion - second curtain for example - nor completelly stopped, frozen.
I like this picture very much. Slighty from above ...

LiquidAir

Antonio Correia wrote:

Kenn. Good afternoon.
Excuse me but I don't quite agree with you on this matter.
Photographing people from above makes their wrinkles not so strong in the shot because people are looking up a bit and that makes their face younger !

The shot that prompted my comment was this one:



In this shot her head is angled down relative the the axis of the lens which I think is the real issue to look out for as it tends to give the impression that the subject is shy or diminished and makes many people look slightly uncomfortable in front of the camera. It also tends to exaggerate the size of the forehead which is not very flattering on most faces. Putting the camera above the subject works well (as you point out) when the subject tilts her head (and not just her eyes) up to meet the camera. Putting the two shots we posted side by side makes the real issue very apparent, at least to my eyes.

pathfinder

I like Antonio's and LiquidAir's comments here. It is easy to see that it is not the camera axis that is the issue really, but the head position that is key. Antonio's point about a lesser double chin with upgaze is very useful, and LiquidAir's that big foreheads are not that attractive either.

I though most of the shots were well exposed and good color. I like white shirts in photographs, even though I know many shooters do not.

Most of the candids were very nice.

I figure if you even keep 1 out of 4, that you are doing a pretty good job.

Antonio Correia

LiquidAir wrote:

The shot that prompted my comment was this one:
In this shot her head is angled down relative the the axis of the lens which I think is the real issue to look out for as it tends to give the impression that the subject is shy or diminished and makes many people look slightly uncomfortable in front of the camera. It also tends to exaggerate the size of the forehead which is not very flattering on most faces. Putting the camera above the subject works well (as you point out) when the subject tilts her head (and not just her eyes) up to meet the camera. Putting the two shots we posted side by side makes the real issue very apparent, at least to my eyes.

I absolutely agree with you Kenn !
You made a good point and I think we add something useful to this problem and to ourselves. Well, for me at least !
Like Pathfinder wrote.

After all, the photo you posted is the one I like the least ! The worst.
I dare suggest to it's owner David, to erase it !
Oh boy. How bold of me to say so. Hope he forgives me !
Sometimes I am too impulsive !