When the good weather arrives it is almost impossible not to take the opportunity to go to the beach for a few days. And as a good lover of photography, it is even more impossible to go to the beach for a few days and not go crazy making photos of your loved ones, friends, pets, grandparents, children or whatever your models are Now, it is certainly not the first time that you return home and you are somewhat disappointed with the images. And you think and see that there are cool photos of the beach and I have been fatal , without grace, without interest, with shadows under my eyes, burned, dark or go to know. Anyway, a little mess. But do not be discouraged because, although it is true that the beach is not a place that will make it easy for you, we are going to stand up to you with very simple tips so that you get incredible portraits of your vacations:
1. USE A SUN VISOR
First tip and the simplest Try not to leave the umbrella at home. Wearing it will prevent the feared flares or lights that leave spots or light rays on the sensor from sneaking through your lens .2. CONTROL THE HORIZON
If you have decided to include it in the frame, make sure that it is not crooked. While you can easily solve it in the processing, any modification will alter your frame, so, as always, everything you do well from the beginning, will improve the image quality of your photographs.3. CHOOSE THE OPTICS YOU ARE GOING TO USE
The recommended optics for portraits are usually those of medium-long focal length (from 70 mm onwards for FX sensors) and with large apertures of diaphragm (f / 1.2 to f / 2.8) although, of course, if we do not have anything this style, we will pull with what we have4. CHOOSE AN OPEN DIAPHRAGM OPENING
Since we are taking portraits and we are interested in highlighting our model, it would be interesting to play with a shallow depth of field or area focused on the image. This is achieved by configuring our camera according to the aperture of the diaphragm . The more open the diaphragm is (f / 1.2, f / 1.4, f / 2, f / 2.8…), the more light will enter the image and the lower the depth of field. That is, we can blur the background and thus isolate and highlight our model.5. SUNRISES AND SUNSETS
If you really want to have good portraits on the beach, you will have to get up early, or wait for the sunset to have the best portrait lights. In those hours the light is soft and warm , emits long shadows and enhances the textures .6. AVOID THE CENTRAL HOURS OF THE DAY
Not only because of your skin but also because the results are usually quite bad at these times. The light is hard, the shadows are very marked, the angle of light falls on the zenith (from above) marking terribly dark circles, shadows under the nose ... At least photogenic to make a portrait.7. AND IF YOU CAN'T ...
LOOK FOR A SHADOW
The shadows reduce the contrast between lights and shadows thus softening and eliminating those terrible shadows under eyes, nose, chin ... Although an umbrella can limit you enough the framing and composition, make the most of it.USE A REFLECTOR
Yes, you will tell me that you just needed to take that to the beach, with the amount of things that you already load, but the truth is that it will go very well and does not take up too much. If a couple of friendly hands also give you a hand to put up with it… A reflector will allow you to fill and soften the shadows in your portraits and is part of the basic photographic equipment for any photographer interested in portraits.USE THE FILL FLASH
Another system to eliminate those unwanted shadows produced by a hard overhead light, is using the fill flash of your camera. With a light touch of flash, you will keep the ambient light and illuminate the face in a homogeneous way, thus erasing the shadows.EXPERIMENT WITH BACKLIGHTS
They say that if you can't with the enemy ... join him . Well, this is a case in which you can heed popular wisdom. If there is no way to expose well, if the photos get too burned out here and dark over there, why not give up and take advantage of the great potential of backlit photographs ?8. THE WATER
Several things with water. The first and most important is that salt water is very harmful to the cameras, so be careful with splashes. The second is that you can use it to add depth to the image, to play with the reflections, or to photograph your models within it, jumping, splashing (if possible not you ), playing or whatever you think. You're on a beach, who doesn't enjoy splashing in the water in summer?9. EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
To add a touch of originality to your portraits, do not forget to look for original perspectives, chop, contrapicar, lie on the floor, photograph from above, play with perspective , and so on. I guess you're going to have a good time at the beach, right? Then take the opportunity to experiment.10. TAKE CARE OF THE COMPOSITION
- What does not interest you that comes out in the frame, that does not come out. You can open the diaphragm , change the frame or get closer to the subject. Whatever, but remember to control the background , not doing so can ruin your image completely.
- Fill the frame : Do not be afraid to approach.
- If you include the horizon in the image, remember the law of the horizon
- Use the rule of thirds (without abusing). It will save you on more than one occasion, but it can also be somewhat boring if you do not accompany it with interesting elements.
- Focus on the eyes. Focus on the eyes. Focus on the eyes . Unless you want to highlight some other element of the face.
- Check out this article with neither more nor less than 15 compositional tricks for portraits .
11. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CLOUDY DAYS
The light is more diffuse and does not create such sharp contrasts on the face, so it will allow you to work more freely.12. CHOOSE A SUITABLE MEASUREMENT MODE
It will depend on how the light bathes the scene, on whether it does so in a homogeneous or highly contrasted way and, above all, it will depend on what you want the result of your photography to be. Basically you can choose between punctual, matrix or weighted to the center. More information here13. THINK BEFORE SHOOTING
This is the universal advice for any photograph and, by far, the most important. Just stop and think, look around and decide what you want and how you want it. From here, make all the decisions you deem appropriate to accompany your idea. How about? Do you read me from the beach? Do you prepare for her? Or do you simply know someone who needs any of these tips to get fantastic images of your vacation? Then do not hesitate to share it on your favorite social network. Thank you and see you next time