Beaches are among the most relaxing places on earth. It's a paradise for everyone, especially during the summer season. And a trip to the beach wouldn't be complete without some great photos.
To be honest, the beach is a challenging place for photography due to the amount of light and its vastness. On the other hand, the beach also offers a variety of wonderful opportunities for taking stunning photos. But how will you seize these opportunities and master the challenges?
In this article, we'll give you ideas on how to get the most out of your beach photos using your iPhone and a few handy plugins. So go ahead, read on and next time nail your beach pics.
Index
1. Add a focal point
With all your beach photos, how many actually meet your standards? How many times have you been disappointed with your beach photos because they all look the same? The problem is that the beaches have few distinctive features and a lot of emptiness.
An important rule of thumb in photography is to always have a focal point in the image. This gives you a more interesting point of focus and gives viewers a space to rest their eyes. This can be challenging for the first few shots, but you'll surely get the hang of it soon enough.
First, look around. Something catches your eye? A focal point can be anything interesting you see on the beach: a boat, a rock, a person, footprints in the sand, a sand tower, literally anything that makes your photo more meaningful. Focal points should not dominate the entire scene. They are designed to add meaning and power to your photos.
2. Include foreground objects
Another great way to make beach pictures more interesting is to include foreground objects. Because foreground objects make your image composition more dynamic and attractive.
In addition to these things, foreground objects also give viewers an idea of what's around the beach and add content to your images. A good technique you can use to add a foreground subject to your images is to crouch down and take the photos from a lower angle.
3. Use burst mode
The beaches are teeming with unpredictable action: people, birds, boats, crashing waves and much more. Therefore, using your iPhone camera's burst mode can be your best weapon here to capture all the action at just the right moment. Burst mode lets you capture multiple photos in a split second.
To activate burst mode on your iPhone, all you have to do is hold down the shutter button while taking a photo for about half a second. With the burst mode function, you can capture the perfect moment in a split second. Hold the trigger down for as long as you want to use burst mode, and release when you want to stop it.
4. Create silhouettes
As big as it is, the beach is certainly a good place to take photos and capture impressive silhouettes, especially during sunset. To create a silhouette, the subject must be positioned between the camera and the light source. In this case, its light source is the sun. When taking silhouette pictures, you need to make sure your picture is exposed in the brightest part of the whole scene.
Next, the exposure needs to be adjusted based on the lightest parts of the background so that the subject remains dark. To set the exposure, click on the area of the camera screen where you want to set the exposure. You can also try taking the photo from a lower angle to make sure your subject stands out against the sky and not the sand or sea.
5. Look for interesting details
As mentioned above, when it comes to beach photography, all of your photos can end up looking like the same old photos. Same old photo means the picture is sand, sky or beach. But if you take a closer look, there is actually a lot of cool stuff on the beach that makes for a good subject.
Some of these cool things are pebbles, shells, footprints, driftwood, rope, seaweed, fishing nets and more. These are small details that can make your pictures more interesting than ever. The beach is full of intricate details and textures, just be patient to find them.
6. Add a touch of color
A good explanation for why all beach photos look about the same is that the images have muted colors: blue sky, blue beach, brown sand. Is that. If you want to make your beach photos more interesting and make sure they stand out from the rest of your images, try giving them a bold pop of color.
Certainly there are many colorful things on the beach to include when taking photos. Maybe a yellow beach chair, a colorful beach ball or a hat is enough to make your pictures less boring and more lively.
7. Avoid the crowds
It's okay to include a few people in your beach photos, but it's not a good idea to include the whole crowd. To avoid crowds when taking photos on the beach, find out the times when most people are on the beach and avoid them. Bottom line, don't go to the beach during the busiest times.
The beach is usually at its busiest in the middle of the morning. So you can go at sunrise or noon, but it is preferable to take pictures at sunrise as the sun produces golden light. It is not advisable to take photos during midday as the light is too strong and the chance of unwanted shadows is high.
Another way to avoid crowded beaches is to go somewhere that isn't usually crowded, which means you may have to walk a little further. Do not take photos near parking lots, restaurants, bars and other beach facilities where there are many people.
8. Add lines to your images
One of the most powerful ways to create amazing beach photos with your iPhone is to add lines to your images. Some of the lines you can use are curved, converging, straight, diagonal, parallel, or S-shaped. Preferably, these lines should be aimed at your subject or your main focus. In addition, you can also use these lines as the main subject to create an abstract image.
A great line to use in your images is the time line. Generally, if an image contains a line, the line should start from one of the bottom corners toward the subject.
9. Keep your camera steady
An underestimated tool in almost all types of photography is a tripod. By using this you can capture amazing beach pictures as the tripod stabilizes your camera. In a typical situation, setting up a tripod is very easy, but since you're shooting on a sandy beach and in the sea breeze, it's not that easy.
Tripods have small support points with a very high center of gravity; Therefore, they are easy to fall off when hit by strong winds. The very small tripod legs also reduce the stability of the tripod, as they tend to sink easily in the sand.
To prevent any of these things from happening, you need to add some weight to your tripod to make it more stable. You can fill an empty bag with sand or small pebbles and hang it on your tripod. To prevent your tripod from sinking in the sand, place rocks under the tripod or place old CDs under its tines.
10. Use sparkles
Flashing more beach, does that make sense? Well it does. Because? First, the flash reduces the appearance of shadows on the face by filling it with light. Second, the flash provides extra light when the light on the beach is weak or insufficient (sunrise or sunset). At noon the sunlight falls almost vertically; Therefore, a shadow is created, especially when you focus on a person.
Remember that when taking photos at the beach, do not aim the flash directly at the subject, otherwise you will end up with a very bright and unflattering image.
What you can do is aim the flash at a spot where the light will be redirected towards your subject. Using a flash diffuser is a big help with this. For beach photography, a small diffuser is preferred as it is much easier to use on windy days.
11. Add an observation image
A scenic view refers to photographs that show what the beach has to offer, including beach facilities and water activities. They are images that allow you to stand out and give anyone who sees your images an idea of what makes the beach different from other beaches or places.
Before capturing an observation image, it is very important that you put yourself in the observer's shoes and ask yourself what you want to see. Find the amenities of the beach more interesting? Is it the fine white sand that characterizes the beach? Is it the crystal clear water or maybe the umbrellas and sunbeds that attract you the most?
Whatever it is, just make sure your image helps people define their expectations of the beach.
12. Use filters
Using filters when taking photos can be beneficial. More specifically, UV filters and polarizers are more effective in beach photography. Because UV filters filter out ultraviolet light and at the same time remove unwanted blue casts.
On the other hand, using polarizing filters reduces reflections, improves shrinkage, and helps get bluer, richer, and more vibrant sky colors.
Beach photography is an adventure that everyone should try. Beaches are sanctuaries where people escape the worries of life. So if you have the chance to hop off, go for it and snap as many photos as you like. It's not every day that opportunities like this come knocking on your door. Go and take lots of photos on the beach. Seduce people with your photography skills.