Beach Photography


Status
Not open for further replies.

net-g

New Member
Jun 11, 2005
280
0
0
NUS
Guys,
I will be shooting at a beach volleyball event. First time shooting at this kind of location. Any tips/recommendations for camera settings? I am using Nikon D50 dslr. cheers!
 

gd photo opportunity. might wanna set on higher iso so tat u can increase yr shuttle speed.
lookout for facial expressions and action sequence. get down n dirty.

sounds like ya gonna hv lots of fun, wish i can join u... ;p
 

Try different shutterspeed.
High shutterspeed to freeze the action, and slower shutterspeed
to show motion.
Hope you have a great time shooting, and remember to share your pictures
with us here. :bsmilie:
 

If you have other lenses, try not to change lens as sand may get into your cam when wind blow...:nono:
Use your tele lens if you are standing far away. If you can stand near choose the kid lens...;)

Happy shooting...:D
 

If it is a very sunny day, then be careful of your exposure as reflection from sand and water will cause the meter to underexpose (just like snow). If the lighting is consistent then use manual setting...

If subjects are backlit then use fill flash..
 

As cyber monkey said, you might want to set your exposure compensation to about +1 or +1 1/2 stops if you are going to be taking during the day. If you are trying for one of those close to the ground shots aiming upwards, you will need to have your flash handy as the sky will cause a strong backlight.
You will need to play around with the camera before the event to get a feel of how the pictures will turn out, rather than try to learn on the day itself.
 

Goldenstars08 said:
If you have other lenses, try not to change lens as sand may get into your cam when wind blow...:nono:
Use your tele lens if you are standing far away. If you can stand near choose the kid lens...;)

Happy shooting...:D


I second that although this is abit difference....I just recall one of my most painful moment in beach photo shooting. I wanted to shoot up from the swalllow sea up to the beach so I have abit of foreground of seawater. I forgot I had a teleconverter on my lens. So I remove it and tried to put that in my pocket, a wave knocked me forward and ...PLOP...end up with one totally salt water logged with sand teleconveter. That was $600 worth of Nikon glass going up in smoke. But the time I could get clean water to flush it, salt had done its damaged and some internal parts of it seize up with corrosion. Brought to the shop...they proclaim it "dead".

Never under estimate how powerful a wave can be. I was only in 2 feet of sea water but it still was able to knock me forward enough that I let slip the telecoverter from my hand. AS luck would have it I did not fall entirely..if so..I could have said bye bye to a Nikon F3 and a 20mm prime.

Want to change lens, it would be good to go to some shelter areas away from the sea breeze to change. Breeze blowing in from the sea especially, not just carry tiny tiny water droplets but it contain abit of salt too! Salt and metal are not "good" friends if you know what I mean. That is why you feel sticky all over after coming back from a day at the beach even if you did not go into the sea to swim.

If you are not shooting at any given time at the beach..PUT THE CAMERA back in your bag. Yeah it can look cool in the mind of some sunday photographer but the longer and more time you have it outside of the bag, it is expose to the elements. Doing so makes it easier to clean up when you get home. Beside you are in the sunny beach ...you are sweating too and you are grabbing around your camera or slung it on your neck as it rest against your chest (or pot belly)..you are smearing it with sweat and it mixes with sea water and salt...it is just "bad" hehe..besides...it is good to keep the gear away from the hot sun too!

Talking about that, once home, try to get your camera clean up as soon as you can. Give it a good wipe down on its exterior first before you crack open the camera to give the internal chamber a few good air blows and clean the rims of the camera's body opening and rear lens. You do this to make sure any salt crystals and moisture is removed and not get into the inner areas of the body and rear of the lens.

Just some stuff to take note.


oh also note....regarding shooting volley ball. Do it from a distance and try not to get too close that you distract the game play. But most importantly you need to be far enough away from the sand that can splash up during game play. If you have to get close, just remember to inspect your gear once in a while to see how much sand and stuff got onto not just the body of the D50 but the lens! heheh If it gets on the lens....always use a lens blower to get rid of the sand particles..etc. Never use a cloth to get the sand off..nothing worst then you use a cloth that will mash the sand particle onto your glass and scratch the glass and coating as you wipe to clean it !!! So blow the sand away then if you have a light brush, use that to get rid of those that seem too "heavy" to blow away. Then lightly use a cloth to clean your lens.

To know how and what to look out for to shoot your shots...for one thing...it helps if you know the game as it will help you plan your shots better or to anticipate their reaction and game play. The other would be to go see how others have shot it. Study the distance they normally would shoot from, what possible lens they use, what are the more interesting moments to snap the shots and from which angles of the sand court.

Here is a link to give you some ideas as to what others have shot

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=images&imgsz=all&imgc=&vf=all&va=beach+volleyball&fr=FP-tab-web-t&ei=UTF-8
 

sammy888 said:
I second that although this is abit difference....I just recall one of my most painful moment in beach photo shooting. I wanted to shoot up from the swalllow sea up to the beach so I have abit of foreground of seawater. I forgot I had a teleconverter on my lens. So I remove it and tried to put that in my pocket, a wave knocked me forward and ...PLOP...end up with one totally salt water logged with sand teleconveter. That was $600 worth of Nikon glass going up in smoke. But the time I could get clean water to flush it, salt had done its damaged and some internal parts of it seize up with corrosion. Brought to the shop...they proclaim it "dead".

Never under estimate how powerful a wave can be. I was only in 2 feet of sea water but it still was able to knock me forward enough that I let slip the telecoverter from my hand. AS luck would have it I did not fall entirely..if so..I could have said bye bye to a Nikon F3 and a 20mm prime.

Want to change lens, it would be good to go to some shelter areas away from the sea breeze to change. Breeze blowing in from the salt especially not just carry tiny tiny water droplets but it contain abit of salt too! Salt and metal are not "good" friends if you know what I mean. That is why you feel sticky all over after coming back from a day at the beach even if you did not go into the sea to swim.

If you are not shooting at any given time at the beach..PUT THE CAMERA back in your bag. Yeah it can look cool in the mind of some sunday photographer but the longer and more time you have it outside of the bag, it is expose to the elements. Doing so makes it easier to clean up when you get home.

Talking about that, once home, try to get your camera clean up as soon as you can. Give it a good wipe down on its exterior first before you crack open the camera to give the internal chamber a few good air blows and clean the rims of the camera's body opening and rear lens. You do this to make sure any salt crystals and moisture is removed and not get into the inner areas of the body and rear of the lens.

Just some stuff to take note.


oh also note....regarding shooting volley ball. Do it from a distance and try not to get too close that you distract the game play. But most importantly you need to be far enough away from the sand that can splash up during game play. If you have to get close, just remember to inspect your gear once in a while to see how much sand and stuff got onto not just the body of the D50 but the lens! heheh If it gets on the lens....always use a lens blower to get rid of the sand particles..etc. Never use a cloth to get the sand off..nothing worst then you use a cloth that will mash the sand particle onto your glass and scratch the glass and coating as you wipe to clean it !!! So blow the sand away then if you have a light brush, use that to get rid of those that seem too "heavy" to blow away. Then lightly use a cloth to clean your lens.

To know how and what to look out for to shoot your shots...for one thing...it helps if you know the game as it will help you plan your shots better or to anticipate their reaction and game play. The other would be to go see how others have shot it. Study the distance they normally would shoot from, what possible lens they use, what are the more interesting moments to snap the shots and from which angles of the sand court.

Here is a link to give you some ideas as to what others have shot

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=images&imgsz=all&imgc=&vf=all&va=beach+volleyball&fr=FP-tab-web-t&ei=UTF-8

Wow!!! Wonderful piece of great advice :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 

sammy888 said:
I second that although this is abit difference....I just recall one of my most painful moment in beach photo shooting. I wanted to shoot up from the swalllow sea up to the beach so I have abit of foreground of seawater. I forgot I had a teleconverter on my lens. So I remove it and tried to put that in my pocket, a wave knocked me forward and ...PLOP...end up with one totally salt water logged with sand teleconveter. That was $600 worth of Nikon glass going up in smoke. But the time I could get clean water to flush it, salt had done its damaged and some internal parts of it seize up with corrosion. Brought to the shop...they proclaim it "dead".

Never under estimate how powerful a wave can be. I was only in 2 feet of sea water but it still was able to knock me forward enough that I let slip the telecoverter from my hand. AS luck would have it I did not fall entirely..if so..I could have said bye bye to a Nikon F3 and a 20mm prime.

Want to change lens, it would be good to go to some shelter areas away from the sea breeze to change. Breeze blowing in from the salt especially not just carry tiny tiny water droplets but it contain abit of salt too! Salt and metal are not "good" friends if you know what I mean. That is why you feel sticky all over after coming back from a day at the beach even if you did not go into the sea to swim.

If you are not shooting at any given time at the beach..PUT THE CAMERA back in your bag. Yeah it can look cool in the mind of some sunday photographer but the longer and more time you have it outside of the bag, it is expose to the elements. Doing so makes it easier to clean up when you get home.

Talking about that, once home, try to get your camera clean up as soon as you can. Give it a good wipe down on its exterior first before you crack open the camera to give the internal chamber a few good air blows and clean the rims of the camera's body opening and rear lens. You do this to make sure any salt crystals and moisture is removed and not get into the inner areas of the body and rear of the lens.

Just some stuff to take note.


oh also note....regarding shooting volley ball. Do it from a distance and try not to get too close that you distract the game play. But most importantly you need to be far enough away from the sand that can splash up during game play. If you have to get close, just remember to inspect your gear once in a while to see how much sand and stuff got onto not just the body of the D50 but the lens! heheh If it gets on the lens....always use a lens blower to get rid of the sand particles..etc. Never use a cloth to get the sand off..nothing worst then you use a cloth that will mash the sand particle onto your glass and scratch the glass and coating as you wipe to clean it !!! So blow the sand away then if you have a light brush, use that to get rid of those that seem too "heavy" to blow away. Then lightly use a cloth to clean your lens.

To know how and what to look out for to shoot your shots...for one thing...it helps if you know the game as it will help you plan your shots better or to anticipate their reaction and game play. The other would be to go see how others have shot it. Study the distance they normally would shoot from, what possible lens they use, what are the more interesting moments to snap the shots and from which angles of the sand court.

Here is a link to give you some ideas as to what others have shot

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=images&imgsz=all&imgc=&vf=all&va=beach+volleyball&fr=FP-tab-web-t&ei=UTF-8

hey uncle sam, didnt know u got so much experience shooting at the beach~ :bsmilie: :thumbsup:

but really good advice~ :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 

zhang3feng said:
hey uncle sam, didnt know u got so much experience shooting at the beach~ :bsmilie: :thumbsup:

but really good advice~ :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


heheh 20 plus year..and also when I was in the G Division back in the PNSF days, the station was at Katong Road and I was also doing beach patrol in sector 6 which was East Coast Park heheh....plus I love the beach since school days (every sunday fishing with my dad and schoolmates and I am a regular roadie/moutain biker in East Coast park since 1980, Changi coastal road..etc so you could say I spend alot of time with my shooting hobby at the beach more then any where else come to think of it. okay enough of old uncle stories hehe.

Don't let the sea and salt scare anyone from shooting at the beach lah. Nothing like abit more cleaning and precaution to consider to keep things safe for your gear. It goes a long way to making your experinces of shooting at the beach a very fun time especially if you like shooting sexy bikinis hehe...and oh yes..whatever that is INSIDE the bikinis too hahahahah....
 

sammy888 said:
heheh 20 plus year..and also when I was in the G Division back in the PNSF days, the station was at Katong Road and I was also doing beach patrol in sector 6 which was East Coast Park heheh....plus I love the beach since school days (every sunday fishing with my dad and schoolmates and I am a regular roadie/moutain biker in East Coast park since 1980, Changi coastal road..etc so you could say I spend alot of time with my shooting hobby at the beach more then any where else come to think of it. okay enough of old uncle stories hehe.

Don't let the sea and salt scare anyone from shooting at the beach lah. Nothing like abit more cleaning and precaution to consider to keep things safe for your gear. It goes a long way to making your experinces of shooting at the beach a very fun time especially if you like shooting sexy bikinis hehe...and oh yes..whatever that is INSIDE the bikinis too hahahahah....

yea i like shooting at the beach too, ever since i knew bikini babes hang out there~ lol:bsmilie:
 

Another way to protect you camera is to wrap it with cling wrap. Of course it will make changing lens and film more difficult. So I guess this is more suitable for digital cameras with fixed lens ;p
 

Status
Not open for further replies.