Your Guide to Better Beach Photography

Your Guide to
Better Beach Photography
by Sarah Vaughn
Shooting at the beach:
your kids & clients
Tips for full sun,
back light & much more
The beach and photography is a match made in heaven, with deep blue sky, cotton
ball clouds, azure sea, and children laughing and playing in the golden sand.
But it’s also one of the most challenging places to shoot. Have you ever tried to
take pictures of your children or clients at the beach only to be confronted with full
sun, blown hot spots, glare from the water, harsh shadows and lots of messy, sandy
people? Beach photography is tricky, for sure. But with a few tips, techniques and
practice, there are few locations that can yield as beautiful backdrops and happy,
joy-filled subjects.
My own love-hate relationship with sun-filled beach photos comes from living on an
island in the Indian Ocean for many years. With no sand dunes or structures to filter
the light, I learned to navigate beach photography through trial and error. And though
a flash and reflector can be your best friend - I’ve chosen today to focus on tips that
anyone can use, even if you’ve left your flash at home or couldn’t fit that reflector in
your beach bag.
Yours,
Sarah Vaughn
When to shoot
First off, not all sun is created equal. When you are at the beach with nothing to block
the light, choosing the right time of day is even more important. If you are shooting
a family session at the beach, you will likely have control over when and where you
schedule it and can select the best conditions for the job. But if you are going to
the beach with your family or shooting a beach wedding, you may not be able to
avoid the harsh noon-day sun. However, you can still get lovely images, despite tough
conditions. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the best and worst times of day to shoot,
how to manage the different lighting scenarios you will find, and include lots of tips for
both capturing and processing your images.
In full sun, it’s critical to choose the right time of day.
Golden hour: shooting tips & full sun solutions
Golden hour at the beach can be sublime. This is when your subjects are bathed in
magical golden light. The sand and water just sparkles with it. Golden hour times change depending
on the year, but normally it’s the last hour before the sun goes down.

Use Kelvin or custom white balance. Because the color of the sun can be intense at this hour and
you may not have any structures to filter that gold light, if you set your camera on auto for white
balance, you will likely end up with yellow people. The intense yellow tone to the image can also
mean that you will blow out one of the color channels in your subject’s skin if you are not very careful
with exposure (since skin has a lot of yellow/orange in it). This is why you will get best results with
either custom white balance or using Kelvin and metering very carefully to preserve your highlights
in important areas. My preference is for kelvin, because the sun temperature changes dramatically
in the span of just fifteen minutes, from golden to the pastel tones of sundown. This means that you
need a way to change your settings on the fly rather than having to continually pull out your gray card
or Expodisc. I like to use live view for times like these, so I can see which white balance works best.
Focus on the last fifteen minutes. The golden hour may not be an hour. Even forty five minutes
before sundown can still yield very intense sun that often overpowers your subjects, especially if you
are shooting out in the open. My favorite time for taking beach portraits is actually fifteen minutes
before sunrise or after sunset. The light is buttery warm and is far softer than just half an hour prior.
Try the morning. Golden hour light in the morning and afternoon is equally magical, but sometimes
the morning light can be a little more fresh looking and less orange because there are fewer particles
in the sky.
Shoot in RAW. If you don’t get the white balance right in camera, RAW is indispensable in giving you
the flexibility to fix issues in post processing as well as preserving your dynamic range, RAW files are
wonderfully forgiving.
Golden hour: processing tips
Adjust the yellows if needed. When processing golden hour images, even with
custom white balance you may need to take out excess yellow in the image or play
with specific tones. I love using Lightroom’s HSL sliders or Photoshop’s hue/saturation
tool that target individual colors, allowing you to reduce saturation or change the
hue of specific tones. The same holds true if your beach image contains some green
foliage or grass and the color has gone neon. Be careful that you do not go overboard
and affect skin tones. You sometimes want to remove a little yellow, but not change
the warm golden feel of the image or make your people look sallow and gray.
Fix your exposure and white balance first. Use the RAW file before you do any
creative edits or export to edit in another program so that you are using a file that has
the fullest amount of information.
Watch the white. If you are changing the white balance and trying to cool down an
overly warm image, pay particular attention to the color of the sand and any white
items of clothing. Tipping the temperature slider from yellow toward blue can give
your sand and clothing a blue cast if you don’t use a judicious hand making small
changes in different ways (such as using a combination of white balance, HSL slider,
and adjustment brush to take out excess yellow rather than make one big sweeping
white balance change).
Middle of the day: shooting tips & full sun solutions
High noon is the most difficult time of day to shoot, in my opinion. The light is coming from overhead,
so if you take an image of someone with nothing to fill in the harsh shadows, you will get raccoon
eyes, dark shadowing, and hot spots, especially at the top of the head. I generally try to avoid shooting
in mid-day, but if I’m at the beach with my children at this time, I sometimes do want to capture the
memories. Ideally you will find a tree or structure to block the sun, but if not, you can:
Keep them engaged. I often go for shots where my subject is looking down and engaged with their
activity rather than looking straight at the camera. That way I don’t have to worry about unsightly
shadows. An alternative could be to have them look up at the sky to fill their faces with light.
Get creative. I love working in challenging light. Why? Because when I try to solve problems (such
as how to avoid unsightly shadows), I have to get creative in ways that I don’t at other times of the
day. That means that I might shoot from a different angle, focus on details instead of a standard head
shot, and open myself up to new possibilities.
Remember the light in the clouds. On a cloudy day, you may be tempted to not worry about the
noon-time problems, but you still need to. The range of highlights and shadows will not be as dramatic
because the sun is being filtered, but the light is still coming from above and you will have the issue
of blown out foreheads and sunken eyes if your subjects are not positioned properly.
Step back. Because portraits can be challenging, take advantage of the brilliant colors of the day by
shooting images of the surroundings or portraits where the subjects make up only a small portion of
the frame.
Let the beach shine with environmental
portraits. You can incorporate fun
components like reflections.
Middle of the day: processing tips
Manage your highlights and shadows. The biggest thing to be mindful of when
processing images like these is to manage the dynamic range of your highlights and
shadows. I often take advantage of my RAW file’s ability to bring down highlights and
lift shadows where it is needed. If I’ve done my job in exposing so that I haven’t blown
important areas of my subject, than my highlights and shadows are usually easier to
manage. My favorite tools are the highlight and shadow sliders, the tone curve and
the adjustment brush in Lightroom and levels and dodge/burn in Photoshop. I use
these to brighten faces where they fall into shadow and bring down highlights that
are close to blown.
Consider a matte. This might be a matter of style, but I often apply a subtle matte to
images shot in full sun. It can soften distracting highlights and harsh shadows so that
our attention remains on the beauty of the day and our subject.
Make your colors pop. Sunny days at the beach naturally contain vivid colors. There is
nothing like brilliant blue sky and candy-colored sand pails and swimsuits. Help them
along by adding some subtle vibrancy or saturation in post processing - but watch the
colors to make sure they don’t go out of gamut and lose detail, something that is easy
to do, especially with colors like red or pink.
Mid morning & afternoon: shooting tips & full sun solutions
Even if you aren’t shooting at noon, photographers often fear the light beyond the golden hour - at
10:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m., for example. But this kind of light can be beautiful as well. Some photographers
have even made their name mastering it. I shoot in the early afternoon often as it’s when my kids are
usually out and about playing, and I’m stalking them with my camera! It is far easier to shoot at 3:00
p.m. than in the middle of the day because the light is not coming from directly overhead.
Watch your shadows. Though the light is more manageable at this hour, you will still need to take
care in posing your subjects to ensure important areas of the face and skin are not overexposed
or falling into dark shadow. How you position your subjects is critical here, especially if you are
photographing more than one person, when one person can fall into the shadow of another.
Think of your background. When back lighting in bright light, one of the most important matters to
consider is how a blown background will affect the image. Sometimes a blown white background
creates a clean, bright and pure look. But if my subject has light hair, a completely white backdrop
may make them blend in with the area behind them and any lovely rim light will not show up. My
preference is to find a beach setting that has some depth to it, such as mountains, foliage or structures.
These provide options for a darker backdrop to preserve background details and add variety to my
images. They also can help filter the sun and provide that pretty light-filled bokeh we all love.
Spot meter. In close-up portraits especially, I spot meter for the skin and ensure that I’m not blowing
any highlights in the important areas of the face, though there will sometimes be unavoidable
overexposure elsewhere in your frame, especially in backlit situations.
Midmorning & afternoon: processing tips
Use dodge and burn. As with images taken at noon, dodge and burn is my friend to
help manage highlights that are too bright, shadows that need lifted, and add subtle
darkening to the background of sand and sea.
Use a color fill layer. Sometimes back lighting in these circumstances can turn your
sky and water into boring white nothingness. The same goes with shooting at the
beach on a cloudy day. A color fill layer with a warm color adds a golden glow.
Brighten skin by using Lightroom’s HSL orange luminance slider. This works
beautifully with both black and white and color images because skin is largely made
up of orange tones.
Play up the haze. You can use levels in Photoshop or the tone curve in Lightroom to
provide a hazy, washed out look that emphasizes the light. Adding a color fill area that
we talked about earlier also does this.
Add contrast. I love to back light my images at this hour. When I do that, I often need
to add a lot of contrast and up my blacks to give images that are a little too hazy pop
and definition.
WHY NOT TRY:
Combine two images or add a fake sky. Sometimes it’s difficult to expose for both
the sky and the subject, especially when you back light (at any time of day). One
remedy is to take two photos, one metered for the sky and one metered for your
subject, and then combine them in Photoshop to create a dynamic image full of detail
and environment. You can also purchase sets that contain different skies to add to a
bland background.
Direction of light: Front light, back light & side light
Full sun is many things, but subtle and boring is not one of them. Just by turning your subjects around
to either front light, back light, or side light them will yield dramatically different looks.
Front light
I’ve often heard people ask how you get the beautiful blue backdrop in images and not a blown sky.
The trick is to front-light your subject. That means, the sun will be behind you, shining toward your
subject. Front light will provide a bold backdrop of color on a clear day. It’s one key way to get that
vibrancy we all associate with the beach.
There are a few drawbacks, however. First, front light your subject in full sun and you’ll probably
have squinting, unhappy people. To help with this, ask your subject to close her eyes and then open
them on the count of three. Be prepared to snap quickly. You can also think outside the box. Have
your subject wear a hat or sunglasses - the perfect accessories in a summer image - to help shield
the sun. You can have people look away from the camera and interacting with each other. All this
provides more creative variety to your images and helps avoid the squinty-people problem. Finally,
when the sun is strong and you are front-lighting, you will get harsh shadows so you must watch
your subject carefully to ensure the shadows are enhancing features and not distracting from them.
Side light
Taking a picture using side light in full sun can be tricky. Watch that one of your subjects doesn’t fall
into someone else’s shadow. And be careful of blown skin on the highlight side of the face. I like to
encourage my subjects to turn their faces three-quarters to the light, perhaps looking at each other
or out to the water. Many photographers use the zone system in tough lighting situations like this,
where achieving the right balance between highlight and shadow is essential.
One session, two different looks:
Front light
Back light
One session, two different looks:
Back light
Side light
Back light
Golden haze and the beach are dreamy together. But with natural back light, if you meter for bright skin,
you will usually have much of your environment - sand, sky or water - overexposed. Thus turning a beautiful
backdrop into white nothingness.
Because I don’t usually carry a reflector or a flash when shooting at the beach, I’ve come up with my own
method for allowing me to light my subjects well while also retaining some details in the sky or water. I call
it my middle method for exposure. I often underexpose a little to preserve details in the sea and sky. It’s a
delicate balance as I don’t want to underexpose the skin so far that I can’t get good skin tones. Luckily, by
shooting RAW and checking my highlight alerts or “blinkies” carefully, with a bit of post processing love (like
dodging and manipulating some of the highlights and shadows, I can usually achieve a middle ground that
allows me to showcase both subject and seascape in a natural and easy way.
The beauty of back light is that it can yield a lot of different looks, from atmospheric haze to a soft glow or
bright and bold rim light. You can create these different looks just by moving your camera angle into or away
from the sun, or by moving your subject to a new background. If you want to play up the haze, shoot partially
into the sun and move up and down in small increments to capture the light just right. If you want to cut down
on haze, just changing your angle slightly so that you aren’t shooting directly into the sun, or blocking the sun
a bit with your hand or lens hood, makes a big difference. Filtering the sun through some trees will soften the
look of back light and enhance the look of rim light, though that can be challenging to find at the beach.
Silhouettes are drama-filled additions to your portfolio and are not as complicated as they might seem. They
are simply backlit images where you meter for the background rather than your subject. This means that your
subject falls into shadow. Some tips include having your subjects wear dark items of clothing to help them
better fall completely into shadow and include lots of negative space to showcase the environment. The
shadows of your subject should be strong and distinct in shape, Finally, if you want to include a star burst, make
sure to stop way down, perhaps to f11 or f16 capturing that sun. I also have an affection for partial silhouettes.
Hit the open shade
One of my favorite ways to shoot at the beach is to find some open shade. This type of shade must
be “open” enough to let in lots of light. It might be created by a large, leafy tree, a porch, or a high
building. Open shade is coveted because it provides beautifully soft directional light and large catch
lights for the eyes. When I’m with my kids at the beach, we will often seek refuge from the beating
sun in the form of a beach snack shack or some palm trees - and I use these times for taking some
close-up portraits of them in this light.
But it’s with shooting sessions that I truly am grateful for this special type of shade. When I’m doing
beach sessions I always check out the beaches in my area and try to shoot at one that has some
spots for open shade. If you have a beach with tall trees, a building, gazebo, or a pier, you are lucky.
A boat or sand dunes can even work in a pinch. My session flow begins with taking those “money
shots” in that area of even light. I focus on getting those standard portraits of the children, seniors, or
family that I know my subjects want. Once I’m done with those, I can move on to creating the more
dramatic, creative beach images in the golden light while knowing that I have fail-safe photos in my
back pocket. I’ve come to find that even though the open shade photos don’t have as much of a wow
factor as a hazy backlit shot of children basking in golden surf, they are always much appreciated
and end up printed big as well.
When shooting in open shade, rotate your subject until they are facing three quarter’s toward the
direction the light is entering the shaded area. You are looking for softly molded features and big
catch lights. Also, try to face them just at the edge of shade, where the light is still filtered, yet bright.
Be careful of dappled light falling on them if they are under a tree. In open shade, you can still front
light or back light as well. Also, experiment with back lighting subjects while they are in open shade.
It can create a bright image with light-washed backgrounds and brilliant bokeh.
Head in the clouds
Though many complain when the clouds roll in, I actually love shooting at the beach on a day with atmosphere.
Clouds often breeze in and out at the beach. If I see brief respite in the form of a fluffy white cloud during a
session I thank my lucky stars and get snapping to take advantage of the soft light. There is the misconception
that clouds equal flat light, lacking in variety and uninspiring. But clouy days come in infinite varieties. You
have thin whispy clouds that stay for a minute before blowing away, thick angry expanses of gray sky that
provide mood and ambiance, white puffs that provide relief to a broad blue backgrounds, and the dreaded
wall of white covering the whole horizon,
For me, the thin, whispy type are my favorite. Clouds can work like a beautiful soft box, or a sheer curtain
over a window, giving just enough filter for the strong rays to create a soft glow around everything.
When gray skies beckon
-Have your subject look up at you - it fills their face and eyes with light from above.
-Get moving. Let them run, play or splash. There is freedom when you don’t have to worry about harsh light.
-Wind often accompanies clouds - so capture the beauty of windswept hair.
-Create dimensional light by blocking the light on one side with a tree, wall, or other structure.
-Add variety by capturing detail shots,
Clouds + beach can often provide a moody, romantic feel. Play it up in your processing or conversions. I like
to add some toning or convert to a grainy black and white full of depth to bring out the mood.
You will need to give a little more love to cloudy day images to make them pop. Make sure to up the
vibrance and contrast, as well as give some extra light and glow to skin and eyes.
When the light falls: sunset, dusk & twilight
Dusk and twilight are by far my favorite times to shoot at the beach. Some of the best light you will
find is in the 15 minutes after sunset. At this time, the light is not direct, but is bouncing around the
sea and sky in a low glow. The colors and quality of the light change quickly, from the soft pastels of
sunrise to the deep, muted tones of dusk and the rich bold color of twilight.
Because of the rapidly falling light you will need to change your settings. Often. Sometimes I get
caught up in the moment and keep shooting, forgetting to continuously re-meter and chimp. When
that happens, I have a segment of images that are underexposed with white balance that is off.
Unlike other times of the day, even five minutes can make a huge difference in brightness. So keep
checking that exposure and bumping up the ISO. I might start at ISO 400 just as the sun sets and
within a span of about 20 minutes will quickly progress to ISO 3200 or ISO 6400 with my settings
wide open and shutter speed moving slower and slower.
Use Kelvin color temperature to showcase the rich colors, especially at “the blue hour.” Twilight is a
special time when the world is not quite light nor dark, but a brilliant combination of the two, and it
has inspired many great artists throughout history. Think of Van Gogh and his famous Starry Night
painting. It’s essential to get the color right to truly set the mood of a dusky or indigo glow. That’s why
Kelvin is perfect as you can change the temperature easily and quickly. Refer to a color temperature
chart for a general idea of your starting settings, but don’t rely on it. Chimp and use live view. Colors
vary hugely depending on your location, and often I like to use color more creatively, for example
emphasizing the blue in the blue hour rather than color correcting for it and rendering it neutral.
It’s fun to shoot till it’s almost dark. As the light gets even lower, you may need to switch to manual
focus since low light can cause havoc with your camera’s auto focus. When the light is almost gone,
add an additional light source: lamp, street light, bonfire, or other item - anything that can help
illuminate your subject. Adding the external light source works best for me at around twilight - when
the night is dark enough to really showcase the added light, yet there is still a bit of brightness in the
atmosphere to include some details in your darkened beach background.
Whether you shoot morning or afternoon, full sun or shade, back light or front light. The beach
can be a magical place to take photos. I hope this has inspired you to take your camera with you
the next time you hit the sand. No matter what the conditions, you will be happy you did.