Beach Family Portrait - Need Help w/ Technique

I just bought a 10D. Will arrive early next week. That gives me two

weeks to get used to it before I take my family to Florida for a

week. My question is this: Can anybody give me some good technique

(placement, time, setting, flash, etc.) info for taking a family

picture on the beach? I want to set the shot up and then run into the

shot. I'll take some pics of just my wife and son also, but it's the

family shot that I really want to come out right. I think we're going

to all do the standard white shirt, khaki pants, no shoes thing.

Where we are staying, there are alot of condos, so I'm guessing the

water would be the best background, rather than risking getting a

tall building in the shot...but I could be wrong. I'd appreciate any

expertise or ideas that anybody can offer. I have two flashes, and a

wireless transmitter if I need to set up any artificiall light. Thank

you all who resond.

Marc,

 

I still shoot film so I'll let someone else answer your question about using the 10D.

 

However, the last time I did what you are talking about doing I had a $100 plus bill for cleaning sand out of camera body. I was very careful and tried to keep camera covered, but with the wind on a beach and the fine sand it's just impossible. I understand with digital that the sensor can get dirty very ease.

 

Good Luck.

 

Cliff

Good advice. Maybe I need some sort of bag for the camera while it's on the tripod. I think it's best I pick a lens and stick with it. I dont' think I need to change lenses, ever. I didn't think of that..thank you.

 

Anybody shooting digital that can help me out here?

I've used my Elan 7 (similar to the 10D) on the beach a few times, but I'm always nervous about it. If you don't change the lens and you're careful, and don't keep it out longer than you need you should be fine.

I'd try a few different set ups. If your on the gulf side you might want to try to get a sunset over the water behind the family with fill flash. If you get as nice red sunset with cool clouds I'd problem include the red sky and not the sun.

Any mid day shots will be tough due to tge harsh mid day sun, in which case you may want to wait till a cloud passes in front of the sun.

Good luck, post your results.

On the other hand I always bring the digicam Canon A70 and, knock on wood, no problems. You should get some fun shots also.

How come my photos never show up in the thread?

Previous shot was the mother in law, daughter and niece.

Make sure you have the wrist strap or neck strap secure when attempting these type photos.

Also for the portrait pay attention to keeeping the horizon straight, you could even get a bubble level from B&H that fits in the hot shoe.

Why not 'splurge' and have a photographer take 1/2 roll of film of you and the family? A whole lot less expensive than a 10D on a tripod in the hot sun....

 

 

 

Even the birds won't care if it is film or digital---<div></div>

Marc -

 

Lots of good suggestions so far, especially regarding the dangers of sand.

 

One thought I would add is regarding the family photo at sunset - make sure to use some form of amber gel filter over your flash. The color temperature of your flash is much cooler than the warm colors of a sunset, and the family will look unnatural against the backdrop w/o some form of flash color correction.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about taking a miday family portrait, it would turn out fine as well. You can just use some fill flash to help cut down the harsh shadows on faces. People often expect beach photos to be in bright/harsh mid day lighting.

 

My final thought - it's digital! Shoot all you want, take a picture, check the histogram, check the LCD, zoom in on the photo to check focus, etc, etc... keep doing it until you have the shots you want (or until your family's patience runs out!).

 

Above all, have fun in Florida. A good photo of the family won't mean nearly as much without good memories along with it.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sheldon

Local studios here at the Jersey shore do beach portraits all the time. A friend's family had one done recently. The photographer did the shot in the evening, with the sand dunes as the background. He used ambient light with just a little fill flash.

Scott...the reason your photos don't come out in the thread is that you didn't put a little caption underneath. They have to be less than 500 pixels wide I think and you HAVE to put some kind of caption.

To keep the sand out of the camera - don't put the family on the beach. Keep them on the boardwalk or the street and use the beach (with palm trees) as a background. This will provide a better background of sand and sea anyway.

 

Put your family in front of a scene like this attached photo.<div></div>

I'd do a search on this site using the words in the title of your post. There have been other posts asking about family portraits on the beach. As to technique (rather than practical considerations like sand in the camera), there are several factors which influence--namely time of day, lighting conditions, and your use of fill flash or two light setups. If you don't find the answers using the search function, perhaps you can ask again, being more specific.

 

From what you describe, I'd figure out the time of day that the sun will be on your family's backs when they are facing away from the water (so the water is in the background). That way, you use the sun as rim light and then use your flash fill to fill the shadow side of your subjects. Two-light setups can be used too. The trick is balancing the fill to the background or ambient light. Or, shoot at sunrise or sunset (depending on whether the beach is on the east side or west side of Florida), using the softened sun as main light with the shoreline in the background.

Here is a early a.m. image from the Gulf Coast. Nikon F5, SB-28DX speedlight with some minus output, Fuji Reala 100 film, a UV filter, and a AF 24-85mm f2.8D~f4D Nikkor lens.<div></div>

How about this: pre-sunrise, everybody lined up, sitting down near the water, facing the ocean/sunrise and backlit with slightly underexposed sky, and no flash.<P>Maybe not exactly what you were thinking of, but maybe a good idea anyway

A protective filter over the lens can be a big help, a skylight, uv, or some such.

I notice two of beach photos are not level. If my memory is right, one of photography principles/base techniques is to have the horizontal line level unless seeking a dramatic effort. Is it one element beach family portraint photography we shall look out?

Hi Marc,

 

I have done several beach photos, and the best time is lateafternoon/early evening. You don't want to do this in the bright sun. I don't know what beach you are going to be at, but sometimes it is nice to incorporate some dunes and sea oats into the photo. I know in the outer banks NC, there is a lot of this and it makes for a really nice photo. But have the sun either in back of the subjects or off to the side and I would set your exposure for the scene and then use fill flash. Good luck.

early morning shots or late evening ones will be better. Highlights are too strong during the day. Pay attention to the salted wind: my canon 10d got dirty on the beach and I had serious difficulty to have it cleaned. Defaults setting are fine to start. Read the manual carefully and then decide each time what is best for you. Cheers!

I read a great article in a photo magazine last month, and the photographer did a lot of family portraits on the beach. He shot in the hour before sunset, all natural light, typically with the dunes/ grasses as a background. He was sure that the family wore coordinating outfits (tan khakis or jeans, white shirts). Be very careful of background - as with one of the pics above, be sure that the horizon line doesn't intersect with heads.