Beach advice

[Milner]

I am looking for any beach specific pointers for those of you that have shot beach weddings. I love forums because I can accelerate the learning curve by learning from other with a great deal more experience. So post up your tricks and advice.

As I am from Utah, I have not shot many beach weddings and will be attending a friends wedding on the beach next week. I am not the principle shooter on this. My wife is the maid of honor so I have baby duty. But I do want to get some candids and some shots on the beach....

[Picture North Carolina]

I am looking for any beach specific pointers for those of you that have shot beach weddings. I love forums because I can accelerate the learning curve by learning from other with a great deal more experience. So post up your tricks and advice.

As I am from Utah, I have not shot many beach weddings and will be attending a friends wedding on the beach next week. I am not the principle shooter on this. My wife is the maid of honor so I have baby duty. But I do want to get some candids and some shots on the beach....

Well, I do not shoot weddings but I shoot lots of other beach stuff and advice would still apply. First, minimize lens changes - especially if in breezes or wind. Sand damages. Second, regularly check your front lens element. I have found that even on a fair day, salt mist in the air you can't really see or feel will, over time, build up a film. Wipe carefully and with the right object - remember your sand contamination. Even if not needed (for sun), I have found lens hoods help protect the lens a little from sand / mist. Hope that helps a little.

[ssim]

CannedHeat gave some very good advice. I never change lenses on a beach and will always take a second and third body with different lenses if I think that I am going to need that lens. I will normally put a UV filter on my lenses if I am going to be doing alot of shooting on the beach. It protects against sand damage and I will normally have a couple of extra of these and if I do get sea mist on the lens then I only have to change the filter and not take the time to clean it.

Shooting on a beach can be like shooting in snow. Of course this is dependent on the sun's position but I tend to over expose slightly because the reflective nature of the sand can fool your meter.

[Picture North Carolina]

As Sheldon reiterated, sand is the evil enemy here. IMHO, an entirely different ballgame than dirt. Much more abrasive.

Last year I was shooting on the Outer Banks during a tropical storm. It blew a tripod over. No big deal, you say - and you're right. A soft hit in soft sand - no biggie. However, no matter how many times I tried, I could not get the sand out of the ball head and one of the legs. Over time that sand just continued to grind away and eventually it trashed the head and the tripod. $350 bucks. It's evil stuff, I tell you, evil stuff. ;)

One other thing I just thought of that may apply. After that event, I have become obsessed with preventing sand contamination. I have a personal rule I now follow. After hiking back to the car, absolutely nothing gets put back into the car until all sand is cleared off it. Camera bag bottoms, tripod leg feet, etc. My philosophy is to prevent introducing sand into the (car) environment. Even a single grain, strategically placed, can be picked up later and can do damage. No, you can't control single grains, but the point is to try your best to keep it our of your car, home, etc. environments.

[smirak]

How do you "prevent" sand from getting in your tripod feet? I am shooting a wedding this weekend in Gulf Shores, AL, and I will be using my new 055xprob tripod and 322RC2 head...sure don't want to mess those thingies up :)...

Thanks,
Kevin

[Picture North Carolina]

How do you "prevent" sand from getting in your tripod feet? I am shooting a wedding this weekend in Gulf Shores, AL, and I will be using my new 055xprob tripod and 322RC2 head...sure don't want to mess those thingies up :)...

Thanks,
Kevin

You can't prevent it. It doesn't harm feet - not moving parts. You just make sure that when you get back to the car / home you brush off the feet before introducing the tripod to those environments where it can fall off the feet and be picked up later. I have a wisk broom in the car to brush it off with.

[Picture North Carolina]

In trying to help you out, one other bit of advice occurred to me. It may be the one single thing that helps prevent missing that "great shot." You're gonna think I'm trying to be funny, but I'm not. That one single thing is Deet.

I don't know the environment you are shooting in, but on the OBX Deet is mandatory. This time of year the mosquitoes and biting flies will eat your skin off. The point being that if you're busy doing the mosquito dance or swatting 25 blood-sucking, biting devil bats off your legs, you're not paying attention and may miss great shots.

Two cautions, tho:

1. Not everybody gets along with Deet. Follow directions. Some folks say it's too dangerous to use at all, but the "natural" repellants are about as worthless as water. I'm lucky, it works with me.

2. I've read that Deet has a disolving action on plastic. After applying, remove the deet from the handling side of your hands before touching plastic camera equipment.

(And post some pics - let's see how you did!)

[In2Photos]

Beach environments are often very humid. When leaving a nice cool indoor environment and entering a warmer humid environment you can fog up your glass pretty bad. To avoid this set your gear out early so that it can "warm up" slowly. I like to leave mine in my bag and put it in the locked car an hour or so before leaving.

As to shooting in the sand I have NEVER had a problem. While I have not shot a wedding I have been several times for family vacations and personal shooting of sunrises. The key is to use common sense. Slow down and think about what you are doing. While I try to keep my lens changes to a minimum I still change lenses. Just shield yourself from the sand and keep your unused gear in your bag.

One problem I have had in the past is with my flash in direct sun for extended periods of time. It seems to overheat. I have to store it for a while in a cool spot before I can use it again.

[fishingjts]

In trying to help you out, one other bit of advice occurred to me. It may be the one single thing that helps prevent missing that "great shot." You're gonna think I'm trying to be funny, but I'm not. That one single thing is Deet.

I don't know the environment you are shooting in, but on the OBX Deet is mandatory. This time of year the mosquitoes and biting flies will eat your skin off. The point being that if you're busy doing the mosquito dance or swatting 25 blood-sucking, biting devil bats off your legs, you're not paying attention and may miss great shots.

Two cautions, tho:

1. Not everybody gets along with Deet. Follow directions. Some folks say it's too dangerous to use at all, but the "natural" repellants are about as worthless as water. I'm lucky, it works with me.

2. I've read that Deet has a disolving action on plastic. After applying, remove the deet from the handling side of your hands before touching plastic camera equipment.

(And post some pics - let's see how you did!)

I remember I used some kind of bug repellent... either Cutter or Deep Woods Off.. something like that... accidentally sprayed my nice Timex watch and didn't realize it... next day all the paint was peeled off! OOPS! LOL!

[Milner]

Thanks all for the good advice.
I wish I still had mt 20D back up....
I had no idea the bugs would be that bad....better go shopping!

[Picture North Carolina]

Thanks all for the good advice.
I wish I still had mt 20D back up....
I had no idea the bugs would be that bad....better go shopping!

Wait a minute. Go to the beach the day before if you have the chance. Assess the critter situation. I personally would never wear Deet unless absolutely necessary. But if you have to, the Deep Woods (or Woodsman) seems to stay the longest.

[tim]

I haven't written anything about this since... yesterday, except for the post I made ten minutes ago.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=569393
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=6319700