Lucky Me?

[IconJB]

My brother is putting together a swimsuit calendar, (albiet amateur),
and wants me to shoot it for him. Its going to be at the beach in San Diego this weekend. Nothing "professional" but it still has to look good.

My photographic expereince so far has not included swimsuit photography. The girls will have a makeup artist on site so I dont need to worry about that.

Any basics / pointers / obvious suggestions?

My lenses include a 28-135 is f5.6 and an older 70-210 f4.0 lens without IS. I also have a decent tripod. Renting a lens is not out of the question.

I plan on doing the shoot in the late afternoon.

[Nortelbert]

You may not be able to post in G&N yet, but they do have a discussion section, maybe you can find tips there?

[jefzilla]

Don't get sand in your camera. Or in any of your equipment for that matter.

Don't shoot in mid afternoon when the sun is highest in the sky if you can help it; you'll get horrible lighting on thier faces & you could lose their eyes in horrible shadows. If you have no choice, use fill flash & reflectors to redirect the harsh lighting to where it will flatter your scantily-clad subjects. Sorry if you know this already; I don't know what the extent of your experience is.

As hard as this is when photographing beautiful, practically naked girlies, keep an eye on your backgrounds too. Use your depth of preview button (if you have one) to see how your background will be in focus or out of focus. If no DOF button is available, simply preview your shots on your 30D as you go. One of the nicest things about beach/swimwear shots, besides the obvious, are the pretty beach backgrounds.

Don't hit on the girls. This would be very unprofessional. I'll be there as an onlooker; I'll do that for you. Just kidding ;)

Hope this helps a bit. Try not to have too much fun on this shoot, now... :P

[richardchoi]

I've seen alot of people using fill flash with gold/yellow gels (more so during a sunset). Make sure that there are towels, lots and lots of towels. Sometimes you might want a little sea spray on your models, but other times you'll want them matte dry. It doesn't sound like you have alot of lighting equipment, so you probably don't want to shoot against the sun.

Which beach? Torry Pines, Black's, LJ shores, Mission or Coronado? Another one?

[IconJB]

Thanks. I do have my camera in a MADE case to protect it.

This is going to be amatuer, but the girls know it, they are not getting paid.

Probably going to be at Wind and Sea, there are nice backgrounds on the East facing side.

I think I am going to rent a 70-200 2.8 L IS lens and a polarizer.

[richardchoi]

Ah, wind and sea, nice place! Have fun avoiding all the other wedding photographers, pros, hobbyists and amateurs!

BTW, there are alot of rocks there you might want to use, so sturdy footwear might be a good idea, but if you plan on getting wet, having soggy shoes would totally be lame. It's also been cold lately in SD, but the weather should be fine depending on what time of day you're shooting.