YOGA Photo Shoot At The Beach

Hi guy. I’m planning a photo shoot that is going to include a yoga instructor and a beach. I’ve never done this before so I wanted to get your input. I read a few post regarding photography on the beach. I was planning on doing the whole shoot with a CANON 24-70 2.8 and a 40D (38-112 on my camera). Does that sound right? There was a suggestion to take a 70-200 but I’m afraid I’d have to be pretty far away from the subject to be able to get full body shots at which point a fill flash light wouldn’t be effective at all. Is that correct? There was another suggestion to use CP filter. How often is that done and is it necessary? Besides using a flash light such as 580EX, would I need another type of fill light? Thanks in advance for all your help!

Wow, I get no love!

That will cost you 2 f-stops & I don't recommend it.

My suggestion is that part of "planning a photo shoot" if you've "never done this before" would be to go out & shoot some tests & see what works.

Some help: Fill light at sunset

Best advice is to go and shoot some practice shots, i like to use highlight priority tone on the camera as well for beach shots to avoid blowing out shots

Okay, thanks for the tips. I will go out and try it out but am I right to think that the 24-70 is the right lens for this.

It may not be wide enough for a bod shot/portrait on a 40D. To me, a 17-50mm range would be better. You can foot zoom at the beach so you can back up with the 24-70 if you need to, but I think you are in the ball park. If it's really sunny, a polarizer may be good and I'd probably bring it along just in case, but try to shoot during the golden hours. Mid day, the light may be too harsh.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #4668713
That will cost you 2 f-stops & I don't recommend it.

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you recommend it. As he's shooting at a beach, I'll assume there's gonna be plenty of light around, and he's shooting potentially at f/2.8. A CP could give any sky he's gonna have in his shot a little pop.

So much of this depends on what you are trying to do, and upon your budget...if you are hand-holding, the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS would be invaluable, both for width and for Image Stabilization. If you're planning on using a tripod, and you can get a decent wide angle with a 24-70, well then that lens would be great. It's up to you to get a feel of what works!

It's about your comment, "I'll assume ..."? We don't know time of day, angle of the shots, weather conditions, he has no idea how to use it, & is concerned about the ability of his fill flash without a 2X reduction in the light, so I still don't recommend it in this case.

Situations where I/we/he has no answers to those questions & we can't see what's happening, "Test!" is the best answer to give IMO.