Beach Photos of Adults, Please Help, Tips Needed

I posted this in the "People" section and someone recommended i move it hear since i wasnt getting alot of info there.

First off i have been lurking at this site for a while and it is full of great info. Thank you all in advance for the help.

My Dad has asked me to take pictures of him and his fiancee at the beach for their wedding announcement. I am pretty new to photography but have been reading all that i can and taking as many photos as i can to learn as much as possible.

I currently have the following equipment Canon EOS XSi with the following glass. EFS 18-55mm, and EFS 55-250mm glass. A tripod, and wireless remote.

Im going to guess they will want to take the pictures on the beach (Probably not at sunrise most likely in the evening ) so can you give me some pointers? Should i get a polarizing filter? Which lens do you think would be best for this? To make sure i get good exposure i could bring a gray card or expose of the lower 1/3 of the sky.

Do you have any examples of these kinds of shots that would be appropriate for mid 50's adults that you can share?

Thanks again for the help.

Shoot in raw mode. Either lens is good as long as you shoot at no shorter focal length than a short telephoto on your camera (e.g., around 55mm). Do not, I repeat, DO NOT shoot at midday unless you want a lot of squinting and raccoon shadows under the eyes. You say that they won't want the shoot at sunrise or sunset. That's unfortunate because that's your best light.

I am thinking i can get them to do a late evening shoot.

Just a few quick thoughts. You'll probably want to switch back and forth between the lenses. When doing this, try to be ready with the new lens as soon as you take off the old, you don't want to keep your camera body open longer than necessary. As they always say, sand really does get everywhere. I can see wanting a few wide shots in a beautiful environment. For the true portraits, though, a focal length more in the 100mm range will be more pleasing. You want to work while the sun is still up and shining on their faces. Always meter and expose properly for their faces.

Don't worry about the polariser. Depending on where sun sets, on the water, behind a hill? I'd suggest start 40 - 50 minutes before sunset for softer even light. A flash can be handy too.

I didn't see one in your post, what flash are you using?

The only flash i have is the pop up on the camera. I really just got my camera so i dont have a lot of equipment. Im still reading and learning as much as i can.

Thanks for the help.

It is quite possible you will need a flash. If you want their faces to be as evenly lit as the beach behind them.

And I had the same thought and assumption, re: flash. You may want some fill flash and the pop us is probably satisfactory for this if you're not too far away from your subject. There are many threads on this as well as mini lessons on YouTube; take the time to learn and practice. Depending on the nature of the sunlight, its position, and how it falls on your subject, you may be able (or it may be the more desirable ) to work with just the sunlight. If you're looking to catch some beautiful sunset sky as well as a properly exposed image of your subjects, this is essentially fill flash too. Though not necessary, lighting that kind of scene is best done with off-camera flash which probably involve more $'s and learning that you are willing to invest right now.

That flash is not going to help a ton on the beach.
The biggest suggestion I have, you may want to schedule for a nice cloudy day and not at sunset. Then shoot for the ambient light.
Get your self a reflector and maybe an assistant to hold it. A reflector can be anything that effectively reflects the light. Grab a $1 piece of foam board or something similar.

Going on a cloudy day is a great suggestion. It depends on the look you're trying to achieve. If I were doing a sunset shoot at the beach, I'd want that warm light you get from a sun down low on the horizon, but it's definitely more challenging to work with. From a technical perspective, clouds make things MUCH easier. So it's a matter of the look you/they want and your confidence in your techinical skills.

Thanks for all the ideas. I will look into some of these ideas. I wish i had the funds to get an off camera flash but i just got the camera and the additional 55-250mm glass. I will probably try to do a sunset time frame or an overcast day.

Any more suggestions, tips, examples are greatly appreciated.

I've yet to shoot a beach wedding (or portrait session for that matter), but during a weddnig last month, towards the end of the day, I took advantage of a tiny stream of sunlight coming through the trees just before sundown. This warm rich light is what you're looking for for this kind of portrait. The challenge is managing shadows. In this instance, I didn't need to care about shadows as I arrenged the couple so they were looking directly into the sun; shadows were generally not on their faces. No fill flash was used. This light was a little speckeled by the trees, but not too bad and this shouldn't be an issue for you anyway.

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Are you going to a south facing beach?

Generally the idea will be expose for the background, flash to light the people in the foreground. Zoom your flash head manually if you want to avoid the "cone of light" on the sand. Poses are more difficult. Just make them comfortable, start with simple, more formal stuff and see what happens.