Digital Photographer - UK (2019-12)

Learn to identify the biggest causes of failed coastal

images and apply pro solutions to lift them

Address core

challenges

You’re likely to come across many inherent

challenges when you shoot landscapes

containing water. Beach scenes in particular

stand out as problematic under certain

conditions, as they often contain high levels

of detail, and varying shapes and form across

the the scene. Plus, there’s a difficulty in

managing exposure and the ephemeral nature

of elements caused by the motion of the water.

Some of these challenges are due to

the nature of the landscapes themselves,

especially when there are extreme contrasts

of exposure between water and land elements.

But others are also caused by the lighting

in which we often choose to shoot. As with

many outdoor scenes, the favourite times to

make images at the coast are dawn and dusk,

as these provide warmer, more directional

lighting that really emphasises texture and

shape in the scenes.

The low sun does introduce a strong light

source into the frame, however, which means

you have to be extra careful about using

different camera settings to compensate

for the reflectivity of the ocean and sand –

surfaces that are in close proximity within the

composition. Any steep brightness gradients,

left unchecked, can push the exposure beyond

the camera’s dynamic range, and if this

happens you’ll lose detail through clipping.

The lower levels of ambient light also make

it more likely that you’ll encounter camera

shake, even when using a tripod. This makes

capturing sharp detail very difficult when

areas of the shot are continuously in motion.

This movement is the factor that arguably

provides the biggest challenge. Coastal

landscapes are very changeable environments

• the constant shift of the sand or rocks
  means that a scene is rarely the same on any
  two days, forcing compositional adjustment.
  Where there may have been good lead-in
  foreground elements on one shoot, there may
  be a large expanse of smooth sand the next.
  Either condition can benefit or spoil a shot,
  depending on the choice of frame proportions,
  which must be decided on an individual image
  by image basis.
  It’s important to be able to identify new
  obstacles and adapt your approach for each
  new frame, which will often change mid-way
  through shooting if a large wave rearranges
  our carefully aligned composition. Learning
  to anticipate these challenges and be better
  prepared to address them on the go will help
  you to produce better coastal images.

ARTIFICIAL DARKENING

Cliffs and lighthouses are two of the

biggest problems when attempting

to control exposure. Since they break

the horizon, the use of ND grad filters

is difficult, as they unnaturally darken

the tall elements. A simple software

gradient creates a similar problem.

FLOODED DETAIL

A mistimed shot can result in most of

the foreground being inundated by

the sea, limiting composition options,

since the foreground is largely missing.

Conversely, at low tide the water may

be too far back to show movement,

creating static frames.

NATURAL TRANSITION

Angling the gradient, either in software

or by rotating the filter holder, will better

align the transition with the direction of

the cliff topography. Using a soft grad

will make the darkening less obvious. A

layer mask allows exposure blending to

selectively remove software effects.

SLOW IT DOWN

In either circumstance, utilising a slower

shutter speed is a potential solution.

If you are unable to be on location at

the ideal tide position, an extended

exposure will make the most of water

motion or make a bigger feature of

cloud movement.

Troubleshoot images

Pro focus:

Max Malloy

Study our image refinement workshop to improve composition and exposure

Max discusses

the difficulties of

shooting coasts

TECHNIQUES

Learntoidentifythebiggestcausesoffailedcoastal

imagesandapplyprosolutionstoliftthem

Address core

challenges

You’relikelytocomeacrossmanyinherent
challengeswhenyoushootlandscapes
containingwater.Beachscenesinparticular
standoutasproblematicundercertain
conditions,astheyoftencontainhighlevels
ofdetail,andvaryingshapesandformacross
thethescene.Plus,there’sadifficultyin
managingexposureandtheephemeralnature
ofelementscausedbythemotionofthewater.
Someofthesechallengesaredueto
thenatureofthelandscapesthemselves,
especiallywhenthereareextremecontrasts
ofexposurebetweenwaterandlandelements.
Butothersarealsocausedbythelighting
inwhichweoftenchoosetoshoot.Aswith
manyoutdoorscenes,thefavouritetimesto
makeimagesatthecoastaredawnanddusk,
astheseprovidewarmer,moredirectional
lightingthatreallyemphasisestextureand
shapeinthescenes.
Thelowsundoesintroduceastronglight
sourceintotheframe,however,whichmeans
youhavetobeextracarefulaboutusing
differentcamerasettingstocompensate
forthereflectivityoftheoceanandsand–
surfacesthatareincloseproximitywithinthe
composition.Anysteepbrightnessgradients,
leftunchecked,canpushtheexposurebeyond

thecamera’sdynamicrange,andifthis

happensyou’lllosedetailthroughclipping.

Thelowerlevelsofambientlightalsomake

itmorelikelythatyou’llencountercamera

shake,evenwhenusingatripod.Thismakes

capturingsharpdetailverydifficultwhen

areasoftheshotarecontinuouslyinmotion.

Thismovementisthefactorthatarguably

providesthebiggestchallenge.Coastal

landscapesareverychangeableenvironments

• theconstantshiftofthesandorrocks
  meansthatasceneisrarelythesameonany
  twodays,forcingcompositionaladjustment.
  Wheretheremayhavebeengoodlead-in
  foregroundelementsononeshoot,theremay
  bealargeexpanseofsmoothsandthenext.
  Eitherconditioncanbenefitorspoilashot,
  dependingonthechoiceofframeproportions,
  whichmustbedecidedonanindividualimage
  byimagebasis.
  It’simportanttobeabletoidentifynew
  obstaclesandadaptyourapproachforeach
  newframe,whichwilloftenchangemid-way
  throughshootingifalargewaverearranges
  ourcarefullyalignedcomposition.Learning
  toanticipatethesechallengesandbebetter
  preparedtoaddressthemonthegowillhelp
  youtoproducebettercoastalimages.

ARTIFICIAL DARKENING

Cliffs and lighthouses are two of the

biggest problems when attempting

to control exposure. Since they break

the horizon, the use of ND grad filters

is difficult, as they unnaturally darken

the tall elements. A simple software

gradient creates a similar problem.

FLOODED DETAIL

A mistimed shot can result in most of

the foreground being inundated by

the sea, limiting composition options,

since the foreground is largely missing.

Conversely, at low tide the water may

be too far back to show movement,

creating static frames.

NATURAL TRANSITION

Angling the gradient, either in software

or by rotating the filter holder, will better

align the transition with the direction of

the cliff topography. Using a soft grad

will make the darkening less obvious. A

layer mask allows exposure blending to

selectively remove software effects.

SLOW IT DOWN

In either circumstance, utilising a slower

shutter speed is a potential solution.

If you are unable to be on location at

the ideal tide position, an extended

exposure will make the most of water

motion or make a bigger feature of

cloud movement.

Troubleshoot images

Pro focus:

Max Malloy

Study our image refinement workshop to improve composition and exposure

Max discusses

the difficulties of

shooting coasts

TECHNIQUES