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Sandy beaches For minimalist shots,
clean sandy beaches look lovely under
a soft pastel or blue sky, but when I reach
a beach I like to look for areas with more
interest than just sand like a rocky cove,
tidal pools, grasses or patterns in the sand
where the sea recedes to use as foreground
interest. Try to visit the beach during a
retreating tide, whether that’s morning or
evening, and not at the weekend or holiday
periods to avoid the surface being littered
with footprints. Be there ready to be the first
on the beach. Sand dunes often have long
grasses that can make soft foreground
interest when photographed in a breeze.
Photographing the grasses static can look
stark and distracting, but be careful not to
drag the shutter too long as this can render
them as blurs of colour.78 Digital SLR Photography Ma y 2019
4
Black & white Seeing in monochrome is a skill, one that I don’t often use at the coast
but certainly one that should be refined ready for when a scene calls for it. If a landscape
is absent of colour opting for monochrome is an obvious choice and the same can be said
when shooting in the middle of the day. When the sun is high and so is the contrast, the lighting
can be too harsh for colour photography but the play of light and shade can look striking in
black & white, especially if you’ve any craggy rocks full of detail and texture that would be
washed out with colour. While you should be able to set up a camera to preview JPEG images
in black & white, I’d recommend you always photograph in Raw and process to monochrome.5
Rock pools When photographers visit the coast they usually head straight to the
water to capture wave motion, but you’re in danger of all your shots looking very
similar. Seeking out other subjects to shoot can add variety to a portfolio and that’s
where rock pools work so well. A rock pool is when the tide gets trapped in a rocky area, as
opposed to a tidal pool that’s in the sand. Rock pools break up the confusion of lots of dark
rocks and gives you foreground interest as well as the chance to capture the sky reflected
in the water. While water motion on the edge of a sea at sunset works well, rock pools will
give you amazing colours as the water is so still – just remember to pop on your polariser!