Whats The Best Setting On Your Camera To Take Photographs Of The Beach, Sun Setting On The Beach, And Night Lit Beaches?

Thats like asking what is the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies.....

easy for the cookies its on the bag of chocolate chips.

I think Thomas is right. But to give you an answer nevertheless: I would probably use a very short exposure time to freeze the movement of the water at daytime and a tripod for nightshots (instead of increasing the sensitivity).

I seem to remember one of my old point and shoot cameras had a “beach” setting on it. It may have even been “sunny beach”!

(Interesting you post an image of a beach scene during broad daylight, but speak of night shots, and such. I assume you want all these types of shots)

But seriously, If you are relying on the camera to set the exposure I would recommend using the program (or auto) mode. And if the camera has a auto bracket function set that as well.

Then just experiment with over and under exposing each shot being careful to check the image preview.

But one will have to consider iso as well. (aka increasing sensitivity---as Jochen put it---)

As far as night lit beach scenes? They can be tricky!

I recommend not only a tripod, but a remote release as well. Keeping the iso low. (100)

This is a shot I did at night that the exposure was well over one minute. I also used a shoe mount flash (unmounted of course) and, using the test button, fired it several times from different positions during the exposure.



I am curious. What kind of camera will you be using, Autumn?

Number one is to shoot in the RAW setting if your camera has one.This will let you adjust so many things in post editing and have the best quality image to work with.
As the beach is generally very bright it can fool your camera and underexpose your images.As with snow images beach images can benefit from having some postive exposure compensation dialled into your camera settings.Obviously I can't tell you how much so give it a try with a shot and check how it looks but don't rely on the image in the moniter as this is usualy a JPEG image .

When I leave the house with my camera (I have my camera with me, whenever I leave the house), it´s set like this

- Aperture priority (aperture set to f/8)
- Auto ISO (minimum ISO 100, minimum shutterspeed 1/250 sec.)
- RAW

These settings give me a "camera-ready-to-shoot-everything-during-daylight". Without a good reason, I don´t change these settings.

To be honest, your asking people that took the time to learn a profession that are trying to survive here, and asking them to tell you how to do their profession for free, so you can sell your work and be more competition to them.
Their are lots of tutorials that you can watch, colleges you can go to, night classes that you can learn from, online classes, and books you can read to teach you how to become a photographer, or painter.
Best

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choice less as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Number one - use a tripod and number two I haven't a clue (well I do) - if you like to 'toy' with your photo's using photo shop or some other photo manipulation software after you take them - shoot in raw - otherwise shoot in jpg fine. Colin's settings will work - but you'll need to experiment - and the light and weather make differences - as does what you are shooting at the beach.

PS: for those that ask - one of the things photographers here on FAA are is not stingy with their knowledge - it's not really competition when there are 10,000 photographers - and one more good one is not going to hurt any of the others chances of selling their work. " I " am not really a photographer - although I take photographs and have even sold a couple this year. I don't go in for photo post processing other than to crop and tweak the level and contrast a touch. After that - what you see is what pretty much came out of the camera when I shot it in jpeg fine. I save the images in .png that are worth saving.

I don't really live near a beach - and only make it to one about three times a year - I take my camera - I break a lot of rules - I take the tripod but don't use it as the 'beach' and it's occupants move way too much. Here is a sample of my last trip just about a month ago: Surfer at the Beach

There is no one setting that works for any shooting situation. Good old trial and error and your own studying is the only real way to learn. You might at least want to buy a book or something. And the attached shot needs to be in closer to the surfer.

At Madaket on Nantucket - renowned for its sunsets - I used a heavy Neutral Grad filter for the sun.
The whole photo was imbued with a fetching golden glow, which was incredible.

Night shots can be helped by use of a star-filter to make the lights twinkle, and of course, to look like stars.

Long exposure night shots make the lights look like stars anyways...!

Tripod, low ISO settings, automated shutter-click via timer, or hand-held/IR remote trigger.

Enjoy!!!

http://fineartamerica.com/groups/photo-critique-one-on-one-.html
This is a good group to join for questions and advise such as what you need. Best of luck...

100 different people on here will give you 100 different answers. The real answer, as it is for many questions in life, is it depends.

Been a while since I have done a tutorial on anything but since you asked about my favorite subject, here goes.

First things first, let’s talk about glass and the sweet spot. Every lens/body combo has a sweet spot where that lens is as tack sharp as it can be. Knowing the sweet spot is nice but not critical for what you want to do. What IS critical is knowing where that lens gets soft. Hey, you have a Canon 50mmf1.2 L it may not get soft at any setting. That is not the case with most glass. My 50mmf1.8 was soft at f1.8. My 100mm macro was tack sharp wide open but started getting soft above f16 and was virtually unusable at f32. THAT is info you need to know about the glass you will use.

Now, on to the original question. The best setting is between wide open and f32 and the shutter speed should be between 30 seconds and 1/8000 of a second and your iso should be between 50 and 6400. Well, that was useful, wasn’t it. My flow is to set the iso then the fstop then the shutter speed in that order but let’s look at them one at a time.

ISO: Use the lowest ISO you can that will allow the fstop and shutter speed to be set where you want. (50 ISO is really no better than 100 iso in terms of noise btw but can be used to slow the shutter speed and blur water if that is the desired outcome.) You should know where your camera becomes too noisy/grainy to use when setting the iso. 1600 on my 5D got pretty noisy but there were times I simply had to accept that but it is better to use a lower iso if possible. When might I have to accept a higher iso? I will leave it at 100 and IF I can get an acceptable fstop and shutter speed I don’t touch it. IF the fstop I want to use gives me more than a 30 second exposure then I will evaluate whether I would rather use a lower fstop OR increase the iso. Which will be the better compromise depends on what I am trying to achieve. If DoF is critical then I might accept the extra noise with a higher ISO. If DoF is less critical I might open up the lens to allow more light to hit the sensor.

Fstop: What is it you want to achieve with the shot? Do you want/need a deep depth of field? Then higher fstops are better. Do you want to isolate a subject? Then lower fstops are better. (Lens length plays a part here as well. F2.8 on a 200mm is going to give you a MUCH shallower DoF than F2.8 on a 14mm lens.)

Shutter speed: Again, what am I trying to achieve and in addition to that, what are the outdoor conditions? If I am trying to capture a surfer or a breaking wave, then I want faster. If it is windy, and it usually is at the beach, then I need a faster speed to keep the sea oats from being a blur. No wind or nothing in the scene that is affected by the wind and no action in the shot, then DoF becomes more critical than shutter speed. I shoot on a tripod 98% of the time so I rarely worry about induced motion blur but that is a factor if you are hand holding the camera. It can also matter if you are shooting on a tripod and it is really windy.

OK, some examples;

This shot was done an hour and a half before sunrise. That means the red sky is visible to the naked eye BUT not very bright. A red sky with no foreground is pretty boring so I left my headlights on pointing into the dunes. I walked into the dunes until the headlights were about the same brightness as the sky. There was no wind. No wind meant shutter speed didn’t matter to me. I set the camera at 100 iso and started the fstop at f8. That was not enough light for a 30 second exposure so I opened up the lens until I got the shutter speed to 30 seconds. That happened at f6.3. Since that was acceptable for me I left the ISO at 100. (f6.3 on a 60mm lens on a crop sensor gives a decent DoF)



This one is a daytime shot but on a very windy day. Shutter speed becomes critical or the palm leaves will be a blur. So, as usual, I set 100 ISO then set a 1/200 shutter speed which I figured was the minimum I could use to freeze the wind. THEN I cranked the fstop up until that 1/200 gave me a proper exposure. (f10 btw.) It is worth noting I changed my flow around a bit as the wind made the shutter speed more critical than the DoF for what I wanted to achieve.



This one is ISO 100 as well but is an HDR. (I always bracket exposures btw even if I am not sure it needs to be an HDR.) It is f10 for a decent DoF and a 1.6 second exposure. (+/- some speeds for the HDR.)



OK, a pure night shot. On this one I wanted a higher fstop not so much for the DoF but so that the moon had the look it does. (starburst looking affect happened on that lens around f11 and got better from there.) So, I started with the fstop at f16 and and a 30 second exposure then came up on the iso from 100 to …… until I got the exposure below 30 seconds. The moon also moves so I think I ended up with f11, a 10 second exposure and iso 1000 but I do not have the exif data in front of me to confirm that.



That should be a good start for beach shots.

One last note. While I shoot in Jpeg and raw I process jpeg 95% of the time. I have never been a fan of the absolute need to shoot raw. Yes, it saves me now and then but it is the exception and not the rule for me. This is not meant to pirate the thread and turn it into a raw vs jpeg thread but rather just stating the fact that good results can in fact be achieved without shooting raw.

Just pay attention to your light meter... ISO 100, hope for some clouds so the sky is a little more interesting.

No idea what lens or camera you intend to use, whether you want to shoot people or just the water, so beyond that, don't know what you're actually capable of doing.

Rich Franco gave a formula...but I cant find it now...but I set my memory recall settings f11/ 1/125 You can adjust the f stop to your cameras capabilitie...I think it goes as high as f22...mine only goes to f11...
I took this photo at the beach...It was pretty bright...not out in the sand...but I notice there are dark areas off to the right in the foliage...does anyone know what to do to adjust this before the photo is taken in future...or is this something that can easily the corrected post editing...I am not prepared to shoot raw at this point in time...so that is not an option yet.


I am happy with the composition...just not too happy with the dark areas...

Unasked for advice --

1.) I would have made this discussion private so that buyers would not see it on the off chance they came into the forums.
2.) Your icon should show who you are. The dude is not mentioned in your bio anywhere.
3.) A lot of people will give a lot of (sometimes unasked for) advice about the bio. I would not put in there "I have a natural talent for photography" because that should be obvious to anyone looking whether you do or not and, in my opinion, asks for the prospective buyer to look more harshly at the work.

there is no common setting. it depends on the camera, the equipment (polarizer and such), time of day, subject, sky conditions, hand held or tripod, type of action etc.


---Mike Savad

Best to shoot in a manual setting. Your cameras meter can't be reliable in a situation with changing amounts of bright white and will give you a different exposure on every shot if you don't lock it down. In fact best to put you camera in manual and leave it there for six months or a year and then you will learn and not have to ask.

Judy,
You should be able to open up the shadows easy enough with your photo editor.I use lightroom and photoshop and they have a slider to open up the shadows.
of course if you shoot in RAW you can usualy get more adjustment.
What are you reasons for not shooting RAW.
If your camera allows why not shoot in both RAW and JPEG

I agree with Bradford about shooting only with the manual setting. I began doing that early on and blew a lot of shots in the beginning but it forced me to learn how to set speed and f-stop to achieve what I needed and now I get it right most of the time. The limiting factor with my old camera was the ISO. There was a noticeable increase in noise over 100 ISO so I rarely bumped it up. The new camera has a much better noise rating so hopefully that will expand my shooting options. My advice is to practice on night shots before you go to the beach so you'll have a better chance of getting what you want when you're there. The more you practice, the easier it gets.

Roy, right now I am still on XP and it does not have the ability to convert tff and/or use photoshop ..the system requirements are too demanding to install any of the popular photo editing programs...MY OS only has 512 mb of ram... ALso, and I will try to look it up...I have the sony rx100 m2 camera..I read somewhere on CNET that even though this camera will shoot in raw...that it doesnt warrant it...and they gave a reason which right now eludes me...If I can locate the reason I will update this thread..... The only photo editing program I am using is Microsoft Picture Manager from 2003...yes, ...I know..
Did you actually click on the photo that I put in the thread...It looks pretty good up close...but those dark shadows on the plants on the right do prevail...
I also have this photo in Flickr...and the editing software is much more prevalent...somehow, though, when it comes to editing...I have a problem knowing when it is right...eg how much to adjust the brightness and the contrast...sometimes it is very obvious...other times...not quite so...I have a photography gallery in my portfolio which has some more photos...some of the night photos came out pretty good, surprisingly...I didnt use a tripod...
I realize I need to use manual settings...but right now I have friend here from VA for a few days and I hate to really screw up photos experimenting with settings...when the dust settles I will get to work on that.

Judy;

You won't screw up any photos editing them in post. Just leave the original images untouched and save as a new file. (Unless I am misreading what you meant by that.)

Judy,
As Joseph said always save your original file and as a TIFF if possible.You can then work on a copy of the file and if you mess up you still have the original untouched.
Remember when you have finished and your going to save it make sure you select 'SAVE AS' so you don't overwrite the original. In the cheaper editing software exposure adjustment tends to affect everything rather than being able to adjust lights midtones and shadow seperately.
In the image you posted there is quite large bright areas so the camera would have exposed for that making parts of it darker.
If your camera has it you could try centre weighted metering but be carefull you don't blow the highlights or try a 3 shot baracket 1shot under 1 shot over and 1 at what the camera thinks is right and see what you prefer

Well, just in looking at the image you posted in the close-up preview mode, the surfer in the photo is blurry. Whatever you did to get that shot was incorrect. Action photography requires a much faster shutter speed than what you used to get that shot. What camera are you using? What lens? Are you going to be shooting action or land/seascapes? What time of day will you do most of your shooting? The answers to these questions affect the choices you make with regards to exposure. Now, if you're just going to be taking snapshots rather than making photographs, and you don't know the answers to these questions, use the camera's auto settings and hope for the best, because that is the only "one size fits all" solution there is.

There is no one "best setting." It really depends on what you're shooting and the look you're trying to achieve. I'm sorry I can't be more help, but that's the best I can do given the information we have.

Best setting? M.

All of the above.

There is NO single answer to that question. Every scene is different. Even the same scene 15 minutes later is different. You have to figure out the best setting while you are standing there looking at the shot. There are no shortcuts.

Autumn,

I met and photographed alongside Clyde Butcher in Zion National Park. He's a large format shooter and never uses a light meter to expose his scenes. When I asked why, he explained 'The sun is always 93 million miles from the earth, give or take a few thousand. When you understand what you're doing with the camera, there's no need for one."

Good luck and have fun!

That's cool Jeffery,
I was emailing his wife back and fourth while they were out there last year. I never knew he doesn't use a light meter, although he shoots black and white neg film, in the day. Neg film has a ton of leeway stops under or over and you should be able to get close to the exposure with sunny 16 during the day without a meter.
I do love his work

That's when I met him, Kevin, and his wife was with him, too. He offered me this following suggestion to understand the philosophy with digital, because we have even more latitude in post-editing.

Spend the morning from 0600-1000, and the later afternoon 1800-2000, taking one picture every 15 mins at f/16. Write down the exposure times on a notepad and keep it with you. Next time you're in the field shooting refer to the notepad. If it's normal lighting, you're set. If the lighting is different, use the exposure compensation +/- 1 stop. If you change the f-stop, do the math in your head and adjust accordingly. Pretty soon (50 years in his case of shooting) you're gonna get so good at recognising the light, that the meter no longer matters.

As the others said, it depends on what you are looking to do. The best times would be sunset or sunrise, otherwise you'll just get what everybody else is getting, daytime beach photos. I would say just experiment. Try fast shutter speeds and slow shutter speeds for the smooth water look, which I personally prefer. If you want to shoot slower shutter speeds during the day, you will need a dark neutral density filter. At sunset you might get away with just stopping down to f16 or f22. If shooting sunsets or sunrises, don't just shoot the lake with the sunset, unless that's what your looking for. Try to get and interesting beach scene in the foreground. Your gonna probably want everything in focus so shoot f11- 16 and shoot in M or AP (or AV). I try to stay away from f22 if possible due to diffraction. So that is my answer to the best beach camera setting, for me anyways. The best advice is just experiment.

I shot this pano at f16 and ISO 100, I think. The polarizer was enough to slow the shutter speed down just enough to make the water flow.

So cool Jeffery, I wish I was with you.
Did you also know that getting the right digital exposure is much less forgiving by far compared to negatives. You have tons of latitude in exposure with negatives compared to digital or slide film. You wouldn't think that's true with technology, but it is.

"do the math" in my head - you are kidding. I use a pencil or my fingers and toes to do 'math'. Well - I'm a little better than that - I did have to take some 'math' courses in college and I passed without a calculator - but not without the pencil. Truthfully - it's not doing the math - it's remembering what to do with the math.

It's been years since I last shot film, Kevin. I do have a medium format that I should break out, though, and experiment more with.

Scrolling through all the 'advice' I don't think anyone mentioned a polarizer. You'll need one of those. Possibly an ND filter, especially if you're shooting during the day and want to slow the water down with a long exposure.
If the sand is white (I'm thinking Florida), you'll need to expose like you would for snow to keep from having blue sand.
For sunsets, you'll want a grad ND filter so you get detail in the beach/surf without blowing out the sky. Bracket and blend images.

Night "lit" beaches -- do you mean dark beaches, or beaches with lights at night? For dark beaches, I'd recommend waiting till the moon was at 30% or less and let it light the beach for you, then shoot the beach/night sky, increase your ISO to 2000-3400 (depending on what your camera can handle) set your aperture to f/2.8 for 15-30 second exposure depending on your camera and lens.

P ;)

Seriously, as others have said, there are many variables. I'd read all of the above. Some great info there. Take a solid tripod, have a polarizer if your camera can take one. Shoot raw if your camera can and use editing software that allows exposure adjustment. Don't expect miracles right off. This takes practice.

Thanks everyone..I have beesavingthe original file and making a copy of any corrections that I have made..only problem is the extra space taken up with additional files..I need to buy a external drive next..it's funny when I look at the photo on my phone it looks like a post card..absolutely beautiful..that is one reason why I don't like editing on Flickr on my phone..I gives a false sense of reality

Quick question about circular polarizing filters - I thought they were necessary, and I'd used them in my film days, so I got good quality filters and started using them in all the usual situations (haze, bright sky, water glare, etc.) but I really detested the graduated effect and spent a lot of time in Photoshop trying to correct it. I've stopped using polarizing filters altogether and now just use software filters to correct haze and slightly overexposed areas. Am I missing a good reason why I should still be using polarizing filters? Mine are just gathering dust.

a polarizer will remove reflections from trees, flowers, water, and some glass depending on angle. it will often enhance the colors of things, however with less reflection you get a flatter look. i often couple it with a flash for fill. you can use a polarizer on a flash and on the lens and create a flash that makes light but no glare (i'm still looking for quarter waveplate film), scientific surplus used to sell it.

it can over blue a sky, but that's correctable. don't use them for rainbows or a sunset, it will remove them. don't use them in a panorama or you'll get uneven skies.

for a long time i didn't use them. i now have one mounted on a magnetic ring. it creates a small amount of vignetting, but i have stronger landscapes and better colors and can finally see the fish in the pond and the items in a window. you can also create effects like shooting a pond with trees and getting a shot without the reflection for depth into the water.


---Mike Savad

Mike, it is the uneven skies that I was talking about. I don't know how to fix them and I think that graduated look in the sky is really awful. I'm also not a fan of what those filters do to green tones. Is there a way to use the filters that don't graduate the darkness?

you can't. polarization only works in certain positions and where the sun is located. if you turn, the effect changes, so a pano would have that wavy sky look. that's why it's avoided. if you shot it and cropped it long and skinny then there wouldn't be an issue. you can also get away with a short pano.

greens will look darker because they are dark under the reflections, and you don't have to turn it all the way, just enough where you like it. you might have to compensate for the exposure, because the image will be darker. if you get a warming polarizer it will make it a bit warmer. for me though i have a plain one, which makes everything a bit blue. i have the white set to flash i think, which makes it redder. i actually simply kept it in flash (even though i shoot raw).

the sky shouldn't graduate though, i would need to see an example, it may actually be your screen.

---Mike Savad

Kathleen, I don't use graduated filters for the same reason as you.Also they are really only useful when shooting a flat horizon. If you have mountains or trees or buildings going over that horizon, the tops will be dark and the lower half lighter. It is best to bracket, that way you will have one exposed for the sky and one for the foreground. Then you can blend them in PS. Or just under expose the shot so the foreground is darker and the sky is exposed well and just bring up the shadows and play with the highlights in Camera Raw or Lightroom. Make sure to use a low ISO if you do that, because if you don't it will be noisy where you brought up the shadows.

Not sure I can find a good example now because I usually delete them but I'll take a look tomorrow and post one if I have one. Thanks!

mostly the best use is to enhance a sky by seeing the clouds more clearly. even storm clouds look better, though the iso will be higher because of the darkness they make. i use it only outside. and found more times than not, they are useful to have on you. i've missed many good shots because i refused to use one. you can compensate some things in photoshop, but reflection removal isn't one of those things. i just wish mine didn't vignette. if i did it again i would really look harder for the thinnest one. as it is, with the hood in the way it's hard to turn.

at the beach though you should have a UV on if possible. mostly you don't want salt spray or sand hitting the actual lens.


---Mike Savad

Mark, I've had good results using Nik's plug-in Graduated Neutral Density filter along with their Contrast Color Range filter to correct exposure problems. Works pretty well. Also like their version of a polarizing filter.

Yes, Mike, I keep a UV on all the lenses for protection. Way cheaper to replace than new lenses.

Ok, let´s make myself unpopular.

Is this forum really the right place to ask such basic questions? There are millions of sites and forums in every language of the world to help photography beginners. Shouldn´t somebody, who wants to sell his work, know at least the basics about how to use his tools?

What do you think, am I to rigorous with this statement?

Colin, we all have to start somewhere and most people here don't mind sharing their knowledge and experience. I know lots of things some others don't know and others know lots of things I don't know. By sharing what we do know, we all benefit. I'd much rather ask dumb questions and get the answers than stay ignorant.

Chasing the light is key for great beach and seascape photography! That' means getting up early and going to bed late. Bring your tripod, a split graduate neutral density filter and a polarizing filter. Shoot in aperture mode and bracket exposure if you are unsure. Choose a small aperture for great depth of field and a large aperture for little DoF. Have fun doing some intentional camera movement photo art and anything else falls into place.

Good light and happy photo making!

Juergen
@NatureFineArt

I gather the OP closed the thread and I will close it again after making this statement.

While this is a sales site and by the time you get here it you are likely trying to sell your work. Yes, there are many sites that exist for critiques and improving your photography. BUT, this forum is here for questions of any nature within the guidelines. (eg, no religion or politics.) That includes ways to improve your art or asking about the best settings to shoot the beach.

I make a substantial portion of my income from selling art here. I am very good at what I do on a regular basis. That said, if I wanted to try something that is outside my comfort zone guess where I would ask for advice? Yupp, right here in this forum…. I have all sorts of things that I have never even tried or at least not attempted since the film days. How do you shoot lightning? How about the northern lights? How do I shoot bears in bear country? The list could go on and on of things I know nothing about.

The reality is that this site has an expert or three on just about anything I might want to do. What better place to ask such a question. The great thing is that I know at least some of these experts will share their vast knowledge if I ask. Without the help of Peter Tellone and Lowry Wilson I would have no clue as to half the things that make me successful here.Without the encouragement of Debra Vanderlaan on another site I might never have even thought of selling my images. (Image examples from these artists below.)

The bottom line is this is a great place to ask any and all questions and most of us are willing to share the knowledge that was once shared with us.