If you live near the coast, the shoreline makes for a wonderful landscape photography subject. Here are a handful of tips to give you some ideas and help you along the way.
Tripod and wet feet
As with any serious landscape photography, you will need a tripod. When choosing one, make sure it is sturdy and easy to collapse and extend. I do not recommend buying the most expensive one. It will get full of sand and salt water, so you want something durable and easy to clean.
To capture your images, get your feet wet and work around the shoreline. If the area is rocky, I recommend wearing flip flops or marine footwear.
A tripod helped bridge the gap between the rocks for this image.
Start early, finish late
The best light occurs during the blue and holden hours before and after sunrise and sunset. Be prepared to wake up early and be prepared to be at your location before sunrise or sunset. I also recommend familiarizing yourself with weather apps and location planning apps like PhotoPills and Clear Outside. You want to use these apps to plan your photography sessions during optimal atmospheric conditions. Ideally you want those blue, pink and orange hues in the sky.
Colours like this are the not the result of Photoshop, but rather the transition between the dawn blue and golden hour.
Drag your shutter and wait for the water to recede
When photographing the ocean and surf, you want to convey movement in the waves along the shoreline and ideally you want to drag your shutter (that is use a shutter speed anywhere between 1 second and 1/2 seconds in duration). Anything faster or slower and the sea can sometimes appear flat and without character. This is why you want to use a tripod.
Do not bother focus stacking your images like you might do in other landscape photography scenarios. Set your aperture for f/11 or higher and away you go. This is because it is impossible or far too time consuming to blend the waves in post-production.
The best images are also created along the shoreline just when the waves reach their high point and begin to recede into the ocean. Get your shutter release timing right and you can get a lovely trail of water dragging through your image.
In this image, a 0.5 second shutter speed helps create a trail in the water as it recedes.
Look for a foregound and middle ground
Images looking straight out into the ocean can be a bit dull. So, find a feature that you can place in your foreground. It doesn't have to be spectacular. It just has to capture the viewer's eye. If you can't find an immediate foreground subject look for a leading line or a juxtaposition. The middle ground is easy, as this can usually be filled with the waves and surf line.
A simple leading line drawing the viewers eye to a world famous view.
I hope you have enjoyed this short article. Feel free to share any tips and questions which you may have.
Cheers,
Russell