Heading out to Myrtle beach in a few days and expect to go to Myrtle Beach State Park and Huntington Beach state park. Does any one want to throw out some nuggets of knowledge or general tips on taking shots at a beach, such as metering, getting good sunsets, wave shots etc..
No advice, but have fun. Huntington Beach State Park is beautiful, and my favorite when I go down there - far less crowded and more peaceful, and the causeway and dunes on the way in sport some good shooting opps.
1) Timing: here on the west coast it can be foggy with brief periods of sunshine, especially during the summer. Be patient and get set up in a desirable location and then hope for good lighting/clouds.
2) i've found that a 2 second exposure gives a nice blurring action to the waves. Hard to achieve 2s without ND filters which i have yet to purchase, but, early morning before sunrise or after the sun sets are good times to get the long exposures. Keep shooting even after the sun goes down because thats when some nice colors can show.
3) Be mindful of blowing wind/sand/spray/etc. A shirt wrapped around your camera body should be good if spray is bad.
4) look for the lines of waves breaking on the beach which can give some nice foreground interest and provide leading lines in your photos.
Here are a couple of beach shots from yesterday. f8 and 1/400s @100iso. Shot about 1 hour before sunset so they are quite contrasty. I metered from an area in the sky and bumped exposure compensation by +.5 to 1.0 EV. Pic1Pic2
