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Stormy Beach
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Stormy Beach



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cameraNIKON D80

settings Aperture f/5.3 ISO 100 Shutter 1/160 Focal Length 360/10 

upload_dateApr, 2015

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5 Comments |
Q-Vision PRO
 
Q-Vision April 06, 2015
Just wonderful. Love how you balanced the light.
BrunoHeeb PRO
 
BrunoHeeb April 11, 2015
amazing shot
JAZZMAN8
 
JAZZMAN8 April 26, 2015
Very good photo. Simple and clean.
DavidThorpePhotography
 
DavidThorpePhotography September 26, 2015
Thanks. Stormy skies at the beach are my favorite.
nikolaihessenschmidt
 
nikolaihessenschmidt September 26, 2015
fantastic shot, I love it! great job, Like your style and all your photos!

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Tags

#model #beach #stormy #wet
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on the beach at Longboat Key, Florida. It's may favorite location to do these photos.

Time

I usually do beach photos in late afternoon to early evening. I like to start when the sun is getting low in the sky because harsh sunlight isn't good for portraits. I schedule these so that there is enough time for the model to do two or three outfits and then end with the last outfit during the sunset.

Lighting

I almost always use two flashes mounted on a light stand with diffuser domes on each flash. If there is another person with us I will add a translucent shoot-through umbrella and have the other person hold the light stand so the wind doesn't blow it over. For outdoor portraits you want to set your exposure for the ambient light and use a flash or reflector to put light on the subject. Set up the shot as if there's not a person in it and then add to or modify the light on the subject.

Equipment

I shot this hand-held with a Nikon D7000 and a Nikkor 18-105 lens. The two Yungnuo flashes were on a light stand on a home-made bracket. Diffuser domes were on the flashes and they were fired remotely with a radio trigger.

Inspiration

I've done a lot of these beach photoshoots. My go to looks are swimwear and wet clothes. While it doesn't really make sense to wear clothes in the water, it looks fantastic in photos. The fabric gets shear and creates a nice flirty look. Most models I have worked with feel that it's a much more interesting and fun shoot than the swimwear that most people want to photograph them in. For this photo, we had done two other outfits, another dress and a bikini, and when the model put this dress on the sky was becoming very stormy looking. I wanted to use the sky to make the shot feel moody, so she got the dress and her hair wet and I had her lay in the surf. We did several shots with dramatic looking poses, and this one seemed the best with just the right amount of wet in the fabric and in her hair.

Editing

I always do a process called frequency separation to make the skin look smooth and the shadows lighter without making the editing look obvious. It's an advanced Photoshop technique, but I highly recommend learning how to do it if you photograph people. I also use a plug-in from Topaz Labs to bring out the texture in everything in the shot, then I mask out all of the skin because I don't want added texture there. It brings out details in the sky, sand, waves, fabric and hair. If there are drops of water on skin, I will zoom in and add the texture back into each drop to make them pop a little more and accentuate the wetness. I think little details like that are worth spending time on. For this shot, the fabric was very shear when wet and we didn't want too much to show so the model was wearing a white bra. I used the clone tool to remove the parts of the bra that showed. The only other things I did in Photoshop were straighten the horizon and adjust the light.

In my camera bag

I shoot with a Nikon D7000. I'm usually using either the 18-105 kit lens or the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens. I aslo use a Nikkor 55-300 4.5-5.6 lens when I need a telephoto. As you can see, I don't have any really expensive lenses. I would love to, but I get really good results with the cheaper lenses so I haven't made the jump. I also use Yungnou and Godox flashes, usually on a light stand. The flashes always have difuser domes on them and I use a shoot-through umbrella when possible. For portriats, the more diffusion the better. I use a cheap radio trigger to fire the flashes. You can get a set with a transmitter and two recievers for under $50. I got mine years ago and it still works fine, even after about a hundred photoshoots at windy, sandy beaches. Spend the money for good stuff if you can, but don't worry about it if you're on a tighter budget.

Feedback

It's important to find good locations, no matter what type of photography you do. I found the perfect beach for photographing swimwear models and I have used it often. Watch for attractive backgrounds, and for beach photos look for soft sand. You will have your subjects kneeling and laying in the sand often, and if it's too course with lots of tiny shell parts your subjects won't enjoy the experience as much and you'll find yourself photoshopping the irritated skin on their knees and other areas. If the background isn't great, you can often change your angle to improve it. If the sky has no clouds, aim down the beach so the surf is the background instead of the horizon. Or you can even put yourself in the water and shoot back towards the sand if that's more intersting looking. Another thing to consider is the tide. Do you want a lot of beach or a more intimate looking setting? Whether the tide is high or low can determine that. The beach I use is small with woods not far from the surf. I've learned the hard way that if I'm there at high tide I have a lot less beach to work with. And most importantly, choose the time of day according to when the best light is. Avoid late morning to mid afternoon. Unless you're bringing along a crew that can hold up scrims to block the sun, you'll have a shadowy mess that you won't be able to salvage. As far as working with models, remember that their comfort level will make or break the photoshoot. If they are uncomfortable about anything, you will see it in the photos. Discuss all of the details before going to the location. If it's a collaboration, be sure you both understand what each other wants from the shoot. Know what outfits will be used and inform the model what kinds of poses you are looking for. Also ask if there is anything specific the model wants, and work it into the shoot even if it's different from what you're going for. If you are hiring the model, be sure to explain what you want and insure that the model is okay with everything. Models will usually be willing to do something that's not physically comfortable if it makes a great shot, but making them mentally uncomfortable will ruin a photoshoot every time.

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