How to take a perfect photograph on the beach

Video: How to make your beach picture shine
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Brian Clark | The Virginian-Pilot

As beautiful as a beach can be, the lighting conditions are notoriously bad for taking great photos. Beachgoers are usually out during the brightest part of the day, which, combined with the light-colored sand and pale sky, can fool the camera’s light meter into setting an exposure that is too dark. Randall Greenwell, director of the award-winning photography staff at The Virginian-Pilot, offers some tips on taking professional-looking shots.

Avoid the racoon eyes
A major problem, Greenwell says, is that most people are on the beach when the sun is directly overhead, which produces dark shadows on the face, particularly under the eyes. To compensate, set your flash to “on” instead of “auto.” If you are close enough to your subject, the flash will lessen or eliminate those unsightly dark rings.

Fill the frame
Most digital cameras provide an automatic exposure that is best for the largest object in the viewfinder. If you stand close enough to your subjects, your camera will properly expose them. If you stand too far away, the camera will pay more attention to the bright background and the subjects will appear darker.

Lighten up
Digital cameras with a beach setting will automatically adjust the exposure, allowing more light in to soften the shadows and give skin tones, particularly people with darker skin, a truer, more natural appearance. More advanced photographers can manually slow the shutter speed or open the lens aperture to achieve a similar effect.

The “automatic” setting on your digital camera can’t guarantee the best shot. The picture on the left was shot in automatic mode and is dark. The one on the right was taken in manual mode, with the aperture opened two stops. The whites are whiter, and the overall tone is more pleasing.