How to Take Professional-Style Portraits at the Beach

With the prevalence of digital photography, just about anyone can take pictures that look professional. One of the best places to take professional looking pictures is at the beach, because the natural beauty is a perfect backdrop and digital cameras are more than capable of dealing with the light. All you need is time, a large memory card and a few simple tips.

Things You'll Need

• Digital camera
• Memory card
• Subject

Instructions

1. Decide what the best colors are for the subjects to wear. If you are going to be doing family or group shots make sure that everyone is in matching attire. For instance, ask everyone to wear jeans and a white shirt. If everyone can't agree to match, at least make sure what everyone is wearing doesn't clash with anyone else in the group. Also, avoid colors that might blend in with the surroundings at the beach.

2. Avoid extremely bright sunny days because you'll be limited to which way your subjects can stand to keep the sun out of their eyes so they don't squint during the picture. A slightly overcast day, or going in the early evening or early morning, depending on which coast you're on, will serve you best. Winter is also a good time to take these photos because the sun isn't so bright.

3. Choose a location for the pictures. Avoid open expanses of nothing but beach. Look for a location that is in close proximity to a pier or well manicured sand dunes. This will allow you to have creative backgrounds and props for your pictures.

4. Make sure your camera is ready and the memory card is empty. One of the best ways to guarantee that you're going to get at least a few fabulous pictures is to take as many pictures as your memory card will hold

5. Be prepared to snap picture after picture, sometimes of the same pose. If you have small children, have them build a sand castle and take pictures of the building. For older kids have them hop up on one of the sand dunes or pier supports and take pictures of them. For pictures of the ocean in the background, don't stand people in a row. Have people sit and lounge on the sand with taller people in back and smaller people in the front. If you have props such as a beach umbrella or a child's bucket and shovel, place them around your subjects.

Tips & Warnings

• Get close and then get closer. Pictures from far away tend to look like snapshots, so the closer you can get to your subject the better. Don't be afraid to get down and dirty. If the kids are playing in the sand, lie on your belly in the sand close to them and take pictures from that angle. Crop pictures on your computer to take out anything that you didn't mean to get in the picture. Never center subjects in the picture. Slightly offset them and show some of their surroundings. Search the Internet for poses you'd like to use for your picture taking outing. Don't be afraid of black and white of sepia tone prints, these finishes can cover a multitude of sins.

• Don't wear khaki pants because they can disappear against the sand.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish