In the second and final part of our series on shooting seascapes, Janie News has seven more tips to help you shoot great seascapes. This week she focuses on filters, camera settings, exposure, white balance and more.
01 FLATTERING FILTERS
There are a few filters which are really useful for seascape photography. Add a circular polarising filter from the start – it will get rid of any glare on the water and let the camera ‘see’ below the surface. After sunrise, a graduated neutral density filter can be used to darken the sky and reduce the brightness range (contrast) of the scene. Plain neutral density filters can also be useful for reducing the amount of light entering the lens so you can continue to shoot longer exposures.
02 WHICH SETTINGS?
Before sunrise, I set my camera’s focus to manual. If you have Live View mode you can use it to make sure you’ve maximised the sharpness of your shot, using your torch to light up a spot in the foreground as a focal point (most cameras will beep when focus has been achieved).
Set the exposure time to Bulb. In low light a shutter speed of several seconds will give the sea a silky look. If you want the clouds to blur you will need to leave the shutter open for around five minutes. Set the exposure mode to manual (M) and set an initial aperture of f/16 to ensure good focus front to back. Start with ISO 100 and experiment with different shutter speeds. As the sky brightens, change the exposure mode to shutter priority (S, Tv), and experiment with slow and fast exposures to either blur the water movement or retain detail. Sometimes it’s good to capture a big explosion of surf and spray with a faster shutter speed.
Turimetta Beach about half an hour before sunrise. Canon EOS 7D, 10-22mm
lens @ 22mm, f/16 @ 10s, ISO 100. Remote release and tripod. Manual
focus on foreground rocks, LED torch used to light foreground and
boulders. Contrast, levels and vibrance adjusted in Photoshop CS6;
minor de-noise and sharpening.
03 WHITE BALANCE
I sometimes set the white balance in my camera to ‘Cloudy’ to get more vibrant colours. That said, if you are after a ‘true’ rendition of the colour of a scene it’s best to set white balance to Auto. The easiest option though is to shoot Raw. That way you can very easily adjust the white balance of the image in post production.
04 PERFECT EXPOSURES
For the most accurate exposure I use a light meter which gives me a reading of the shutter speed required for a given aperture and ISO. I use spot metering and take a reading from the brightest part of the sky, take a shot, then re-meter for the darkest area. This gives me two correct exposures which can be blended afterwards in post. If I’m using a polarising filter I add two stops. If an ND4 filter as well I add five stops. During long exposures remember to keep checking the time and reduce the time of each shot as the sky brightens.
Another method of obtaining correct exposure in very low light is to increase the ISO to a high setting and adjust the aperture or time until an equilibrium is reached. The timing depends on whether you want to achieve detail in the water movement with a short exposure, or a silky effect using a longer exposure. To achieve detail in the shadows of the image and avoid losing information in highlights, you can take two or more exposures and blend them later in post production to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. To be sure I have the best exposure I usually take a series of shots – over and underexposed.
If you’re interested in ‘painting with light,’ before dawn is the best time to try it. Use a good LED torch and sweep the beam over particular elements in the scene – the more you practice, the better you get!
Collaroy Beach rockpool. Canon EOS 7D, 10-22mm lens @ 22mm, f/9 @ 0.3s, ISO 100. Remote release
and tripod.
05 COMPOSITION
New photographers often position the horizon in the middle of the picture. Generally, you’ll find the image has more impact if the horizon is above or below the midline. Make sure the horizon is level (some cameras offer a levelling guide that can be displayed on the LCD) and look out for rocks and bushes that may be cut off at the edges of the frame. It’s also important to try to create an even balance of elements within the image – try to avoid large areas of the picture that are devoid of detail.
Timing the shot is very important, especially when you’re trying to capture the exact moment a wave hits a rock or the slow drag of the water as it recedes over rocks or sand. If you want to freeze the action, your camera’s continuous shooting mode will give plenty of options to shoot the perfect image. Know your camera well enough to keep adjusting the settings as the sky brightens, depending on the shot you want to achieve, and try rotating the camera for some portrait-orientated shots (verticals) as well as landscapes.
Learn to be patient! Following a sunrise there’s often a lull, and then a beautiful glow can light up rocks – if you’re lucky there’ll be a golden path over the water, right to the sun. Don’t leave as soon as the sun appears! Sometimes the light just gets better after sunrise; the sky keeps its colour and the whole beach glows. Keep in mind that as the light changes you might find there is a better scene nearby than the one you’re shooting – every now and then check the view around you.
Dee Why Beach, 30 minutes before sunrise. With the tripod set up low to
the ground the rocks create several leading lines to draw our eyes into
the image. Canon EOS 7D, 10-22mm lens @ 15mm, f/14 @ 15s, ISO 100.
Remote release, tripod, polarising filter. Adjustments in Photoshop CS6.
06 POST-PROCESSING
Generally, minimal post processing is required with seascape shots. Make sure the horizon is straight, the focus is where you want it to be, and you can enhance vibrance and clarity to make your images jump. Finesse your shot with some subtle dodging and burning. A touch of vignette (darkening the edges) will keep viewers’ attention on the key subject in your scene.
07 THE PERFECT SHOT
A perfect seascape image is one which conveys to the viewer your excitement and joy in the beauty of nature. Slow and silky, or fast and detailed, it’s all a matter of personal taste. Don’t be disappointed if some people tell you they don’t like sunrises or sunsets. You can ‘wow’ them with a stunning beach landscape, great composition, vibrant colours, and perfect clarity with your careful preparation. Even if they’re still not impressed, very likely others will tell you how much they love your shots.
Another early visit to Palm Beach. I set up my tripod half an hour before sunrise but the best shots were well after sunrise. Canon EOS 7D, 10-22mm lens @ 11mm, f/16 @ 2s, ISO 100. Taken one hour after sunrise. Two images combined in Photoshop CS6, contrast, levels and vibrance adjusted; minor de-noise and sharpening.
Click here for a look back at the first part in our series on how to to shoot stunning seascapes.