6 Steps to Better Seascape Photos
January 11th, 2012
Here at Sea to Summit we’re pretty well respected for our seascape images, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that our coastal photography workshops, like Santa Cruz and Big Sur, are among our most popular. The ocean can be a surprisingly tricky place to shoot and budding photographers want to know what steps they can take to bring their images to the next level. Here are 6 simple things you can do to start producing some killer seascapes.
1) Get Proper Support
A good seascape starts with some essential gear, and a solid tripod comes in right at the top of the list. If you are getting serious about nature photography then you’re probably familiar with the upsides of using a tripod, the benefits of which go doubly for coastal photography. Not only does a tripod give you a stable base to photograph from to achieve tack-sharp details, it also allows you to use longer shutter speeds. Some of the best seascape images are taken with shutter speeds of 1/2 second to 30 seconds or longer, and if you’re trying to pull off hand held shots at those long exposures, your photos are going to be blurry disappointments. So slap your camera on a tripod and you’ll see an instant improvement in your images.
A tripod gets you 90% of the way to having sharper photos, but to bring out the best in your shots use a remote shutter release as well. The remote release lets you pop off shots without actually touching your camera, so you can eliminate the camera shake that comes from physically pressing the shutter button. Remote releases come in many different styles from wired to wireless, and basic push-button types to fancy intervalometers. In the beginning the kind you buy is less important than the fact that these little gizmos help add extra crispness and detail to your photos.
Jim Patterson
Josh Cripps
Nice article, but you left out some important information .. DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN !! IT WILL GET YOU AT SOME POINT IF YOU ARE NOT AWARE AND WATCHING !! .. Thanks .. Paul
Thanks for the comment, Paul. You are absolutely right about turning your back on the ocean. I actually talk about this in part 3. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the tips
I prefer to do 2 exposures and then blend in Photoshop. Gives me more flexibility.
This is becoming more and more of a common practice because of the flexibility and it certainly does have some advantages. But I maintain that for seascapes a GND will almost always serve you better than blending because you capture the scene in one shot. With few exceptions, exposure blending with ocean shots is problematic because the waves move in between shots and this can make your blend look really funky. There are a few workarounds with Photoshop but I’d rather spend my time out at the beach shooting than inside in front of the computer trying to achieve the same result.
Had to comment here… Extremely well said Josh!
Whole lotta great advice and instruction offered within this piece. If you’ll allow, I do have a few questions regarding tripod use/care and salt water exposure. Is this the optimum forum to ask them or, do you prefer some other location?
Thanks again for taking the time to share such invaluable information with many who are landlocked at this time yet hope to incorporate such wisdom for those special opportunities when venturing to the coast.
Hi Rick, glad you found the post useful. To answer your question, we’re working on setting up a forum to ask those exact kinds of questions. But until that’s up and running, you can ask questions here and I’ll do my best to answer them concisely. Cheers!
Hey Josh, I always find your sharing informative and thought provoking. Your ’6 Steps To Better Seascape Photos’ prompted me to wonder how you care for your tripod after a day in the surf and sand. Knowing both to reek havoc on metal and fittings, I was wondering the following:
1) What have you found necessary to perform in the way of post trip cleaning/rinsing and care of your tripod in order to ensure its longevity?
2) Do you use a carbon fiber or alloy tripod?
3) Any special care for the extension collars?
4) Do you find it imperative to use any special cleaning/ lubricating treatments such as WD-40?
And finally a few questions on practical coastal usage:
1) When anchoring your tripod in the surf line, what technique(s) have you found work(s) best for ensuring it is anchored well for long exposures? 2) Do you use metal spiked tips or rubber tips for your saltwater/coastal shelf work?
Your willingness to share your insights and expertise in these articles is greatly appreciated. And best of luck with your upcoming jaunt down to NZ. M’alob K’inn!
Hi Rick,
Glad you’re finding the posts helpful! Let me see if I can answer your questions for you.
1) Once I get home I rinse my tripod immediately and thoroughly in the shower. I unlock all the mechanisms and move them through a full range of motion while rinsing. If it’s a particularly nasty day I’ll disassemble the whole thing and rinse it off. I also wipe the thing down to remove any salt water residue.
2) Carbon fiber. I try to avoid metal wherever possible. Look for a tripod that has stainless steel or magnesium alloy hardware to minimize corrosion. If you’ve got the money to spend Gitzo makes a tripod specifically for hardcore ocean use.
3) Just the same as #1 above: move the mechanism through its full range while rinsing and wiping down.
4) In general you want to avoid lubricants because they can make your clamps and lock-downs slippery and ineffective. If you have a ballhead that is totally locked due to residue and corrosion, you can use a small amount of silicone-based lubricant to free it up, but be aware that this is a slippery slope (no pun intended) and probably means your tripod head is on its last legs (no pun intended).
A better solution to using lubricants is buying high quality gear. I originally had a Manfrotto ballhead that bit the dust after 3 months of seascapes. Too much grit and corrosion inside the mechanism and it seized up completely. Now I use an Acratech ballhead which has a completely open design, so it’s impossible for grit or salt water to get trapped inside because there is no “inside.” Jim Patterson uses a very nice Markins ballhead which I believe continues to be smooth despite years of seascape shooting. And other photogs I know who use Really Right Stuff don’t seem to have any problems either. For the tripod legs, avoid latches, toggles, thumbscrew locking mechanisms. These things are magnets for grit and corrosion and will fail quicker than you can say “shooting seascapes at the sea shore.” The twist-lock mechanisms you see on higher-end tripod legs are much much better, not to mention easier to take apart and clean.
To answer your practical questions:
1) Jam your tripod legs deep (6-8″) into wet sand. That will hold the tripod really steady even if waves are washing around you. You’ll still get some vibration from the big waves, but if you are in a spot where you’re only getting 6″ of water around the tripod legs you’ll be fine. Or find some solid rock to shoot from; that will give you the best platform.
2) I use rubber tips since they provide better traction on bare rock. Or if I’m shooting from the sand, my tripod legs are buried in the sand so the tips don’t really matter. I could see the spikes being useful if you are shooting on something soft, like algae or moss or seaweed, but so far I haven’t needed to use mine.
Cheers!
Josh
Greetings Josh,
I greatly appreciate your in depth reply and all the efforts you and Jim put forth in providing online insight for folks like me who live on the other side of this country and are unable to participate in one of your workshops as often as I’d like. Both of you have always produced outstanding landscape imagery, and in Jim’s case, underwater compositions also. In my humble opinion, what places you guys over the top is your willingness to be available and approachable to share your hard earned wisdom in order for others to improve as well. Such efforts will no doubt produce stronger images for those who heed your advice and will always cast you both in favorable light with others down the river of life. Looking forward to applying many of your well honed insights as I continue to venture within this realm of creative artistic expression.
M’alob K’inn! (Mayan for, “Have a good day in the sun!”)
~ rick ~
What strength is do you use for your GND? Is it the screw on type or do you use a filter holder?
Also, do you use a ND filter for the long exposures or do you just adjust the aperture?
Hi Dave,
Unfortunately the only question you have with a straightforward answer is the one about screw-in filters: the rectangular filters used with filter holders are much, much better than the screw-in filters because of their flexibility and ease of use.
To answer your other questions:
The strength of the GND varies greatly depending on the situation. I almost always start out with a 3-stop soft, but if I am shooting into the sun a may add another filter on top. If I am shooting away from the sun I may use a 2-stop or 1-stop. Shooting reflections also usually requires a weaker filter like a 2-stop.
For most of my long exposures I simply adjust the aperture. But that’s because I like to shoot around sunset/sunrise when the light is low. If you want to shoot longer exposures in the middle of the day then you will need an ND filter.
Hope that helps!
Josh
Hi josh, with seascape workshop, is 24-70 lens good enough? Or you’ll suggest 16-35 lens? Thanks
Hi Maimai,
It really depends on you. Some people love that ultra-wide look, others like a more standard zoom. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself, but you should know that most of the photos you see in the galleries on this website were shot at the equivalent of 18mm. So if you like our photos and want to create photos like them, I recommend the 16-35. And if you join one of our workshops we can teach you to use it to create a lot of depth and perspective in your images.
Take care,
Josh