I have uploaded some images to my website I took for a recent
engagement photo session in Laguna Beach, California. But what I really wanted to touch one isn't the great photos I took (giving myself a pat on the back), but shooting in the sand as a photographer. I also just wrapped another shoot a few days ago in
Newport Beach, this time for a book I'm writing on location photography.
If you have ever hauled any type of equipment on to the sand, then you know what I'm talking about. You have sand everywhere, including your equipment. Heck, if I was thinking about it, I would have hauled a large plastic tub and thrown my equipment into it for safe keeping. But I'm almost certain even then I would still get sand in it. Instead, I just threw my gear and light stands in the back of my SUV and headed to the beach like a fool. But hey, I just finished an 8 hour day shoot at an industrial facility. I wasn't thinking clearly; you would have thought I hand sand in my head already.
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| At Newport Beach, California |
I ended up picking up my model for the shoot (and her surfboard) piled them into my SUV along with my assistant and headed for the beach (I think I've already mentioned heading to the beach in the previous paragraph). On the beach, all I had was my camera bag, flash bag (I have lots of flash units so I need a separate bag for them so they feel a bit special too), and light stands. So, where do I lay the stuff down? Well, you guessed it, on the beach. Needless to say, I was fighting the sand and mist. It's a beach (yes, I did say beach and not B*TCH) when you have to get sand out of your camera and other equipment. I think I did a good job, along with my assistant, in keeping sand from getting in to the lens or camera body. But for the light stands, that's an entirely different scenario. Being close to the waters edge, proved to be tricky. If it weren't for a fast acting assistant, my stands would have ended up in the ocean, probably halfway to to Japan by now.
So, whats' the point here? The point is, don't make the same mistake I did. If you plan on shooting an assignment on the sand, be prepared. Make sure you safeguard your gear. Sand is brutal and don't forget the sand being kicked up by the crashing surf. Oh, and the salt water. It can cause your gear harm if you do a lot of engagement or any other type of shoots in those finely grained pebbles. But I really can't complain about the results. You can see them on my
Facebook Fan Page.
