Photographers in Miami Beach are seen everywhere across the beautiful beach. In this article we will share the tips that photographers in Miami Beach give to take the best pictures on the beach.
Some Interesting Facts About Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a group of islands east of the city of Miami and is the most popular part of Miami where tourists flock for fun, sun and sand.
Five causeways connect Miami Beach Island to mainland Miami. One of the main thoroughfares is the MacArthur Causeway, which connects downtown Miami to the South Beach area.
Crossing the McArthur Highway, several bridges lead to the Palm, Hibiscus and Star Islands, all dotted with mansions and sailing ships of the rich and famous. Two large islands south of Miami Beach, Dodge Island and Lummus Island, make up the Port of Miami, the world’s largest cruise port.
• The Julia Tuttle Causeway is accessible from Miami to North Miami Beach; There are many developments and shopping malls like Bal Harbor. Although the area is less known to tourists, it also has beautiful beaches like Haulover Beach Park. The northern beaches have more waves than the southern beaches and are more frequented by surfers. The Surfside and Sunny Islands areas are among the most beautiful spots in North Miami Beach. Both are places steeped in a bygone era, which is why they tend to be favorites of older tourists who have been vacationing in Miami for years.
• South Beach is where Miami Beach and Miami in general are identified. Located south of Miami Beach between 5th and 41st streets, South Beach has hundreds of Art Deco buildings, fun and beautiful neighborhoods (Ocean Drive), and some of Miami’s most famous beaches. South Beach is possibly the most attractive and interesting part of Miami.
We will look at some tips from photographers in Miami Beach that work and will help you take better photos the next time you visit the beach with your camera.
Photographers In Miami Beach: Be Careful Not to Bend the Horizon
In a picture, the horizon must be straight, or intentionally tilted, but not crooked. A crooked horizon line is one of the most common errors in photography, and the horizon line is most visible when the sea is in the way, making this error much more noticeable when it occurs.
To avoid this, pay close attention and take references to make sure your horizon is level. You can use the guides provided by the camera to help you.
However, remember that you can always correct a photo taken incorrectly or accidentally skewed during editing with retouching software, although if you do this, you might lose a small part of the image during editing.
Observe The Rule of Thirds
When photographing the horizon line, consider placing it in the center of the photograph and dividing the image into two equal parts: sea up and sea down. A secret that most of the time is not taken into account: Your photo will be more interesting if the horizon line coincides with one of the imaginary horizontal lines that divide the image into three-thirds according to the so-called rule of thirds.
If you find the sky more interesting, leave two-thirds of the photo with the sky, and leave the sea and land in the lower third. On the other hand, if the sky doesn’t contribute much to the image, reserve only the top third for it.
Photographers In Miami Beach: Search Details
One of the biggest problems we face as photographers is the obsession with getting too much information out of a single photo. With that in mind, there’s a good rule of thumb: keep it simple.
Try magnifying and isolating objects. There are plenty of unique beach items that are significant enough on their own that you don’t need to bring anything else with you: a beach shell, a sandcastle, a bucket, and a shovel.
Frame The Photo
I’m not talking about using a frame in Photoshop. I’m talking about one of the most used compositional elements: framing a photo with an object in a natural way that helps focus the viewer’s attention and directs them where to look. Elements such as a palm tree or rocks can become an impressive natural landscape that will help focus the attention on the element of your choice.
Photographers In Miami Beach: Watch and Enjoy the Sun
The best times to photograph the beach are usually the first and last hours of the day, partly because there are fewer people on the beach, and because the angle at which the sun hits the scene is much more attractive, with nice warm tones.
The sun, in the central hours of the day, is generally less propitious for photography, since this type of light produces very strong contrasts and very marked shadows.
If you’re not keeping an eye on your position when you’re mostly shooting people on the beach, chances are the exposure metering is playing a trick on you. So, photographers in Miami Beach advise to avoid these types of photos when the position of the sun is not adequate and try to play with silhouettes.
Close-Up Details
When working with landscape photography, it’s a good idea to place an object in the foreground that stands out from the background and provides information about where it is.
It can be an element of the landscape (rocks on the shore, algae, shells, etc.)., or a human contribution (bottle of sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.). You can add an accent to your photo that sets it apart from typical beach photos.
Photographers In Miami Beach: Play with Perspective
How many times have we talked about starting with the conventional shooting position: standing up, with the camera at eye level, looking straight ahead, taking shots that capture what we see in our natural position.
It’s interesting to play with the position you adopt (crouching, lying down, climbing to a higher point) and the angle you use (up, down) to give the shot a different perspective.
Unconventional perspectives make photos more compelling.
Portraits On the Beach
The beach is a good place to take photos of our friends and family. In addition, they offer the opportunity to collect interesting moments from everyday life.
Try to take their pictures doing something. They don’t need to focus their attention, just collect their actions. This generally results in photos where people are in much more natural poses, with no forced gestures.
Expose the person you are portraying. Play with the aperture so that the depth of field is not too great.
If the background contains distracting elements, such as a person bathing, you will need to crop or reposition the scene. With this type of photo, you can remove the horizon of the photo from both the coast and the water, so that the sea fills the entire photo and the sky is not visible.
Photographers In Miami Beach: Take a Picture of The Beach When No One is There
Have you been to the beach on a stormy day? In these situations, there will be fewer people near the beach, but the landscapes that can be seen can be fascinating despite the lack of sun.
Of course, you must be careful not to put yourself in danger. Capturing a scene on rough seas is one thing, but being so close that you risk being swept away by the wave is another.
In situations like this, it helps to have long focal lengths that allow you to capture the scene from a safe distance. Dramatic clouds, windswept trees, and rough seas can add a lot of power and a unique atmosphere to your photos.
Play Around with Shutter Speed
When you think of a beach and waves, you realize that there are many different ways to photograph waves. On the one hand, you can set your camera with a very fast shutter speed to freeze the movement of the water and even see the drops that form it in the air.
On the other hand, you can also work with fast shutter speeds to capture this movement and have a silky representation of the water.
So, grab your camera, set the mode to shutter speed priority, and try both modes to experiment with shutter speed, and get completely different results just by changing this variable.
Photographers In Miami Beach: Use a Polarizing or Neutral Density Filter
There are many filters that can help you improve the impact of your photos. One of the best results on the beach is a polarizing filter that helps to reduce glare and increase contrast.
This will be particularly evident in the sky, which will take on a darker shade of blue, and in sea water. On the other hand, neutral density filters can also be useful for fans of daytime photography with long exposure times, who want seawater to be completely silky smooth.
Use Black and White
A black and white photo of a beach can completely change the feel and mood of the same photo when viewed in color. It is not a resource that photographers have to use all the time, but they can use it from time to time to change the results of their photos.
Photographers in Miami Beach say that using black and white, especially on a cloudy day, can add an interesting accent to photos and mask the washed-out tones that the beach can take on such a day. Ideally, you should take the photo in color and apply black and white to the montage to have both versions of the same photo.
Cristian Valles is a Miami-based professional photographer. With 14 years of experience in studio and outdoor photography, you can be sure to get the best shots to capture your most cherished moments.
Visit Cristian Valles Films to view his work, find information about his services, or schedule an appointment.
