hrlygrl798 Loc: New York

I've just planned my first vacation to Myrtle beach in April for the week of the Easter holiday. It's the first time i'm going away on a beach like destination and doing my photography stuff there. Since I'm very unfamiliar with it i'm looking for suggestions on what things I would need to make shooting easier, things to protect my camera and what not. Also some pointers and tips would be great too. If anyone also knows of some really great places to see and take pictures or even just go to that would be Great!

14kphotog Loc: Marietta, Ohio

Watch for blowing sand, have fun, post pixs when you get back.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Yea, that's the only thing to watch out for, if the wind is blowing sand around. I was there last October and took pics with a point & shoot camera. I just put the camera on "beach scene" mode and they all came out great!

rsibert Loc: Harrisburg, PA

Agree with the blowing sand. I take a fold up three-leg stool to sit on and a good tripod. Don't let any camera parts drop on the sand. Take pictures of the waves, birds and people. Here are two I took recently on the beach.

Hilton Head Island, SC


Hilton Head Island, SC

iresq Loc: Annapolis MD

Early morning and CP will be your friend. Oh, and the beach can be like snow, causing underexposure. Exposure for the sky or EC (probably just +1 but experiment).

GeneB Loc: Chattanooga Tennessee

do not change out your lenses while on the beach, do that in your room or condo. in daylight be sure to use a circular polorizer (probaly speeled that wrong). Take lots of photos and most of all have fun doing it.

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

Keep your lens cap on the lens when you are not shooting. The salt spray will coat the lens otherwise with a salty scum.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Pick a good walk-around zoom lens that will let you shoot wide as well as telephoto. Then leave that lens on the camera all day. Don't change it at the beach. Even though the air feels dry - there is salt spray and salt dust in the air that'll gum up your cameras' innards. Salt will also induce corrosion inside your camera if it gets in there. Carefully clean your camera and lens when you are done for the day.

Roger Hicks Loc: Aquitaine

I've shot on beaches for 45 years: I started in Bermuda in 1966 or 1967, and my last house in England was 70 yards from the beach. Yes, blowing sand can be a problem, but in still air it is not really much of a risk. People who don't live near beaches tend to overstate the risks.

A lot depends on what you're shooting. I've used everything from 21mm (mostly in England) to 800mm (mostly in California), and last year I was shooting on the shores of the Baltic (Lithuania and Estonia) and the Mediterranean (France and Spain)with 35mm, 50mm and 75mm. I've never found ultrawides much use, though. Nor have I seen the appeal of zooms, some of which gum up VERY quickly with the slightest amount of sand.

A UV or other protective filter is a good idea but you really shouldn't need to use a lens cap all the time, as long as you have a lens hood (lens shade) on. Polarizers are rather a bad idea as they remove the blue of the sea and turn it green or brown. Remember that 'blue' sea is reflected skylight, and that polarizers remove reflections...

Cheers,

R.

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

1. Use a circular polarizer or an nd filter.

2. Keep a fast shutter speed (1/320 per sec. or faster) a significant part of the time to snare shots of birds in flight.

3. Watch for a great sunrise or sunset, if you are present at those times.

Peter The

Dryart38 Loc: Carlsbad, NM

You might want to take a couple of 1 gallon food storage bags to protect the camera - salt spray sometimes goes unnoticed, and can wreak havoc on even camera bodies, esp. if you do any water shots or other shots near the water. For the fullest protection, put the bag around the camera, zip it, and take your UV filter and where the lens is, screw the filter on, cutting the bag in a circle and thus sealing the camera completely. Filters are a lot cheaper than cameras. Then simply put the lens cap on and the lens will be protected also. The bags are thin enough to manipulate the controls, and keep the camera clean at the same time. IMHO