Kids at the Beach

Recently I had the chance to introduce bodyboarding to my 9 year old daughter. She was a natural! But that also gave me the chance to create some new images at the beach. It's been a long time...


Since we weren't anywhere near the Huntington Beach Pier, I had to make do with shore shots. These are tricky as they require a longer lens (as a rule) and often you want to be in the water as well, putting your gear at risk.

The further out you can get, the better the shots will be! You can get side-on shots as well as good frame filling head-on shots.

One thing to be aware of, however: SUN!

Here on the West Coast, the sun will end up behind your subject, throwing them into shadow. So the best time to shoot will be before noon if at all possible, so the sun is at your back, lighting the subject.

Of course, that puts you and your subject at the whim of temperature. Until late July and August, morning temps can be quite cool, making the cold California ocean unbearable. Of course you could always use a wetsuit, but that's pretty pricey for something the kid will only be able to use for a short time before growing out of it.

Possibly my favorite shot here was the last one. My daughter coming out of the water, exhausted but she obviously had fun. That one took some Photoshop touch-up to make her face visible without blowing out the ocean behind her.

When shooting action in general, and surfing in particular, I'm a fan of keeping the DOF as shallow as possible. The background ocean doesn't need to be sharp for this, just the subject. Throwing the ocean out of focus makes it become a wash of color, really enhancing the subject.

Now that summer's here, and I'm back in California, I intend to shoot lots more!