all right, hello everybody from, as you can see, the coast
I love the coast, I love being here
the ocean breeze, the smells, everything
but doing photography here can be very, very challenging
as I've been experiencing in this trip of ours
we're gonna be at this beautiful place for three days, just three days
but in that short period of time, I did some things right... when it comes to photography
and many things wrong
so in this video I'm gonna share those things with you
these are my do's and don'ts of photography at the coast
the coast is windy and wet, so it goes without saying that we need proper shoes
the water can be really cold, especially in the winter
so if you are going to be getting in and out of the water to take photos
staying as dry as possible can make a huge difference
when facing higher waters, though, the best option is just to go barefoot
whatever it takes to keep those shoes dry
just don't be surprised if the water is freezing
going barefoot also means potentially stepping on sharp and rugged rocks that can be painful
so don't leave your shoes behind when you take them off, like I did
bringing a towel to clean yourself is also a must
especially off season when the showers don't work
I didn't bring one
it's not just shoes, though
the wrong clothes can ruin our day of photography
the weather kept changing really quick on this day
it went from rainy, windy and cold morning
to a calm, sunny and rather hot afternoon
wearing layers is the answer here so we can adapt to the conditions as they change
one thing I find really useful to have is this
I guess rain jacket, or whatever you want to call it
this is built-in in this backpack
it's made for the rain of course, but I find it very useful for the beach
or whatever situation where your backpack might get very dirty
like mud, or if it's very sandy like here the desert, whatever
I always have it out like this, so I protect my camera a little bit more
and you never know when it's gonna come in handy
a few days ago, when I was photographing that underwater town
I fell in the lake, I fell on my back, on my butt
I had the backpack on
so thanks to having this thingy on and out like it is right now
well, it protected my backpack and everything stayed dry
so yeah, very, very convenient to have
perhaps it's a good idea to use zoom lenses, so you don't have to switch them all the time
but if you do have to change lenses
try to have the sensor exposed to the elements as little as possible
and lastly, do not ever leave your camera bag behind, unattended, anywhere close to the ocean
I lost an expensive camera this way in the past
and since then, I try to keep it on most of the time
or at the very least, closed and ready to grab in a hurry
even though I might have taken a few pictures of signs
when it comes to taking photographs at the coast, I tend to do mostly long exposures
this is because I just find it really difficult to create images
where the choppy water is competing for attention with everything else in the frame
I also love the contrast between the texture of rocks and sand
against the textureless surface the water turns into in a long exposure image
of course, this means I need a tripod
and the tripod needs to be as stable as possible
wind and wet sand are your enemies at the coast
to fight the latter, we can use rocks
not perfect, but it really helps
when it comes to the wind, there is not much we can do
perhaps naively, I try to protect my camera with my own body and clothes
but I'm sure vibrations still happen on the tripod legs
at least, I feel like I'm doing something
because so many things can go wrong, I usually take several shots of the same composition
not only trying to avoid those blurry shots due to vibrations
but also because with the ocean and moving clouds, you just never know what you're going to get
ideally, we can find a place where we can shelter a little bit from the wind
like I did at this viewpoint
because of the strong winds, I had to get a bit more creative to get an image there
this is absolutely beautiful
you can't see it right now, but the moon is sitting behind me
the sun is rising in front of me
we have very dark clouds coming from the ocean
the camera is doing super weird things with the white balance
because it cannot understand all these colors happening at the same time
and even if you're shooting black and white like I do
it is always totally worth it to get out early and stay out until late
not just because of the colors, but the light... the light is just amazing at this time of day
that's beautiful
we should seek those magic moments that can happen at the coast
be out there for sunrise, and stay out for sunset
you can run into scenes as breathtaking as this one
and even though I wasn't able to make good images during that time
just experiencing that moment was totally worth it
in the end, the more time we spend outside, the more chances we have to find something beautiful
I had completely forgotten about the full moon happening during those days
and I was caught by surprise by a beautiful moonrise on the second day
that gave me an idea for a shot I didn't know whether it was going to work out or not, and how
all right, so I've been running the whole day, improvising
because the weather kept changing
I kept changing my mind
and now, I think I have an idea for a shot
so we are here, back at the cathedrals beach
we need to hurry up, we only have 10 minutes to set the camera and the tripod
because the moon is about to rise
and that's what I want to capture
let's go, let's go, hurry up
all right, so I'm gonna use the app I've talked about many times in this channel
it's called sun surveyor
it's just to know where the moon is going to rise
because my idea is to... actually, it looks like I'm at the right spot
the moon is supposed to rise somewhere in between those cliffs
they form like an alley, the shape of an alley
and my idea is to have the moon at the end of that alley
lighting up all the the cliffs here
it's probably not going to work out that well, but you got to try
there are also some clouds in the horizon, so I don't know if we're gonna get a moon at all
but again, you gotta try, that's why we're here
I'm just crossing all the fingers I have in my body, I guess
so the shot didn't really work out as I was expecting
but witnessing that moment was something truly special
one of the highlights of my career as a photographer
I just wish the videos and images did it justice,
but they are nothing near what I saw there in person
that
happened quickly!
anyway, there is a very fine line between magical moments and miserable conditions
they can come hand in hand, and that's what happened the next day
we made it back to the car, just in time
it's really picked up out there now
we'll see how how long it lasts
but meanwhile, we are enjoying breakfast
when we find ourselves in bad conditions, we should just retreat and not fight it
we should have food and drinks in the car, we should rest and wait for when the magic is back
and of course, we cannot put ourselves in risky situations, ever
everyone has a different comfort zone when it comes to risk
but don't be reckless, and don't push yourself too far
after all, one of the best ways to make more good images is to live longer
so don't do anything stupid
okay, enough
that's probably a don't
it wasn't unsafe, but it was definitely very close to the cliff
probably borderline, pushing it a little bit
so again, probably a don't
there is no photo worth risking your life
at the other side of these rocks is the part of the beach I haven't been to yet
so I just need to wait a little bit longer
it is still half an hour to low tide, as you can see you can't really pass
at the other side, there are three arches that are supposed to be very cool
the best part of this beach
and I would really like to take a photo of them
I tried a couple days ago, but they weren't really accessible, and they were still full of water
so hopefully it can happen today
if not, well, I'll have to come back another time
watch out for the tides
the landscape can look dramatically different depending on the tide
at this location, the beach is just simply gone during high tide
another reason to be careful as well, you don't want to get stuck
somewhere because of the rising tide
I am so close, but so far at the same time
I mean, I don't see a way to get there without killing myself ten times
because these rocks right here are so, so slippery
I just... I don't know
it's just way too far
and I can see the arches there, but they have water
so I don't think I can find a place for me to take a photo
it's super windy
my idea was to take a long exposure there
that is not going to happen today
it's not going to happen here
as I said, this is a big do not, do not attempt, because I could get hurt really bad here
for maybe a photo that doesn't even work
and even if it works, as I said many times, it's not worth the risk
this is way too much for me, I'd be pushing it too far
so I'm going back
nope
no, no, no, no, no, no
well, it is a real bummer because that's the image I had in mind for this trip
and I thought I had a shot today, this morning, at making it
because the tide was going to be the lowest this morning
but it is miserable here, the tide is not low enough
it's super windy, it's rainy, it's really cold
so that's not going to happen
but hey, this place is still beautiful