The Landscape Awards: Five quickfire seascape photo tips

By Mike O’Connor | 16 January 2023

With the initial edition of The Landscape Awards established to shut for entries in just a few short months, we’ve collected up a number of tips to get you wondering about how to shoot thriving landscapes no issue your talent level or the place you are living.

This week, we’re talking seascapes.

1)     Protection initial

Being blessed with some of the most attractive coastlines in the earth signifies Australia is a seascape photographer’s paradise. But it also suggests you need to have to be safe and sound.

Right before you set foot on soaked rocks, invest some time finding out what the tide is undertaking and generally continue on to examine while you shoot. Rubber-soled footwear are also a wise guess, along with dresses you really don’t brain getting wet in – and really don’t put on denims!

Image: Skye Armstrong
Graphic: Skye Armstrong

2)     Think shutter pace

Seascape pictures is normally about capturing the electrical power of the ocean. And when it is uncomplicated just to pick out a lengthy shutter speed that turns the incoming tide to ‘milk’, shorter shutter speeds can typically develop additional dynamic photos as you are going to keep some of the texture and depth of waves.

Essential is to experiment – attempt distinct shutter speeds to see which compliments your vision best.

Image: Dylan Cotton
Graphic: Dylan Cotton

3)     Pre-visualise your composition

Talking of vision, it can be valuable with sophisticated scenes to previsualize your composition very first. When you have determined a locale that suits, shell out some time researching how the h2o interacts with the scene.

Some destinations will go well with a significant or lower tide, so you may well need to have to go to more than the moment to get the end result you are in search of.  

Image: Darren Wassell
Impression: Darren Wassell

4)     Seem further than just exactly where the drinking water breaks

The greatest seascape photos set the viewer suitable in amongst the motion, but you really do not have to wade out into thigh deep water to get interesting photographs on the shoreline.

To mix matters up, invest some time all around the beach and look for specifics – points like cracks in the rock, rockpools and rock cabinets can make exciting scientific studies for texture and color. Your ft will in all probability stay dry too.

Image: Pania Mowat
Image: Pania Mowat

5)     Go away that tinny tripod at residence

If ever there was a genre of images that benefited from a first rate tripod, it is seascapes. Spend in a great quality tripod with good rubber ft that won’t tip around with the 1st incoming wave.

It is also well worth rinsing the salt h2o off your tripod legs routinely and keeping all the joints perfectly-lubricated, as sand has a habit of acquiring just about just about everywhere.

Image: Michael Summers
Picture: Michael Summers

The Landscape Awards, offered by Eizo, is looking for Australia’s and New Zealand’s most effective landscape photographers to share in a prize pool well worth more than $24,000. Additionally, in our inaugural yr, $5 from every single entry will be donated to the Australian Conservation Foundation. Entries close 29 January. You can enter right here.