Commercial beach shoot - advice needed

[Jonathan H]

Hey everybody,

I'm kind of a lurker here on LL, much more active on FM, but figured this question might be a bit more appropriate for this forum.

I've booked a large shoot for several weeks from now on the beach, shooting the lookbook for a surfing apparel company.  It will be a 1-2 day shoot with a fairly large crew, about 7 models, and multiple packs/heads, a digital workstation running off a generator, etc

I was wondering if anyone has practical experience with this scale shoot on a beach, specifically.  I usually shoot on location, but have never had to deal with this much sand (or dirt, grit, etc) in the local environment.  Are the any industry "best practices" for protecting gear and keeping sand out of little connection points, corners, etc?  I'm most concerned about lighting equipment and the computer, although it looks like I'll have an 8'x8' "tent" of sorts for the workstation and digital tech, so that should cover the computer.  I'm also renting 2 extra bodies so my 4 main lenses can stay permanently mounted.

Thanks in advance!

[Rob C]

Hey everybody,

I'm kind of a lurker here on LL, much more active on FM, but figured this question might be a bit more appropriate for this forum.

I've booked a large shoot for several weeks from now on the beach, shooting the lookbook for a surfing apparel company.  It will be a 1-2 day shoot with a fairly large crew, about 7 models, and multiple packs/heads, a digital workstation running off a generator, etc

I was wondering if anyone has practical experience with this scale shoot on a beach, specifically.  I usually shoot on location, but have never had to deal with this much sand (or dirt, grit, etc) in the local environment.  Are the any industry "best practices" for protecting gear and keeping sand out of little connection points, corners, etc?  I'm most concerned about lighting equipment and the computer, although it looks like I'll have an 8'x8' "tent" of sorts for the workstation and digital tech, so that should cover the computer.  I'm also renting 2 extra bodies so my 4 main lenses can stay permanently mounted.

Thanks in advance!
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Jonathan

The only advice I can give you is years old, stems from another era, but here goes anyway: if you try to keep your shooting to early morning or late afternoon you will, with luck, get that magic light which makes everything look bathed in liquid gold, your photographic talents included.

Perhaps there is just too much to do for the two slots per day when that light exists, but if there is time, use the good zones and perhaps do some doubling up during the rest of the day just to make sure. The less you have to do with flash and reflectors the quicker and smoother anything will go.

Having written this, you are sure to get the opposite views, but if there´s time, have a dummy run and see for yourself.

Rob C

[SecondFocus]

I read somewhere that a photographer came up with putting each pack in one of those igloo type containers. It kept the sand from being kicked on the packs. It sounded like a pretty good idea.

I guess for that matter they could be used for a lot of gear to keep out of the sand.

[Hank]

My limited experience with beach shoots sezz longish lenses to manage DOF and keep the camera gear back from all the moving bodies.  My most used lenses were 300 f/2.8's.  We used reflectors rather than flash most of the time, thanks to the orientation of the set to the morning sun.  We only needed flash the one evening we shot, and frankly the results were better with reflectors (large, i.e., 8'x8').  Especially with a breeze, plan on using two bodies to position and hold the reflectors rather than stands.  On the flash side we experimented briefly with battery pack lights, but felt limited by output and moved immediately to 2400 w/s lights and powerpacks, all run by a portable generator.  We just set the powerpacks into icechests without closing the lids for protection.

BTW-  I'd shoot morning or evening, but not both.  The days are too long, and it's hard to keep up the momentum through the middle of the day with everyone hanging around.  If it's hot, have your caterer load up on soft drinks, bottled water and juice, and arrange awnings or other shade for breaks.

[Rob C]

BTW-  I'd shoot morning or evening, but not both.  The days are too long, and it's hard to keep up the momentum through the middle of the day with everyone hanging around.  If it's hot, have your caterer load up on soft drinks, bottled water and juice, and arrange awnings or other shade for breaks.
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Hank, where´s your resilience?

It´s far better to use both slots of magic light. What do you mean, too exhausting? Those commissions were the highlights of the year - long, wine-fuelled lunches in a beach shack, the breeze blowing away the odours of other peoples´s food and cigarettes, life was wonderful, and at somebody else´s expense made it even better.

Once, in Lindos, Rhodes, we were sitting up in a restaurant off the beach and some young guys, attracted by the model, insinuated themselves into the group, buying bottles of wine, and eventually asking the lass if she´d lke to go onto their boat for a run around the bay. As I didn´t need her for another couple of hours I said okay, but don´t get burned. To cut a long story short, she came back not long after looking somewhat pissed off: turns out the boat was a pedallo... silly wench.

You know, that´s all part of what made photography such a great job to have; probably why now, in retirement, I miss it quite a lot even though not the business side of it at all.

Rob C

[Chris_Brown]

I was wondering if anyone has practical experience with this scale shoot on a beach, specifically.

If you truly want your models and stylist to work at their best, rent an RV for them.

[sergio]

What I do in big shoots is always have as much comfort as you can afford for your client and team in a strategically chosen place, close to where you are going to be shooting. I move a lot all around my location. Sometimes even hundreds of meters away from RVs or tents. I always try to work as light as possible. Though I carry a lot of glass I never lug it around. I usually stick to one lens and have an assistant carry maybe an extra. I never use big glass, on the contrary I shoot a lot of wideangles. As for my lighting I carry a reflector to bounce light and maybe a regular clear plastic overhead I made myself that gives me a very unique frosty light.

I try to avoid as much as possible generators as they are noisy heavy dirty smelly ugly and they tend to fail a lot. What I do if I am asked to do the boring and now retro 90s look of shooting overbaked flash with underexposed backgrounds is I use a portable unit with batteries. That will make you a lot lighter and you can shoot faster. As always try to get intimate with the location beforehand, feel it and visualize your work there to try to anticipate what you will need or encounter. Move a lot around your location, trying to look for new way to shoot it, so you won't be repeating yourself too much, which is something I see that happens a lot at the beach. Its very easy to get basically the same shot over and over again. Wides help a lot here.
Drink a lot of water. Keeps your mind fresh.

Hope that helps.

[Jonathan H]

This is some excellent advice.  I can't say enough thanks.  I'd LOVE to rent an RV, but don't think I can squeeze that out of their budget    

Two "E-Z-Up" 10'x10' shelters, some beach chairs, and a couple coolers of iced drinks will have to do.  I'll probably also bring a big cabin tent for changing.

[Dr. Gary]

Hey everybody,

I'm kind of a lurker here on LL, much more active on FM, but figured this question might be a bit more appropriate for this forum.

I've booked a large shoot for several weeks from now on the beach, shooting the lookbook for a surfing apparel company.  It will be a 1-2 day shoot with a fairly large crew, about 7 models, and multiple packs/heads, a digital workstation running off a generator, etc

I was wondering if anyone has practical experience with this scale shoot on a beach, specifically.  I usually shoot on location, but have never had to deal with this much sand (or dirt, grit, etc) in the local environment.  Are the any industry "best practices" for protecting gear and keeping sand out of little connection points, corners, etc?  I'm most concerned about lighting equipment and the computer, although it looks like I'll have an 8'x8' "tent" of sorts for the workstation and digital tech, so that should cover the computer.  I'm also renting 2 extra bodies so my 4 main lenses can stay permanently mounted.

Thanks in advance!
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Don't forget the reflectors. I had to use fill flash the last time and it was a lot of work in Photoshop. Also, make sure the models have a bathrobe to crawl into if late in the day. Goose bumps are hard to fix (note attached). If there are shots where you want wet hair, use oil.


drgary