Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-07-08
Camera Angles
Getting the Most Out of Beach Shots
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian Institution

/ Curator OF photography
! The Smithsonian Institution
Taking pictures at the beach
has become a national pastime.
People who never touch camera
during the rest of the year get
the fever during vacation time
and seem to find themselves in
hog heaven at the beach. Ideal
picture-taking conditions, pretty
girls and a freedom for everyday
cares of the world combine to
make people camera conscious and
the film flies through a multitude
of cameras.
There are occasional letdowns
latter the pictures are taken for
great numbers of people still shoot
pictures on the theory that cam
era, film and plenty Of light are
all the needed ingredients for a
good photograph. But it still takes
Ia lot of knowhow for the time
when the camera will do your
thinking for you Is still a long
way off. Most failures at the sea-
shore are due to faulty exposures.
The brilliant light is the apparent
reason why many camera fans
get off the track when it comes
to judging an exposure. Some are
overimpressed and stop down too
much. Others fail to take into &C
count the effect of reflections and
glare from sand and water,
with the result that their pictures
are overexposed.
Actually the beach is an ideal
spot for picture taking. no matter
whether you specialize in pictorial
scenes or simply want to make a
record Of your 1851 vacation with
"a lot OF snapshots. The light is
there. All you have to do is know
how to use the light. Very few
owners of medium priced cameras
or better instruments need be
concerned with having too much
light at the seashore. AS most
photographers know stopping down
the lens aperature or shortening
the exposure are ways, individually
or in combination, to control light
and bring it within the range of
the film, no matter how great the
glare may be.
Glare Causes Squirting.
Some of us will go armed with
"a box camera, however, and will
have to do our picture taking
when the sun is not too high. This
is all for the best for a number
of reasons. Taking shots of peo-
pie under a burning midday sun
is not the hest policy. 1t is too
hot to be comfortable in the first
place and secondly the glare will
cause squirting and other facial
contortions not conducive to ma
tural expressions.
We must recall that photo
graphing sand is very much like
Photographic snow. To get al
good picture of a sandy beach
we must do our shooting at al
time of day when q low sun will
skim over the surface leaving
shadows. however small, in the
depressions and irregularities. This
will enable us to pick up the full
texture of the beach sand and
avoid the blank white look that
will result if the shot is made
with a sun that is directly over
head. The general idea, then, is
to go after side-lighted and back
lighted shots whenever possible.
you will find that with the
modern coated lens you will have
little trouble from indirect glare
and reflections. However, the sun
must never shine directly into the
lens - coating Notwithstanding
An inexpensive lens shade is al
ways a good investment under
these conditions. If you find your
self at the beach without the
sunshade for the lens you can
easily make one by fitting a tube
of black paper around the lens.
Be sure though that this tube
does not extend far enough to
interfere with the view.
Watch the Back-lighting
BY way of explanation let us
point out that Lighted scene
is one where the sun is directing
its rays at right angles to the
scenery and to the camera lens.
A back-lighting is not one where
the sun is at the back of the
camera but, rather is in hack of |