For this seascape shot, we included the darker sand in the foreground to contrast with the lighter receding waves, with the sunset reflecting off the water, shot at 1/13 sec, f/14 and ISO100.
01 SHOOT AT LOW TIDE
Check tide times in advance and, on a good weather day when a sunset is likely, arrive an hour before low tide. We had a good area of beach to work with, and as the tide was going out, untouched sand for clean foregrounds, without any footprints.
02 WHAT’S YOUR FOCAL POINT?
For our seascape, the rocky head on the horizon was our main anchor point, but crucially we took our time with our framing, before then positioning our tripod in the sand in the best place to capture the receding waves and pristine sand.
03 MOST COLOURFUL SKIES
For the best sunset shots, you need to compose so that you include the most colourful part of the sky. This doesn’t always mean including the sun in shot. For us, it meant shooting so the sky just to the left of the sun filled our frame.
SUNSET SCENES WITHOUT THE SUN
When shooting our seascapes while the sun was setting, we found it better not to actually include the sun in the frame. Before it had dropped near or below the horizon, it was far too bright in the sky, and a distraction to the eye. The sun still played a crucial role, though, creating shadows on the shapes in the sand, and reflecting off the shallows. We shot this at 1/640 sec, f/11 and ISO200 to freeze the water moving in the foreground.