Many people have come up to me asking what my secret is to shooting beach weddings. Many people tend to underestimate the physics of shooting at such an open and outdoor location like the beach, and come home with badly lighted shots.

There’s not much to it really, but my experience has taught me several things to remember when taking beach weddings.

On the technical side, I make sure that I have the proper equipment for an outdoor shoot. Lenses for one are important, and for beach shots to be unique, you can utilize both wide angles and close ups so they don’t look like common beach shots. And since it’s outdoor, bring filters as well. Pack a UV filter and a polarizing filter to offset the glare of the sun. Also, don’t forget to set your ISO setting to 100 or 200, so you can get the clearest shots. Lower ISO settings are clearer and less grainy unlike higher ISO levels, which are most suited for indoors or night photography. Also, remember to never take pictures with the light facing your lens – unless you want to create a silhouette effect.

If you can spare the time, I recommend taking test shots to test the light levels – and save these settings as a preset. Weddings progress faster than you think, so you don’t have time to be tweaking with light settings because before you know it, the bride and groom have finished their vows and have kissed. And you only get one chance to capture a moment like that. Automatic is definitely a no-no. At the very least, take a few experimental shots using aperture priority settings.

And need I remind everyone that since you’ll be working in an environment with a lot of sand and water – either one or a combination of both would be disastrous upon direct contact with your equipment – you need to take extra precautions to protect your gear? So bring waterproof / water resistant carrying cases and bags.

On the aesthetic side, I just try to do what I usually do – I try to capture a good moment. Like when the groom shed tears as he sees his bride walking down the aisle, or when the bride and groom kiss. And never forget to look at the guests for some candid and heartfelt moments as well. There’s really no set rule when it comes to aesthetics – it always depends on the photographer’s individual taste and style.