24 Beach Photoshoot Ideas for Your Next Vacation

beach photoshoot ideas

There are tons of stunning beach photoshoot ideas that come in handy for various situations when you need to take family, romantic, wedding, and other pictures. Explore the beaches in your area and find a fascinating spot for a photo session. Choose the right shooting day, grab the necessary equipment, and go!

These ideas have been put together by WeEdit.Photos retouchers for users without any experience in photography and retouching. They will also be suitable for bloggers and novice photographers.

1. Assemble Your Music Group

Taking your favorite musical instrument to the photoshoot is one of the best beach photo ideas for music lovers. It will help you feel more relaxed and comfortable. Moreover, such pictures will look incredibly creative and unique. An acoustic guitar, saxophone, tom-tom, violin, and harp are the best instruments to take to the beach.

music group beach photoshoot ideas

Choose the place that best suits the musical instrument shot. Here are some impressive locations around the world: The Bay of Fires (Tasmania, Australia), Isla Holbox (Mexico), Red Beach (Santorini Island, Greece), Boracay Beach (Philippines), and El Matador State Beach (Los Angeles, California).

music beach photo ideas

2. Spend Your Day with Cocktails on the Beach

Take an impressive beach photo with a cocktail. You will have to look at other family or romantic photoshoot beach ideas as this one is more suitable for a vacation album.

beach photoshoot ideas with cocktails

Convey the sense of the relaxation and freedom that a person feels during the holiday by capturing a hand with a cocktail against the sunset in the background. You can also place a drink on the table next to the sun lounger or create a bright composition with blue waves in the background.

beach photoshoot weeditphotos

If you have little experience in editing beach shots but want to impress your friends and acquaintances with flawless pictures, contact WeEdit.Photos retouchers for help. They will correct the colors to make them bright and eye-catching while maintaining their natural look. The team uses calibrated monitors to provide professional color grading services to their clients.

3. Take a Few Shots on Surfboards

A surfboard is a great prop for many beach photography ideas. If you are a surfer, then a few shots on the waves would be cool. Alternatively, you can simply take a few images while walking along the beach with your board.

beach photoshoot ideas on surfboards

Don’t forget the appropriate equipment. Experts recommend using a DSLR that can shoot more than 4 frames in a second. The Canon 1300D and Nikon D3300 are good options for beginners. You also need to have a lens with a focal length of 200mm or more to take amazing surf shots.

surfboards beach photography ideas

4. Play Active Games

If you are looking for family beach photoshoot ideas, then this is one of the most fun ones. Invite children to splash in the water with their dad and capture this moment from the water level. Before taking a photo, set the shutter speed to 1/500 or faster.

active beach photoshoot ideas

Don’t forget to take the sunscreen lotion to avoid getting sunburned during this photoshoot. Keep in mind that sand can stick to your body if your lotion isn’t absorbed enough. Wait a little longer or a use quick-dry one.

play games for beach picture

5. Shoot Underwater

Take a picture as you dive and explore the underwater world, catching the sun’s glare in the frame. For this type of shooting, you will need some special stuff like underwater housings, waterproof cases, strobes, lenses, arms, TTL converters, ports, sync and fiber optic cords, and focus lights.

underwater beach photoshoot ideas

To get more control over underwater photography camera settings, you should use manual mode on your DSLR. Set the aperture to f/8 and use the base ISO of 100 or 200 and a shutter speed of 1/100th. You can use an aperture of around f/11 if you are shooting in good lighting conditions at close range.

underwater beach photography ideas

6. Involve Your Pets in the Photoshoot

Take a photo of your pet walking, playing, or bathing. To implement these beach picture ideas, you need to use a wide aperture. It will make the background blurrier. You can achieve deliberate blur with slow shutter speeds.

beach photoshoot ideas with pets

If you want to capture your pet while running, you need to practice first. Focus in advance on one place and take a picture when the dog gets there. For such dynamic beach shots, you should use a fast shutter speed.

take your pets for beach photography

7. Build a Sand Castle

This is not only one of the best beach photo ideas but also an activity that will captivate your children for several hours. Take a couple of shots while they make an epic sand castle.

beach photoshoot ideas with sand castle

For the best results, lighting should fall on the subject from the side or the back. If the sun shines on the children’s faces directly, they will squint, and you will not get happy smiles in the photo. So, avoid having the sun behind you when taking pictures.

sand castle on the beach pictures

8. Run along the Beach

Prepare your camera for shooting. Select manual mode and set a shutter speed to at least 1/500th of a second. Make sure you use a deeper depth of field (DOF) and an f/8-f/16 aperture. Experts recommend choosing Autofocus as the lens focus mode. Also, you should set continuous focusing mode. It will allow the lens to keep its focus on the moving subjects. Now you can ask your family or friends to run along the beach.

beach photoshoot ideas with running models

Since you will be surrounded by sand, you should take care to protect your equipment from dust and grains of sand. A clear UV filter will come in handy in this case. Don’t forget to take a lens cloth and a quality air blower when you go to take photos on the beach.

run along the beach photography idea

9. Take Care of Comfort Outfit

When you want to try out your beach photoshoot ideas, you should wear clothes that don’t hinder your movements. Avoid fabrics that wrinkle easily or those that show sweat stains. When photographing in a hot tropical climate, use clothing made with lightweight, breathable fabrics. Explore your wardrobe and find loose-fitting, cotton shirts, dresses, and pants.

outfit for beach photoshoot ideas

Your clothes should match the surrounding landscape and not distract from the subject of the photograph. Keep this in mind even if you are taking pictures on your own. Outfits with patterns and logos are not the best choice for a beach photoshoot. Use as few accessories as possible.

beach photography idea with comfortable outfit

10. Choose Matching Clothes for Family and Couple Shots

When preparing beach picture ideas for a couple, you need to pay special attention to clothing. Outfits should be in the same style and match each other. Your best friends photography project will look impressive if everyone sticks to the same color scheme. If you want to take photos of a couple, you should choose soft and romantic clothes. The male outfit may consist of a pants and shirt while a girl may wear a flowy dress.

match outfit for beach photoshoot ideas

If a guy is wearing a solid-color outfit, a girl can choose a dress with a pattern, but it must be consistent with the overall style. If you want to include young children, consider choosing a similar look for all family members. Son can wear the same pants and shirt as his dad, while daughter can copy her mom’s outfit.

beach photography idea with match outfit

11. Pay Attention to the Color of the Clothes

When taking pictures on the beach, you might capture part of the water surface. A white outfit will make the sea or ocean look even bluer. Plus, it complements skin tones and hair colors perfectly. If you need bright pictures, and you want to stand out against the background, then choose clothes with shades of blues, turquoise, and aqua.

choose the color of your outfit for beach photoshoot ideas

Photographers also advise considering yellow, fuchsia, red, cobalt blue and other bright colors to create an outstanding image. If you are looking for beach photo ideas for girl, then try a combination of a red dress and sand for your pics.

beach photography idea with the proper outfit

12. Match the Pose to Your Shoot

The beach may not be the obvious place for your baby photoshoot ideas, but you can also take some amazing photos there. Sometimes you don’t need to think about special poses to capture a warm family relationship. Parents lifting up their children, genuine laughs, and a casual walk along the seashore will look natural and attractive in your photos.

poses for beach photoshoot ideas

By the way, when choosing model poses for photoshoot, consider their outfits. If the girl is wearing a flowy dress, ask her to rotate slowly to create a flattering silhouette. If you are organizing a beach couple photoshoot, you need to convey the atmosphere of love and romance. Sweethearts looking into each other’s eyes and holding hands is one of the traditional poses for romantic shots.

beach photography ideas and poses

13. Take Photos during Golden and Blue Hour

The time around the sunrise or sunset is called the golden hour. This period is the best for bringing your beach photography ideas to life. The sky looks redder and softer during these few hours than when the sun is high. These are the most flattering conditions for shooting. Your pictures are unlikely to be overexposed if you take them during this period.

golden and blue beach photoshoot ideas

Photographers also like to shoot during the blue hour. These are minutes just after the sun has set. Pictures will look romantic and dreamy. Apps such as Photo Ephemeris, PhotoPills and GoldenHour.One will help you determine golden and blue hours.

beach photography ideas during golden and blue hour

14. Choose Shoes for Beach Photoshoot

When choosing shoes for shooting on the beach, keep in mind that they should be comfortable. This way you will feel more relaxed and avoid discomfort. It is unlikely that your fashionable high heels will match the beach photo ideas. Choose sandals, sneakers, or stylish crocs.

shoes for beach photoshoot ideas

Don’t forget to take some barefoot shots. Take some shots with the focus on your sandy feet. Another cool idea is to write your family’s name in the sand and capture the feet of all family members nearby.

barefoot beach photography ideas

15. Strike a Yoga Pose

This is a great idea for sports and healthy lifestyle fans. If you are photographing yourself, then decide on a yoga pose and use the timer to take a picture. A warrior pose can look quite impressive in beach images. For a couple photo session, you can choose a pose, depending on your physical abilities.

beach photoshoot ideas yoga pose

You can improve the lighting, perspective, skin and figure of the model after shooting with the help of photo editing software for photographers. Adobe Photoshop is one of the best programs. It allows you to replace the background in the picture, work on contrast and brightness, make colors brighter and remove unnecessary objects.

yoga pose for beach photography

16. Choreograph a Jump Shot in the Sand

If you want to capture your family jumping in the air, you need to set up your camera and set a timer. Plus, you can play with the sizes to have fun and create a funny social media shot.

jumping beach photoshoot ideas

A tripod will give you more freedom in implementing your beach picture ideas. It will allow you to use different shutter speeds to achieve better results and try a wider range of ideas.

beach photography ideas jump in the sand

17. Photograph Silhouettes

Put the light source behind your subject, and you can capture interesting silhouettes. I recommend shooting at sunset when the sun is low, and you can find the right position for your model easily. A large section of the open sky can be used as a background.

silhouettes beach photoshoot ideas

By applying various aperture settings, you can achieve lots of amazing effects when implementing your photoshoot beach ideas. For example, to create the effect of sunburst, you need to set a small aperture (f/16). If you want a more blurry or hazy background, use a large aperture. A very low angle works well when photographing silhouettes. This way, your subject will fit in the frame.

beach photography idea with silhouettes

18. Photos under the Pier

There are some cool beach photoshoot ideas where the pier is used as a framing element. It adds more visual interest and draws attention to happy faces. Your pictures will get more color variation and texture if you capture the beach access boardwalk. Get into knee-deep water with the kids and start splashing. Such a black and white shot will be a great reminder of summer vacation.

beach photoshoot ideas under the pier

A polarizing filter can be a great solution if you want to experiment with different beach picture ideas. With this filter, colors will become brighter, shadows will look more expressive, and some glare will appear in the photo.

beach photography under the pier

19. Add Some Extreme to Your Photoshoot

If there are rocky cliffs near you, try to include them in your photo session. It’s a good idea to capture someone leaping off a cliff into the water. Experts recommend using a fast shutter speed in this case. Don’t forget the safety rules. The depth must be at least 15 feet. Mind the height too.

extreme beach photoshoot ideas

Take photos of all the extreme activities you have planned for this vacation, including skydiving, wakeboarding, scuba diving, and more. Try to shoot from different angles to add dynamism to your extreme shots.

beach photography idea extreme sport

20. Capture Reflections in the Frame

Use both artificial reflectors (eyeglasses and glasses) and natural ones (water). You can use aviator sunglasses for some beach photoshoot ideas. When taking photos of a couple, you can put the sunglasses on the sand and capture the reflection of the kissing people.

reflections beach photoshoot ideas

To shoot reflections on the water, use a tripod and set a smaller aperture. Use f/11 for landscapes or f/5.6 for smaller objects and areas. This will allow you to get stronger reflections and make your picture more detailed. Set a fast shutter speed to keep ripples in the water or any other movement out of the frame.

beach photography idea with reflections

21. Tandem Bicycles

If you have bicycles or know where to rent them, I have some awesome beach photography ideas for you. You can take both romantic and funny photos while riding in tandem along the coast.

beach photoshoot ideas tandem bicycles

Keep in mind that you need to follow some photography principles when capturing sunlight and water. If you use RAW mode, you will be able to improve over and underexposed photos more easily. You can also highlight details, decrease exposure, and bring out shadows later.

beach photography idea with tandem bicycles

22. Add Romance to the Shot

One of the romantic wedding picture ideas is to take a picture of newlyweds kissing in the sea. Ask the husband to dip his wife and take some action shots of them kissing.

romantic beach photoshoot ideas

If you don’t hire a photographer and want to take a romantic photo with your significant other, then you should take a tripod to the beach. Play around with shutter speed settings to make clouds and water look good in your shot. This will also allow you to create various impressive movement effects around your couple. To make the water appear blurry, set a shutter speed to around 30 seconds.

couple beach photography idea

23. LED Lights as Photoshoot Prop

If you’re planning on taking photos after sunset, then you should take some LED lights for some cool dusk shots. Experiment with different angles and try some beach photo ideas to take eye-catching and beautiful pictures.

beach photoshoot ideas with led lights

Make the scene shine with a variety of lights turned on. I recommend using a slower shutter speed for more impressive shots. However, such settings have their drawbacks. Images may be blurry due to the slow shutter speed. To get sharper photos, you have to compromise. A faster shutter speed will give you more detail but some of the lights won’t shine in the pictures. If the light is the key to your idea, make your subject and camera as stable as possible and use a slow shutter speed.

24. Use Props for Creative Shots

Instead of the usual photo of a couple on the beach, take a picture of them surrounded by rings, hearts, or other romantic signs. To take such a photo, put the decoration in front and keep the couple in focus in the background.

creative beach photoshoot ideas

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