I live my best life doing shoots like this. A crashing swell and a strong onshore wind provided a spray mist that floated behind Oli, creating a wonderful, hazy separation from the background.
The Rotalux 1-metre strip (thin, elongated soft box) was angled up 10% and rotated 30% to create the effect I wanted. One of the challenges of the day was communication with Oli. We were very close to the edge of a gully, and I was working from around 30 metres away with a long lens. As invigorating as it was, the waves colliding with rocks were loud and drowning out my instructions.
I once worked at a studio in Florida where beach shoots were a common request. Our working distance from the subjects (far with a long lens) combined with the noise of the surf presented a similar problem.
They got around this by attaching a Walkie-Talkie onto the subjects (concealed). The photographer would then speak instructions into the Walkie-Talkie at his end. I was super impressed with this. This was shot using a Fuji XT3 and a 70mm-140mm f2.8 lens. ISO 160 and F11 at a 60th.
Join me to not only learn this but to enjoy this. Bjorn.
