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E-500 at the beach?

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KentStateStudent

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I have been asked to do a photo shoot at a beach this summer, and was wondering if anyone could give any pointers. Are there any special techniques I need to learn or can brush up on?

Also, how do the 500's hold up to a grain of sand - literally? Any horror stories I should beware of? I know the bodies are not as rugged or sealed as well as the E1. Would it be foolish to bring a 500 there?

Could someone post an e-500 beach shot so I know what to expect?

Many, many thanks!!!!
 
Hi,

As long as you take care of swapping lenses as usual, not in a blowing sand, and don't put your cam in the sand, there shouldn't be any problem with that.

Want some sample shots ? My best advice is to browse Louis's gallery on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam

most of his shots have been done with an e500 (now e330), and some in quite rough conditions. This will give you an idea. Just imagine a guy hopping during hours in sand and water, changing lenses like a frantic, and you will have an idea.

Have fun !

Marc
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdezemery
 
. . to find this thread. . .he probably pays rent to the Portugese beaches and his work is superb.
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--
Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
 
You would be hard pressed to find beach pictures more beautiful than those that Louis Dobson has done. His images definitely inspire me to do better. He apparently gets quite wet to capture some of the pictures in portfolio.
--
I wish these trees weren't here, I want to see the forest!
 
The fact that there has been very little, if any, PP done to his images is just magnificent!!!

True art to say the least!
 
I agree with the other's comments about Louis' shots, they show what someone with skill and an eye can do behind the E-500.

I'd suggest picking up a decent circular polarizer which gives more control over non-metallic reflections (sunlight on water as an example). I use a Hoya SMC type and am happy with it.

Also, you may find reflectors useful; they can be found cheap on Ebay, or make your own with a piece of cardboard and some aluminum foil. Great for backlit shots, where you want to light up a face without using flash. I like using fill flash sometimes but natural light looks, well...more natural :)

The kit lenses are fine, but if you can use a tripod as to be able to stop down the aperture a bit, to reduce chromatic aberation, and give a sharper shot.

Good luck.
 
I'm really flattered!

But I normally do lots of PP. There's a recent one where I did it all in camera to prove I could, but I'm not going to make a habit of it :-)
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
 
What lens(es) do you have? If you have the two kits lenses, you have what you need. There are some limitations, but overall they work great.

Are you doing close up people/portrait shots, where you want to isolate using shallow depth of field? If so, use the 40-150 lens, as you can isolate better. Your best bet is to get further away from subject and use longer focal lengths (zoom in). Even at 150mm the lens is fairly sharp, and you still get a decent F/4.5 aperture.

Lastly, be careful of dynamic range. There is no way to properly expose a person with strong sun/water-reflected backlighting, without using fill flash or reflectors.
 
Louis_Dobson said:
I'm really flattered!

But I normally do lots of PP. There's a recent one where I did it
all in camera to prove I could, but I'm not going to make a habit
of it :-)
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
Click to expand...
Louis seems to have a similar attitude to me....if you dont do it the hard way, youve knocked all the FUN out of it.

Most of the Photos I sell as prints are shots that were exposed "Close" to just right, then pushhed, pulled, stomped on, and then fried 'till I have what I wanted.

Truth be told, that is the part of the work I enjoy the most....

--
It seems Mark Twain had something to say about Oly's next Pro DSLR

'There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact'. Mark Twain.

Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.
 
The E-500 is more rugged than you might expect. I once dumped it into wet sand at the beach - long story, basically I was taking some shots of oysters being harvested when I sunk waist deep into a spot of quicksand. Camera only went an inch down thankfully due to its light weight. Covered with sand. Got it home, cleaned it off with a toothbrush, and its been fine for the last 6 months. Not that I'd recommend this, but the E-500 seems to be fairly sand resistant :)
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Autofocus? Whats Autofocus?
 
My advice, make sure to keep the camera around your neck.
Do not put it down, not on a table, not on a towel, not on
top of the cooler. I know that sounds silly, but the spot
may seem clear of sand until some 7 year old misses his
football toss and lands the ball 2 feet from the camera and
sprays sand on it.

Also, exposure can be tricky at the beach, especially on bright
days. I'd recommend using 3ev's (if you want to save yourself
some post processing)

Have fun and good luck!!

Selin
 
I've had the E500 on Whitehaven beach, which is basically made of fine silicone, and supposedly much worse for cameras than regular sand... but no problems.

Curious to hear about other's tips on exposure and whether they use a polarizer though?
 
I went up to Hampton Beach, NH a few weeks ago and got some pretty good shots...no experience in summer though (I've only had my E-500 for about 2 months, so I'm a bit of a newbie).

















--
Tools:
Olympus E-500 / Dual Lens Kit
Thinkpad X60s 1704-69U / Vista Ultimate
 
Sorry, I assumed you were just asking how not to wreck the camera...

Beaches: bracket, chimp, histogram or highlight display, polariser, graduated neutral density, reflector.

Perm some of those according to what you are shooting.

Shooting models on beaches is emberassingly easy. Get the light roughly behind, get a a reflector in front and off to one side, bosh, done.

Shooting scenery add a GND and a polariser for good skies, shooting sea either get the sutter speed up to freeze it or get a tripod and the shutter speed down to soften it.

Try geting a low angle and be prepared to go in the sea (but don't soak the camera).

Just some thoughts.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
 
Louis_Dobson said:
I'm really flattered!

But I normally do lots of PP. There's a recent one where I did it
all in camera to prove I could, but I'm not going to make a habit
of it :-)
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
Click to expand...
Louis - no need for modesty here - your gallery ROCKS!!!

Awesome colors! I especially enjoyed all of your marine series shots - such cool gradations of blue, yellow, red.

Your images certainly want me go visit Portugal!

Cheers, mate!

Alex
 
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