Recently, I was contacted by a couple Abby and Bryan from Erie Pennsylvania who is planning their wedding in Myrtle Beach. Both of them have spent several vacations here, going years back, and it has come to have a special meaning for them. As it turns out, I was going to be nearby during their current family trip and we wanted to get some engagement shots celebrating their planned commitment.
While we were preparing for this session, I knew I wanted to shoot late in the day for the most favorable light and to have some relief from the heat. Based on my experience, the beach area is always nice and breezy but only a few yards inland, this area can be oppressively humid with vulture-sized mosquitos and other fun things. Little did I know, nature had other plans. When we arrived, there was mild cloud cover, it was 77 degrees and breezy and no bugs - it was perfect. If this is what happens when people from Erie visit, we should pay them to come more often and in larger numbers.
We started out on the beach. One of Huntington Beach's best assets is a pristine beach with beachfront buildings only seen in the distance.
Walking on the dunes is strictly forbidden on any of the costal beaches in South Carolina, but there are a few places you can go to give the illusion that you are in them and surrounded by sea oats.
Just off the beach is the former studio for the artist Anna Hyatt called Atalaya. It's a bit of an odd structure consisting of several small rooms and a large open area in the middle. It was closed by the time we were shooting but the outside provides a great range of colors and textures.
The last thing I wanted to do is to use one of the other beach access paths which is almost completely a wooden boardwalk. Just as we got there (all that we did was within a comfortable walk - Abby was smart enough to bring comfortable shoes) the clouds opened up to provide some of the best golden hour light I've ever shot.
Technical Stuff
Once again I overpacked considering what I ended up using for this shoot. I was using my Nikon D700 and shot about 95% of everything with my Nikon 70-200mm f2.8. I just love how this lens can control the background, the sharpness and compress the composition when needed.
I did use my Paul C Buff PLM umbrella again as my lighting modifier of choice but there are some warnings for other photographers to be learned here.
While the conditions where, basically, ideal as far as South Carolina beach settings in June are concerned, there were regular/strong gusts of wind all the time. I'm used to battling wind with an umbrella on a light stand, but no amount of anchoring could prevent the stand not only blowing over but traveling down the beach. We estimated that it could easily reach 20 knots and reach the North Carolina state line by midnight. I had my favorite assistant with me and she struggled constantly with the huge umbrella in the gusts. I could not have used it on my own, it would have just been to unpredictable and, in some cases, dangerous.
Another aspect is protecting your gear. With the wind blowing, that also meant that dry sand was constantly whipping around. Leaving my Think Tank bag on the ground for just a few minutes meant that it was nearly half-buried. You DO NOT want sand in any of your gear, the only thing worse is water (I guess fire is bad too but not a realistic concern). With my bag zipped, all my critical bits were kept safe, the only things that were exposed were items stored in the outside mesh pockets which were not susceptible to the ravages of sand.
Another aspect is protecting your gear. With the wind blowing, that also meant that dry sand was constantly whipping around. Leaving my Think Tank bag on the ground for just a few minutes meant that it was nearly half-buried. You DO NOT want sand in any of your gear, the only thing worse is water (I guess fire is bad too but not a realistic concern). With my bag zipped, all my critical bits were kept safe, the only things that were exposed were items stored in the outside mesh pockets which were not susceptible to the ravages of sand.
Protect your gear.
