Beach weddings. For a photographer it is a dream location with potential nightmare repercussions. Today’s One Shot is a bit of a teaching moment mixed in with the lovely image. 

When shooting on a beach, sand can go every where in all of the vulnerable little cracks and crevices in almost every part of a photographer’s equipment. I know this. I’ve shot on beaches before. However, when it was time to get a low angle for my romantic silhouette shot seen here, I reacted from my gut and dove down on the sand to get even more of that epic sky behind them…all the while not remembering that I had my lens bag on me…with all my lenses inside…uncapped. Sand was everywhere. Not only did I spend the better part of a dinner break trying to get all the little specks out of my lens bag, I also spent a few bucks paying Canon to get sand out of my 50mm 1.4 lens. The lesson: when in a situation where there are potential hazards to your equipment, constantly keep in the back of your mind what you need to be doing to safeguard that equipment against it. Keep things covered and tucked away when not in use. 

On a side note, unlike most of my silhouette shots, this one has a bit of detail to the couple. They aren’t just straight shadows against a colorful sky. I love that you can make out more detail on this shot and I might just keep playing with that more when I shoot these in the future. 

Shot with a Canon 5D Mk III and a Canon 28mm 1.8 lens at ISO 320, f2.8, and 1/320th sec. Edited in Lightroom. 

Aaron Kes (me!) is a Phoenix wedding photographer who also shoots weddings in Scottsdale, Tempe, the United States of America, and Earth. Seriously, I love to travel to shoot and do so often. Let’s have some fun!