Awesome Fun

flashbackpat · Jul 30, 2009

I spent a recent Friday afternoon with my nieces and nephews at the beach. Of course I took along my nikon D40X to capture the fun. I was so terrified that the salt, sand and water would damage the camera I had it all wrapped up in plastic to protect it. This made changing settings and focus very difficult so most of the shots, including this one, were taken in auto mode. I thought this was an exceptional photo (for my skill level) and wanted to share. CC welcome.

jenniferlouise · Jul 30, 2009

Good shot. You did say that it was bagged an difficult to change the settings for and that it was in auto mode. But in the future you'll probably want to use a higher shutter speed because it's a slight bit blurred. =)

flashbackpat · Jul 31, 2009

I researched underwater camera housing for my nikon, however, cost is prohibitive. Anyone else take their camera to the beach? How do you protect it?

gopal · Aug 1, 2009

it is already an high speed which freezed the water under the sunlight....may be 1/500 and above....the reason for blur is difficult to find out except shake.

Alleh Lindquist · Aug 5, 2009

What do you consider your skill level?

Josh66 · Aug 5, 2009

flashbackpat said:
Anyone else take their camera to the beach? How do you protect it?

Don't stand close enough to the water that it is splashing up on you.

Other than that, no special precautions.

Clean it when you're done. (salt spray)

musicaleCA · Aug 5, 2009

Bring a baggie? That's what I do.

Bee Bee · Aug 6, 2009

I always take mine to the beach as that's where I shoot a lot - I just make sure I am far away enough from the spray and clean it up when I leave! xxx

flashbackpat · Aug 6, 2009

What do you consider your skill level?

I guess I would consider my skill level to be beginner amatuer. I've had my Nikon less than 2 years. I am a snapshot photographer.

Don't stand close enough to the water that it is splashing up on you.

I was in the water with the camera, aprox knee deep. A very foolish move I know, but I was aware of what I was risking. It was important to me to get at least a few decent shots of the girls having fun as we only get to see them about once a year. I was as careful as you can be handling a camera in knee deep water with a rough surf. I could have easily been swept under. The ironic story behing this trip is...that as careful as I was trying to be to protect my prize camera at the shore; at lunchtime we all went up on the pier to eat our lunch and I took the camera out of it's plastic wrap to take pictures of the new setting. There were several teenagers at a table directly next to us horsing around and having a good time. Out of the blue a water balloon came flying right at me, bounced off my shoulder and broke in my lap, literally soaking my camera.

I did clean the camera after I got home. There wasn't a speck of sand on it and it didn't appear to have any moisture damage from the soaking on the pier. I don't believe I would be this careless again with my camera. However this one picture (and a couple of others) made the risk worthwhile.

Josh66 · Aug 6, 2009

flashbackpat said:
I was in the water with the camera, aprox knee deep. A very foolish move I know, but I was aware of what I was risking.

Not so foolish if you're careful about it. Very careful. OK, maybe it still is a little foolish, but we all do stuff like that sometimes.

Just make sure you use the strap, lol. And keep an eye out for waves.
And don't drop your camera!

A longer lens will let you get shots like this without getting in (or at least not as far in) the water.