On our recent trip home to South Carolina, I knew I wanted to get some great pictures of my girls on the beach. But I was not sure what to dress them in, what time of day would be best, what poses would be best, etc. So, I did a little research, and I was able to get a lot of photos that I am very pleased with. I hope these tips will help you too.

What to Wear

To help me decide what my girls should wear for our beach photos, I started looking at other photographers' beach photos. I found that most photographers suggest a classic look for the beach with your best clothing choices being white shirts with khaki, pastel, or neutral-tone pants or capris. You will definitely want to avoid bold colors, stripes, or plaids. You also will want your group to coordinate.

Poses and Candid Shots

Capture those candid shots. Some great ones are:

• Your child picking up shells
• Splashing feet in the water
• Your child walking towards the water
• Building a sandcastle
• Digging in the sand

Here are a few candid shots I was able to get:

For posing ideas, again, professional photographers' galleries will give you great ideas. A few include:

• Your subjects sitting on the sand dunes
• Your subjects standing just on the water's edge
• Your child's feet in the sand

Here are a few poses we did:

Time of Day

I find that early morning or early evening work best for a beach photo shoot. I love to ride my bike on the beach every single morning between 6:30-7:30 a.m., and as I was out I noticed that all of the local photographers were out with their clients at that time too. That told me that it was a great time for portraits. So, I woke up the kids early, and we were on the beach by 7:15 a.m. to do our photo shoot. This was in August, and it turned out to be a perfect time of day for portraits.

Sources of Inspiration

To find some great inspiration, go to several photographers' websites. You may know of some already or just do a web search on "beach photographers Hilton Head, SC" or use the name of your favorite beach. There will be a listing of photographers specializing in beach photography. You can gain all sorts of ideas from looking at their sites.

I think I ended up taking almost 200 pictures but it was worth it. I have so many fun photos to choose from, and we will even use one of them for our Christmas picture this year! So, whether you are headed off to a beach vacation for Christmas, Spring Break, or next summer, I hope you will be able to use some of these ideas. Have fun!