CAMERA CLINIC - Master the art of modern photography

This month: Capturing the coast Let's side-step the autumnal colourful spectacular and head to the seaside

It's easy to take for granted the fact that the United Kingdom is an island nation and none of us live more than 70 miles from the coast. Whether your nearest strip of coast is worth photographing is another matter and while much of our coastline is neither photogenic nor easily accessible, the sea is never far away so you don't have to work hard to find suitable locations to explore.

Not only that, but we have great diversity in our thousands of miles of coastline so whether you prefer sandy or pebbly beaches, rocky coves, sheer cliffs or something human-made, there's something for you.

The coast's diversity also means there's vast potential whatever your creative approach. Whether you love colour or monochrome, prefer wide-angle to telephoto lenses or enjoy wide-sweeping vistas or small micro details, the coast can keep every camera user busy for a long time.

You don't have to adopt any special techniques to enjoy the seaside and taking a generalist photographic approach and shooting pictures you are happy with is perfectly fine.

The key thing is to aim for good light and work hard on interesting compositions. However, it is worth narrowing down your ideas so that on a day out, your shooting has a focus. This concentrated approach leads to better photos.

We live in a country blessed with a temperate climate and the weather can change from hour to hour, so photographically speaking, it pays to be flexible, tailoring the approach to the conditions. Also, the weather itself is a potential subject. For example, our coast is regularly battered by storms and angry seas crashing against coastal defences is a popular subject. Remember health and safety though, and always check the weather and tidal conditions and never take any risks for the sake of a photograph.

Get the knowledge

Set yourself a project to give your seaside photos purpose