A great beach photoshoot can look effortless.
Beautiful light, clear skies, a confident model and a stunning location. But whether you’re planning a swimwear photoshoot, fashion campaign photoshoot or lifestyle campaign, the reality is that most of the work happens long before anyone steps onto the sand.
In fact, for our recent swimwear campaign photoshoot, we spent more time planning the shoot than we did shooting it.
From finding the right location and casting the right model to checking tide charts and planning around wet hair, successful beach shoots are often won or lost before the first frame is captured.
Finding The Perfect Location
When planning a beach photoshoot, it’s easy to focus on finding the most beautiful beach. In reality, the best location is often the one that works hardest for your production team.
For this swimwear campaign photoshoot, we chose Camp Cove because it gave us beach, ladder access into the harbour and walkway backdrops all within a few minutes’ walk
In addition to the beach itself, we had access to ocean pools, walkways and different backdrops, giving us more variety from a single location, which meant we could create a much broader content library without losing time moving crew, equipment and talent between multiple locations
Before locking in a location, we recommend considering:
- Parking and equipment access
- Distance between the car and shooting locations
- Change room and bathroom facilities
- Crowd levels and local events
- Council permit requirements
- Shade and shelter options
- The variety of looks you can achieve from one location
- Sunrise /sunset times
- Tide times
One of the biggest production costs is moving people and equipment between locations, so choosing a beach that offers multiple looks can significantly improve efficiency and maximise the content captured on the day.
The Beach Was Actually The Easy Part
Finding the beach was easy, the bigger challenge was everything else that comes with a beach campaign shoot.
- How do you keep products free from sand?
- Where does the model change between looks?
- How do you protect equipment from salt spray?
- What happens when hair and makeup need touch-ups halfway through the day?
Our beach shoot kit included plenty of items that never appear in the final images: towels, robes, wipes, bottled water, portable mirrors and garment bags. Keeping products, props and wardrobe organised becomes even more important when you’re working outdoors.
Sometimes it’s the little things that matter – consider snacks, water, coffee, chairs (if there is no seating available) and even a small speaker for music to pick up the energy of the crew!
The more prepared you are, the more time you spend creating content.
Why We Checked The Tide Before the Weather
Everyone thinks to check the weather forecast before a beach shoot but did you know you should also check the tide chart?
The amount of usable beach can change dramatically throughout the day and that can impact everything from backgrounds and camera angles, through to how easily your crew can move around the location.
For this campaign photoshoot, understanding the tides helped us determine the best shooting windows and get the most out of our shoots.
And while everyone hopes for blue skies, the reality is that harsh midday sun can be just as challenging as poor weather. Some of the best beach photography is captured in the softer light of early morning or late afternoon, when conditions are more comfortable for both talent and crew – so its finding a balance of both weather and tides.
Casting Matters More Than You Think
Choosing a model for a swimwear photoshoot isn’t quite the same as casting for a studio-based product shoot.
For outdoor campaign photography, confidence, movement and stamina often matter just as much as appearance.
If we’re working with experienced agency talent, such as models from Vivien’s, we’ll often look at their outdoor and lifestyle work specifically. Can they move naturally? Do they look comfortable in the environment? Can they create a variety of expressions and poses without every image feeling the same?
For emerging talent or models sourced through agencies such as The Right Fit, we often spend more time reviewing a wider range of imagery and discussing the requirements of the shoot beforehand.
The best swimwear campaign images rarely come from the model with the strongest headshot portfolio. They come from talent who can bring energy, movement and authenticity to the brand.
The same principle applies when selecting a hair and makeup artist. Beach environments introduce wind, humidity, salt water and strong sunlight, so choosing someone with experience in outdoor productions can make a significant difference to both the quality of the content and the efficiency of the day.
We Built the Schedule Around One Hero Image
For many campaign photoshoots, there is usually one image that matters more than all the others.
The hero image.
Once we know what that image needs to look like, we can build the schedule around it.
For beach shoots, this often means thinking several steps ahead. If the concept involves the model entering the water, we’ll usually capture dry looks first. Once hair, makeup or garments are wet, it’s not always practical to return to earlier looks—especially when you’re working on location without access to hair dryers, changing facilities or full styling stations.
The same applies to fashion shoots where garments need to remain pristine throughout the day.
By sequencing the shoot carefully, we can maximise the content captured while avoiding unnecessary delays and reshoots.
The Most Expensive Image Is the One You Forgot to Shoot
One of the most common challenges we see isn’t poor photography—it’s missing content.
Before every campaign photoshoot, we encourage clients to think beyond the immediate brief and consider all the places the content will be used. Website banners, ecommerce imagery, social content, paid advertising, email marketing and retailer assets often have very different requirements.
The brands that get the most value from a shoot aren’t necessarily spending more money. They’re spending more time planning exactly what content they need before the shoot begins.
A well-planned campaign photoshoot can generate:
- Website banners and hero imagery
- eCommerce product content
- Paid social advertising assets
- Organic social media content
- Email marketing imagery
- Campaign video
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Retailer and marketplace assets
- Internal communications and PR content
By planning content requirements upfront, brands can maximise the return on their production investment.
For our beach campaign shoot, we had the crew film behind the scenes content for socials while our photographer focused on the still images. You can also add a professional videographer to shoot campaign video in between shots, or create a fun Tiktok with the crew to show how the shoot is going!
Ready to plan your Summer Campaign?
Whether you’re planning a beach photoshoot, outdoor fashion photography campaign or lifestyle content shoot, the best time to start organising locations, talent and production is now.
At Front Back & Sides, we can help with everything from location scouting and talent sourcing through to photography, video production and post-production.
If you’re already thinking about your spring or summer campaign, now is the ideal time to start planning. We’d be happy to help with everything from location scouting and talent sourcing through to photography, video production and content planning. Contact us for a chat today.
