How to take Great Beach Photos with the Kodak Z981

Howdy friends! In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to take great photos at the beach with your Kodak Z981.

Kodak Z981 | Photo by MaryleeUSA

Using these helpful tips, you’ll be taking amazing ocean and beach photos in no time…

• How to enable Beach mode on the Z981
• Using Aperture priority mode on the Kodak Z981
• Adjusting Exposure Compensation on the Z981
• How to enable Center-zone autofocus on the Kodak Z981

I’ve always loved the beach…it’s warm, it’s sunny, it’s full of fun and laughter. It’s also one of the trickiest places to get great photos.

You might be saying to yourself…”Why is that?” Well other than keeping water, sand and salt off your camera…you also have to fight against extreme highlights and hard shadows.

Beach mode on the Kodak Z981

The easiest way to setup the Z981 is to enable the Beach scene mode. The Beach scene mode does a pretty good job of minimizing the overpowering highlights and shadows that occur at the beach.

1. Turn the mode dial to SCN
2. Press the arrow buttons (up-down or left-right) to display the different scene modes.
3. Select the Beach scene mode and click OK

Aperture Priority on the Kodak Z981

For those of you who would like a little more control, try enabling Aperture Priority mode. Whether you’re after an entire seascape or a seaside portrait, aperture priority will allow you to control how much of the scene is in focus.

1. Turn the mode dial to A (Aperture Priority)
2. Locate the f-number on the back of the LCD screen
3. Rotate the little jog dial (just above the zoom control) to the left or right to highlight the f-number
4. Press it to edit
5. Rotate the jog dial to the left or right and select an aperture f-number
   - Higher f-numbers are great for getting the entire seascape into focus
   - Lower f-numbers are great for isolating your subject (like portraits) or “freezing” action (like kids playing in the ocean)

Adjusting Exposure Compensation on the Kodak Z981

For those feeling really adventurous, you may also consider adjusting the exposure compensation. This will allow you to control the brightness of your photos which is helpful when the sun is reflecting off the water.

1. If you’re using aperture priority mode, you can adjust the exposure compensation by rotating the little jog dial (just above the zoom control) to the left or right to highlight the icon with the +/- symbols
2. Press it to edit
3. Rotate the jog dial to the left or right and select an exposure compensation value
   -Higher exposure compensation values will give you brighter photos
   - Lower exposure compensation values will give you darker photos

If you’re at the beach you’ll probably want a lower exposure compensation value to keep the super bright highlights at a minimum.

Now that you’ve got the Z981 setup, the next step is to start using your photography skills and creativity.

In the photo above, the photographer did a great job with composition. Instead of walking up to the water and snapping off a photo of the ocean, take a few steps back and incorporate some of your surroundings. When composing your photo, remember to keep your subject away from the center of the frame. By positioning the subject to the right or left, it creates more interest.

Center-zone autofocus on the Kodak Z981

To do this technique effectively, I suggest that you enable Center-Zone autofocus…

1. Click the Menu button
2. Use the left/right arrows to highlight the Capture tab
3. Then use the up/down arrows to locate AF Zone
4. From this sub-menu you can choose Center-Zone autofocus.
5. Click OK to save your settings

By enabling Center-Zone autofocus you can pin point where you want the Kodak Z981 to focus. In the example photo above, you would half-press the shutter button to focus on the chairs. Then while keeping the shutter button half-pressed, re-compose your shot and take the photo.

I hope you enjoyed this quick tip on how to take great photos at the beach with your Kodak Z981. I recommend looking over the Kodak Z981 manual for more info on the different settings that I mentioned throughout this tutorial. If you have any specific questions, please submit a comment to this post and I’ll get back to you lickety split.

Happy shooting!