A rocky shore gives you what a sandy beach cannot: elevation and shape. This set uses that with poses seated on outcrops, leaning against rock faces and standing at the waterline. Coastal rock is slick, so every pose here keeps the centre of gravity low.

A rocky shore gives you what flat sand cannot: elevation and shape. You can sit, stand, lean or climb, and each height gives a different composition in the same spot. That is why a session on the rocks usually yields far more variety than one on a beach.

Safety comes before composition here. Coastal rock is almost always slick with algae and seawater, and slickest where a wave has just washed over. Choose poses that keep your weight low with at least one solid point of contact — seated, on one knee, or standing with a hand on the rock. Never stand at the waterline with your back to the sea.

For light, rocks look best at sunset when a low sun rakes across and brings out their texture. At midday they flatten into a grey mass with no detail. If you shoot into the light late in the day, put the sun behind an outcrop — you get a rim of light around you without flare across the lens.

Reference poses

Wet rock and dry rock are different surfaces

Dry rock absorbs light and gives a dull grey with little detail. Wet rock reflects the sky, reveals its grain, colour and contrast, and picks up sunset colour. The same outcrop photographed before and after a wave passes gives two pictures of visibly different quality.

So time the frame for just after a wave withdraws, while the surface is still glossy. It is also why a rocky shore at low tide usually photographs better than at high tide: there is far more surface both exposed and wet.

Waves have to be timed, not waited for

Water breaking on rock throws white foam and spray, but the good moment lasts under a second and never repeats identically. Pressing the shutter once you have seen the break is always late, because the delay between eye, hand and shutter is longer than the moment itself.

Watch several waves first to learn the rhythm, then start a burst just before the next one reaches the rock and hold through the break. With smaller waves, the best frame is often the withdrawal, when foam is draining off and leaving white trails on the stone, rather than the impact.

Choose your footing before you frame

Coastal rock covered in weed and algae is far more slippery than it looks, and an unexpected large wave is considerably more dangerous on rock than on sand. This affects the photography directly: you need to settle where you are standing and where your feet go before you start concentrating on the frame.

Pick a flat, dry ledge several steps above the waterline, and watch for a few minutes to see how far the largest sets reach before moving lower. Compositionally, standing a little above the water usually gives the better angle anyway, because you see the layers of rock running away rather than one flat face.

Rocky shore poses

Reference poses

Wet rock and dry rock are different surfaces

Waves have to be timed, not waited for

Choose your footing before you frame

Try a pose with your camera