Praia dos Alemães

Praia dos Alemães is a wide stretch of soft golden sand backed by low ochre cliffs, where a dark rock stack with a natural opening rises off the point and a long stone and concrete breakwater runs out into the clear water below it. This beach is full of composition options using the weathered stack catching the light at the edge of the bay, or the breakwater giving you a strong leading line straight out to sea, all with the sweep of sand, parasols, and cliffs filling in behind. If you shoot from the beach looking east you can place the rock stack and its opening against the sky. Then you can experiement with using the breakwater as a leading line back toward the cliffs or out over the open water. A standard lens handles the beach and the rock stack perfectly, a wide 16-35mm will pull in the full curve of sand and the length of the breakwater, and a longer lens will isolate the stack or compress it against the headlands beyond. Sunrise is the best time to be here. The early morning sun comes up over the water behind the rock stack and often glows through the opening, turning it into a silhouette and warming the cliffs. A overcast day will keep the sand and rock evenly lit, making them easy to work with. Low tide will expose more of the rocks and the base of the breakwater giving you more details to work with. Praia dos Alemães is an easy town beach to reach, with steps and walkways down to the sand, plus there is lots of parking close by. People fish off the end of the breakwater, so remember to respect their space while you are shooting. (Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal)