Seascapes offer great photographic opportunities. Those opportunities include nice beaches, rocks, wave action (splashing against rocks or flowing back to the ocean), logs or other items on the beach, sea life, tidal pools, and the list goes on. The ocean also offers an unobstructed view of the sky which means nice sunsets or sunrises. Here is an image I took in Australia.

Ocean Arch, Great Ocean Road, Australia Here are a few tips to help you make the best of these opportunities:

• Timing can be everything. Wait for that big splash moment or for the water to start running back into the ocean. In this scene, I waited for a wave to run over the rock floor on the left.

• Shutter speed is important. Watch your shutter speed as this is what you use to freeze the water splash in mid-air (fast shutter speed) or show the motion of the water running back (slow shutter speed). Play with your shutter speed until you get the effect you like. When you want water streaks you want a shutter speed that is slow enough to show the streaking but fast enough so that the water does not turn into silky milk without any definition.

• Other than beach images or images that include more sky, the foreground is important. Make sure you find something of interest to place in the foreground.

• If there are rocks that are exposed when the waves pull back but covered when the waves come in you can shoot with a very long shutter speed to create a cloudy, mysterious image, like this one below.

Do be careful of higher than usual waves. Watch your equipment. Constantly dry the front element of the lens. Put a filter on to protect your lens as it does not like saltwater.

Visit the ocean more and take some great images.