Landscapers guide to Thailand - Phuket - Bang Tao Beach
Originally published at Anton Averin Photography. You can comment here or there.
The first beach we visited on Phuket was Bang Tao.
Bang Tao is a rather large beach. Tides are quite prominent. You can find daylight pictures or maybe even a 360-degree panoramic view of Bang Tao beach in internet, so I’ll not post the pictures here.
Now, keep in mind that we were there in the end of August, so this was a low season. Things may be completely different for high season. Also be aware that sun changes it’s position for different seasons of the year, and for you sun may set in a little different place. Be sure to use The Photographer Ephemeris utility for planning a shoot - it can help you decide on where to go.
So, for me, Bang Tao beach wasn’t really interesting from landscape and seascape perspective. The first image I shot was an image straight from the beach. There were some interesting clouds on the sky, and when sun set everything became blue.
I used a long exposure to capture some movement in the waves and create some point of interest for the depth.
If you plan to shoot straight from the beach - there isn’t much you can use for the foreground interest on Bang Tao. There are no interesting stones, or trees there. You can try finding a coconut and use it as a point of interest - so you will have to use your imagination to capture anything interesting.
Everything becomes a little more interesting when tide goes out. The beach itself will not be too interesting to shoot, but on the south part of it some stones start to appear (marked with red on the image above).
That’s where you can get some interesting images for sure.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to check those stones in many details, but I’m pretty sure that with tide caught properly some very compelling pictures can be shot. In my case, tide was too low, and the image I took doesn’t look really good.
When visiting these stones be sure to wear good footwear.
When tide is in the way as I got it on the picture, lots of thais go to the stones to catch crabs and whatever other things live on the stony shores, so most likely you will not be there totally alone. But still, good footwear will definitely help you not to break your neck on slippery and wet surfaces.
I also strongly suggest to bring a flashlight that you can mount on your head - when sun goes down it quickly becomes very dark around, so after shooting a sunset you will return in the dark for sure. Flashlight will help you to find the way, and if mounted on your head, will keep your hands free.
As far as I know, there shouldn’t be anything dangerous on these stones, meaning I didn’t see any snakes, or dangerous animals while walking there. Thais also seem to walk there without fear, but to just be on the safe side - look where you put your steps.
These are all interesting places I had found on Bang Tao beach. I’m pretty sure that stones are the best place to go for a seascape shot, and with a bit of luck and a decent sunset you should bring back some interesting pictures.