South Beach Photoshoots

Locations

Where to shoot on South Beach

Ocean Drive between 5th and 15th is the Art Deco run — the Colony, the Breakwater, the Carlyle — and it is the reason most people come with a camera. The facades face east, so they take the morning sun directly.

The pastel lifeguard towers are the other signature. They were rebuilt as individual designs after Hurricane Andrew, and the one at 10th Street is the most photographed object on the beach. There are others further north and south with almost no queue.

Lummus Park runs the length of the strip behind the sand, and its palm rows give you shade and a cleaner background than the road.

Espanola Way is the change of scene — narrow, Mediterranean, and good when the beach light has gone flat at midday.

South Pointe Park at the southern tip gives you the jetty, the pier and the cruise ships coming through Government Cut.

Timing

Miami Beach faces east, so shoot at sunrise

This is the single thing worth knowing about South Beach. The coast faces east, which means the sun rises out of the water and sets behind the city. For anything on the sand or against the lifeguard towers, sunrise is the good light and sunset is not.

The Art Deco facades on Ocean Drive face east too, so they also light in the morning. Late afternoon puts the whole strip in shadow.

Season matters as much as the hour. December to April is dry, warm and busy. June to November is hurricane season, with heat, humidity and afternoon storms that build fast and clear quickly.

Early December brings Art Basel, when the city is full and hotel rates roughly double.

What to wear

What works against the pastels

South Beach is already loud. The buildings are mint, coral and flamingo pink, and the towers are brighter still. Solid, saturated colour holds up against that; busy prints fight it.

White and cream photograph well on the sand at sunrise and badly on Ocean Drive at noon, when the reflected light off the pavement is unforgiving.

Bring something you do not mind getting wet if you want the shoreline. The shots people keep are almost always the ones taken in the water's edge rather than beside it.

Before you go

Permits, sand and the practical bits

Miami Beach treats commercial photography in its parks and on the beach differently from casual snapshots, and permits can apply depending on crew size and equipment. We check what your shoot needs before confirming anything.

The lifeguard towers are working equipment, not props. They are photographed from the sand rather than climbed on.

Parking on and around Ocean Drive is difficult and expensive. A sunrise start largely solves it, which is another argument for the early slot.

Arranging it

How a South Beach shoot gets booked

South Beach shoots are arranged directly with our team rather than booked online. Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and whether you want the beach, the Deco strip or both, and we will confirm what can be arranged and what it will cost.

If you want the lifeguard towers without crowds, say so early. That shoot starts before sunrise.