Thailand Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui

I was staying at the Mercure Hotel for 5 nights with the family. I snuck out in the early morning on 3 occasions before sunrise to get some shots.

(1) The beach is facing east, so 20 minutes before and after sunrise is the best time range to be there. Also, very few people are about at that time. (2) I used a 14-24mm wide angle zoom lens, typically between 16mm and 18mm. (3) I used a Circular Polarizer Filter and a 0.9 Hard Grad ND. Filter. (4) Depending on what had the more interest, sky or beach, I devoted 2/3 of the picture to it. While I was there, it was the beach that had the greater interest. (5) I used a between a 1/2.5s and a 1.3s shutter speed to capture the wave trails on the beach.

I was staying at the Mercure Hotel, so I could just walk on to the beach, turn left, and walk for 50m or 100m. There seemed to be a public park however 500m south of where I placed myself, so I guess one could easily enter the beach from there.