Inspiration · 8 min read

The art of coastal light

How to read the light at the edge of the sea — and how PhotoPilot’s Landscape style, Dehaze and highlight recovery turn a flat afternoon into a glowing frame.

Coastal light changes by the minute. The sun drops, the spray catches, the rocks go from grey to copper. The temptation is to chase it with saturation; the better move is to protect the highlights first, then let the shadows breathe.

Start with Highlights −40 and Whites +6. That keeps the sun from clipping while leaving the sparkle. Then Shadows +28 to open the rock faces without flattening them. Dehaze +20 restores the distance that the sea mist takes away.

Finally, colour: Vibrance +28 rather than Saturation. Vibrance protects skin tones and already-saturated areas, so the sky deepens while the foam stays white. Save the result as a preset and it becomes a one-click starting point for the whole shoot.