Not having stayed at Club Orinet itself I can only comment on the section of the beach in front of Esmeralda.<br><br>First off do take your camera there are plenty of oportunities to get some fantastic pictures away from the beach. In fact its something to do when you get sunburn't beyone recognition. Do not worry about your 35 mm camera, I hauled my medium format unit down to SXM and it survived.<br><br>On the beach istself I would suggest that you get one of the 35 mm disposable & water proof cameras. The exception to this would be if you walked down the beach early in the morning and took some pictures without setting your camera down. Beach sand, especially the sand on Orient, is hell on cameras. Unless you make a specific trip to the beach at another time of the day, it is to easy to get distracted by the beach itself, the next thing you know is that your camera needs a cleaning.<br><br>You will never be received well if you take photographs of people on the beach. Even asking for permission and getting it is questionable. Some people are afflicted with the inability to say no even when they want to. You can argue that thats thier problem, which it is, but do you want to be an outcast for the week or two of your vacation?<br><br>I do have one exception to photographing people which is to make a point to get in the face of people on the beach only to take photographs of other people. Sort of returning the favor if you know what I mean. Of course I'm a big guy so I can get away with that sort of thing. I've often thought that the best thing that could happen to Orient is to start up a web site devoted to the blacksock photographers.<br><br>If you really want to photograph someone, it probally would be best to only consider volunteers. Your not likely to get many and I'm not suggesting that you go around asking for such volunteers. The other option is to pay someone to model for you. Actually there is a third option which is to offer to pay someones way to SXM in exchange for the right to photgraph them.<br><br>These are just my thoughts and yes it does sound a bit negative with respect to beach photography. It was actually meant to be that way, as you do need to take care not to offend people. Note that Club Orient has its own rules regarding photography or more precisely no photography. On the other hand SXM is a beautiful Island so do enjoy your self and take a few pictures. I came back with a couple hundred. <br><br>Thanks<br>Dave<br><br><br><br><br>
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