TwinFin16 Loc: San Diego, CA

Shooting with a Nikkor 18-200mm on a D300s. I wish the surfers face was brighter and showed more detail. Am I dreaming believing this is possible with my 18-200mm? Do I need a 400mm+ size lens to capture this amount of detail?

Any assistance would be helpful including tips in post production.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

The shot is nice but as you pointed out...the surfer is underexposed.

You can fix the lack of pizazz in post but getting a good exposure is #1 in camera. I took the liberty of goosing your shot a bit but the surfer is full of noise and couldn't do much with him. (you can see the remnants of the halo where I tried.)

I'm guessing that your camera saw the bright water and stuff and that's why this is underexposed...you probably should use a 1.5 stop +EV on this or if shooting manual, +1.5 stops.

As far as your lens, getting closer would be good OR getting a longer lens would help; filling the frame up more with the surfer would be a good thing depending on what your aim is.

So to summarize...get a good exposure with what you have and start with that.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

San Diego?
I just noticed that you are in SD...I'm an SD person...born and raised now living in WV...

I'm going to guess that this wave isn't actually IN SD...but up the coast a ways...maybe Solana Beach? In that area?

OR

Blacks Beach?

Or

Sunset Cliffs?

TwinFin16 Loc: San Diego, CA

You guessed it....Sunset Cliffs.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Ouch...bad memories....lol...getting in the water and getting out as I recall was hazardous to one's health....the rocks and waves didn't cooperate.

TwinFin16 Loc: San Diego, CA

Depending on what the tides are doing and the size of the swell makes all the difference but you're correct...Some of the surf spots can be pretty scary at times. I've taken my fair share of beatings. Here is another pic from the same day, same spot.