Surfin' USA
Apr 29, 2018 20:51:56 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
After struggling a lot with the Nikon 200-500mm, f/5.6 lens, I feel like I'm finally getting a bead on it. The addition of a pistol grip and a monopod made a huge difference. Here are some surfing shots I took yesterday, some as far away as 1000 feet. Not perfect, but I can sure see the improvement. Comments?
Surfer's Point, Ventura, CA
(Download)
Crouching Surfer
(Download)
Look Out Behind You!
(Download)
Keep Walking
(Download)
Old Guy's Can Surf Too!
(Download)
Get That Hat!
(Download)
Stand Up Paddleboard
(Download)
A Tip of the Hat to the Fairer Sex
(Download)
Apr 29, 2018 21:00:10 #
rdrechsler wrote:
After struggling a lot with the Nikon 200-500mm, f/5.6 lens, I feel like I'm finally getting a bead on it. The addition of a pistol grip and a monopod made a huge difference. Here are some surfing shots I took yesterday, some as far away as 1000 feet. Not perfect, but I can sure see the improvement. Comments?
Great shots rdrechsler
Apr 29, 2018 21:04:02 #
Nice pics, love the water under the surf board of the guy with the hat...
Apr 29, 2018 21:23:36 #
Fun stuff! Looks as if you have a "bead" all right! Had a quick surfing photo op a few weeks ago. When I got them into Lr and started playing, found an amazing trove of detail and interest in in what looked at first like blah white, watery froth around the surfers. You might enjoy some experimenting in PP. Or...you might like 'em just the way they are!
Apr 29, 2018 22:36:37 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
cabunit wrote:
Fun stuff! Looks as if you have a "bead" all right! Had a quick surfing photo op a few weeks ago. When I got them into Lr and started playing, found an amazing trove of detail and interest in in what looked at first like blah white, watery froth around the surfers. You might enjoy some experimenting in PP. Or...you might like 'em just the way they are!
Thanks for your comments. I did some minimal PP, crops and adjusting white balance a little to clean up any “blah white, water froth.”
Apr 29, 2018 22:37:54 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
sleepy51 wrote:
Nice pics, love the water under the surf board of the guy with the hat...
Funny, that was the first thing that caught my eye too. Pretty neat. Thanks for your comments.
Apr 29, 2018 22:38:58 #
Apr 30, 2018 02:21:44 #
Dick, these are a great collection of a fun day well photographed! Well done! 
Apr 30, 2018 12:35:12 #
You are certainly getting there Dick. Do you have a trigger release on that pistol grip?
Apr 30, 2018 12:37:06 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
SpyderJan wrote:
You are certainly getting there Dick. Do you have a trigger release on that pistol grip?
Haha, no. Is that covered by the Second Amendment?
Apr 30, 2018 13:33:54 #
rdrechsler wrote:
After struggling a lot with the Nikon 200-500mm, f/5.6 lens, I feel like I'm finally getting a bead on it. The addition of a pistol grip and a monopod made a huge difference. Here are some surfing shots I took yesterday, some as far away as 1000 feet. Not perfect, but I can sure see the improvement. Comments?
Hi Dick, Nice images here. Like you, I've been trying my hand a surf pics. Not as easy as it looks. One thing I've found is the lighting makes a big impact. I'm now trying to shoot more with the sun behind me so that I get the faces illuminated rather than being in shadow. Also, early in the morning before the winds pick up presents you with a more glassy surface on the face of the wave.
I also find that I get more keepers focusing using center-weighted rather than spot. When the action is fast, I miss too ofter trying to keep the spot on the surfers face. When using spot, I was spending too much time thinking about the focus rather than the action. Just my experience.
Thanks for sharing. Have fun at the beach and hope to see more images soon.
Mike
Apr 30, 2018 14:30:48 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
SalvageDiver wrote:
Hi Dick, Nice images here. Like you, I've been t... (show quote)
Hi Mike, yes, as I've progressed with my skill at this particular subject matter I've found very much the same. Keeping spot focus on a surfer is tough, so I used D9 on my camera, which broadens the focus area, but not too much. Ditto on light. That's imperative. One challenge I have is photographing kite surfers, because they only come out when the wind blows, which is typically in the late afternoon when the sun is behind them here on the West Coast. The other issue to deal with is the tides. In yesterday's example it was high tide and even though morning, VERY windy. As a result, the waves sucked, but I still managed to get some good shots from the better surfers. I plan to try some different venues. Rincon comes to mind because of the almost perfect break and the quality of the surfers there. There's always a way to improve!
Apr 30, 2018 14:45:44 #
Apr 30, 2018 21:56:13 #
Great shots. What is almost more amazing to me is the "old guys" out on the waves. Wow.
Apr 30, 2018 22:08:36 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
woodworkerman wrote:
Great shots. What is almost more amazing to me is the "old guys" out on the waves. Wow.
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