It’s sad really… The first time in 2006 I’ve gotten around to sitting on the beach and shooting some surfing is in November! Admittedly I haven’t been down in Garrettstown as much as I normally am but still, no excuse! What I did manage on Saturday was to practice shooting one of my most loved of all subjects while testing out my new 70-200 f2.8 IS. While it lacks reach for surfing, coincidentally that day it worked out well because alot of the action was closer to the beach than it normally is. I can easily fix that for the future with the addition of a 1.4x teleconverter…
Although the waves weren’t exactly frighteningly big there were still alot of surfers in the water and some good shots to be had. I can see myself that there’s a bit of work to be done with either my technique or camera settings to get the best out of the new lens, maybe I’m just not used to the finer things in life?!?
Anyway, I’ll keep plugging away at it until, eventually, I get it as close to perfect as my sanity will allow. Yes, there are more of these on Flickr.
I’d say it’s the talent in the water that was lacking to be honest. The lens looks super sharp.
Did you shoot any shots wide open? How did you find the IS helps?
When I shoot surf (not that I’m any good or anything) here are some of my typical settings/suggestions:
I’d be as wide open as possible otherwise.
ISO: Don’t be afraid to go to 800 or even 1600
Shutter Speed: Absolute Minimum 1/1000 unless it’s evening and you want a blur effect.
Aperture: f/8.0 Cause my lens sucks
I use AI Servo or AI Focus depending on the break and my position and select a focal point either in the center or one in a lower corner.
I also usually shoot with the exposure meter (EV?) down one notch (no idea what the technical term for that is) In other words I’ll slightly underexpose the image. This is so as not to blow out the whitewater when the wave breaks.
I use the * button for focussing and the burst mode to catch the action only rattling off two or three shots a time.
It’s good to know who are the better surfers too, keep an eye out for the guys that are consistently catching waves and not falling off!
When shooting shortboarders watch out for the bottom turn, the harder the surfer leans into the bottom turn the better the top turn should be hopefully throwing lots of spray and making for a great shot
Guys on longboards are usually more into cross-stepping and noseriding.
Might see you down the beach someday
They’re great shots Ryan. Spent Sunday freezing cold taking pictures of a sunset because there was no wind and few kitesurfers so that’s me a little envious.
As for my personal preferred settings, I’d generally be in agreement with some of what Peter says and not all of it. I like super sharp images so unless it’s really late, I rarely go above ISO 200 and I shoot with ISO 100 as far as possible. Usually I wind up ditching anything taken on an ISO higher than 400.
Mostly I go for the widest possible aperture with the fastest possible shutter speed. Usually that ranges between 1/500 and 1/3200 depending on the light. Mostly I shoot with the camera on fully manual, otherwise, I aim for shutter speed priority rather than aperture priority.
If you’re shooting from the beach, the biggest killer is the answer to the following question: “where is the sun coming from?”
great shots… am actually jealous… these are the ones to submit to iStock… (hint: some inspectors there whom you may know like these kinda ones
)