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Took these in fading light earlier this week:


It was almost dark, I bumped up the ISO to 1600, very noisy with a storm coming


13' long board, more like a builders plank?


Pitt street at Snappers


Young surfer on a smallish swell


This one is a very unusual capture in fading light


This one could well have been an all time favourite but alas, it wasn't focussed correctly, nevermind...

Max

Nice shots Ozimax. Love the colors in the sky that the storm is bringing. Shame there wasn't just a bit of fill light (maybe with better beamer). Then again you'd probably distract the surfer and that's not a good thing

When I was down at Port Fairy I tried to snap some surfers but found I was too far away. What sort of distance were you to the subjects?

kipper wrote:When I was down at Port Fairy I tried to snap some surfers but found I was too far away. What sort of distance were you to the subjects?

Darryl, 30-40 metres max, my motto is "the closer the better" ! ( I only have a Tamron 300mm)

Max

Nice ones max, I know how hard it is to get good surf shots even with a 500mm.

IMO, the first shot is just great. Really grabbed me, and the noise doesn't detract.

Max - the sky in the first shot makes this unique - no blue sky

T'riffic stuff Max. I love the colour variation in the first one but I may have been tempted to crop out the rock (that would make it a "rocky outcrop" ) or maybe clone out both it and the other surfer on the left to give the image a sense of isolation. Just my personal ramblings...

Will try your suggestion Simon and see how it looks, pity it wasn't sharper, thanks for the comments Max

We're always our own harshest critics....

If it's a toss-up between a grainy result and missing the shot altogether, I know which direction I'd be leaning. There's stuff-all we can do about the laws of physics but we can certainly choose whether or not we let them spoil our fun! Some of my most atmospheric shots have been at mega-ISO settings.

Love the first shot and agree with Manta's comment about losing the rock. Last shot would surely have been a definative moment had it been sharp. Were you shooting from the beach or do you have a box or bag to put your camera in???

SteveGriffin wrote:Love the first shot and agree with Manta's comment about losing the rock. Last shot would surely have been a definative moment had it been sharp. Were you shooting from the beach or do you have a box or bag to put your camera in???

Nothing but my jeans (saturated), camera and eyes, standing right in the water at Snappers, Coolangatta!

Max

Lol you're game. I had a tripod setup on rocks at Port Fairy opposite where the surfers were but not enough reach. Be buggered taking the 70-200VR +TC in water

Darryl,

Fair point, that's why I use an el cheapo lens, the water is warm here even in winter, just an occasional splash means care is wise and a watchful eye on the waves doesn't hurt.

I think to set up a tripod on beach and photograph from afar needs a big sports lens and a lot of money! BTW, Pt Fairy is a nice spot, was there two years ago, hopefully will be back sometime.

Max

Darryl,

Fair point, that's why I use an el cheapo lens, the water is warm here even in winter, just an occasional splash means care is wise and a watchful eye on the waves doesn't hurt.

I think to set up a tripod on beach and photograph from afar needs a big sports lens and a lot of money! BTW, Pt Fairy is a nice spot, was there two years ago, hopefully will be back sometime.

Max

hey max. What settings did you take these shots at? I'm having trouble getting decent shots with my tamron lens and just wondering what you did to get these great shots.

Owen,

I use manual mode as follows:

ISO 200, 300mm at F6 and about 1/800-1/1000 in bright light with spot metering, if light gets dull then slow shutter speed and/or increase ISO. Just try as many setting as you can and see what happens.

Max