Surfer at Pipeline

[JHill]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24427610@N03/2314702551/" title="North Shore 044-1 by oceanbsurf, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2088/2314702551_555836cde5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="North Shore 044-1" /></a>

I shot this about a month ago on Oahu. Here were the settings:

Focal length: 400 mm
Exposure time: 1/1000
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 100

[inkista]

I like the way you've caught the scale and the action and the colors are beautiful. My only cavil (and it's a small one) would be the framing. For my personal druthers, reframing it to cut out the surfer at the bottom edge, and placing the subject more to the right, so you can catch the rest of the wave and spray on the left side might have strengthened the composition (then again, I've been reading the DPS blog again (http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/leaving-space-behind-moving-subjects-composition/)).

[XpLoiT]

i agree with getting rid of the surger but maybe just do a different crop. not that theres anything wrong with the crop u have done just maybe employ rules of 3rds but id be happy to see this printed as is in a surf magazine

[jdepould]

Definitely crop it, it looks like you have plenty of resolution to play with and good sharpness, so even a significant crop shouldn't degrade the IQ. I'd definitely take some off the bottom, and then maybe a little bit off the right and left. Experimenting is really the only way to figure out what looks good.

[Dr. WooD]

I'm a surfer myself, and also a surf photographer. I've took, and viewed thousands of surf shots. I can say without hesitation this wood rank up there with one the best I have ever seen.

From the angle you were shooting at, I don't think you could have timed this shot any better. The color, and detail of the water is great, and the surfers skin tone is pretty good. I find it really hard to get an even exposure where the white water, and skin tones come out the way I want.

As far as your crop. If you were submitting this to a magazine I'd crop out the other surfer. If you were posting it on a surf forum, I'd leave it as is, because it tells a story only a surfer will understand. The other surfer either just wiped out, and is getting ready to take another beating in the impact zone, or he just made a really bad call paddling out there instead of the channel at Pipe. Either way, I bet he had a bad day.