A Hour of Windsurfing

[brian1208]

Having been unable to get out this morning I had a brief period when I could nip down to Avon Beach to see if the Windsurfers were out enjoying the conditions and they were

Here are a few of the moves, shot with the EM-1 + 75-300mk2 with ISO 400, shutter wide open or +1 stop and shutter speeds in the 1/1000th sec +/- range

The light was all over the place and the water was a disgusting "Poo Brown" colour because of all the sand and mud stirred up by the constant pounding of the waves after the last month or so

Despite that, I hope you enjoy the pics

[Chevvyf1]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

Brian, how is it - that when I go down to Avon Beach/Mudeford/Hengistbury there are NEVER Surfers out ?

Its not fair !

ps great images which wind me up even MORE

[brian1208]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

Keep an eye on the wind forecasts Chevvy, you really need strong to gale s.westerly to s.easterly winds to tempt them out (it helps if there is a bit of sun too )

Glad you liked them

[photo_owl]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

you either have a superb eye for 'the moment' or you've shot a lot of images and presented the good ones!

excellent framing and action captures Brian

one thing I have really noticed when looking back over image files from 43 and E-P1 against the E-M1 is the vastly improved DR rendering in the sort of light you have shot here - and it shows.

thanks for taking the time to post these

[brian1208]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

you either have a superb eye for 'the moment' or you've shot a lot of images and presented the good ones!

I think the only answer I can give to that kind comment is Yes

(I do shoot a lot of this sport so can anticipate when the action is about to get interesting these days, but there have been a lot off "discards" along the way whilst I've been learning)

I think you are right about the DR, I find that careful post processing can wring lots of information out of apparently rather bland images (when I get the lighting wrong )

[banjukes]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

Great action shots Brian.

[Greytop]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

A cracking set Brian, great anticipation and reactions (you and the surfers)

[tomphotofx]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

Lovely set I like No 2 great capture.

Tom

[Phill D]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

Excellent captures Brian, you are definitely good at this.

[Iansky]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

What a fantastic set of images Brian, No.2 is perfect timing and all portray real action in rough seas and high wind.

Thanks for sharing the experience, did you use AFC for these rather than tracking?

[brian1208]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

Thanks for your positive reactions everyone, its a the usual case of applying my nature shooting technique to sport (observe, recognise behaviour pattern and anticipate the moment). Once you apply this thinking it becomes a very simple subject to shoot.

No Ian, back to SAF with me tracking the action and relying on my "rapid blip to refocus" method of shooting, its what I have become comfortable with over the years (even with my canon kit) and is one less thing to worry about, allowing me to concentrate on the action.

I shoot bursts of 6 or 10 fps depending on the action that's occurring, so #2 was the middle of a sequence of about 5 shots

[brian1208]

Re: A Hour of Windsurfing

This little extract from a longer 10fps sequence shows what I mean about tracking the action (its missing about 60% of the total sequence and each image is a crop of about 50% of the original as they were some way out to get the best action):