Kite Surfing on a dull and windy day

Compuwight

Compuwight

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Steve France
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I ventured out to the back of the Island to catch some Kite Surfers, its was dull and very windy. I had to ay a towel on my bonnet and hide behind the car, leaning on the bonnet and still struggled....
kite_surfer_5.jpgkite_surfer_4.jpgkite_surfer_3.jpgkite_surfer_1.jpgkite_surfer_2.jpg
 
Hi Steve, a tripod or monopod is a good asset -makes for shooting with a wider aperture / Slower shutter speed, to help nail exposure on the actual subject!

Looks like you exposed for the water, making the actual subject darker than it should be

I've a done a 2 min edit to demonstrate the difference that could be achieved in camera - which of course is preferable to using an editing Suite like Photoshop etc

Original:
UB7LEW2.jpg




Edit in Photoshop
01RWJAb.jpg



Les :)
 
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Les,

Thanks for the advice, must get this Photoshop methinks...

PS I have a cheap tripod and a good monopod, but neither would have helped on this day, gusty at 80mph I had trouble standing still and even the van was rocking !

thanks again, I will have a play with PS express (freebie)
 
You were at my local beach :) I was out photographing the kitesurfers on Saturday. I often slightly over expose, as Les has suggested, although it's not always necessary.

If I'm using my Canon gear I tend to use a monopod. With my Olympus gear which is much smaller and what I tend to use more often these days, I go handheld. The wind buffeting is always a problem, as is the spray. I carry a small water spray bottle and cloth - camera is weather sealed!

The two kitesurfers you've captured are father and 15 yr old son - he does some huge jumps.

There are plenty of software options other than photoshop so it's worth researching before you splash out....
 
Bebop said:
You were at my local beach :) I was out photographing the kitesurfers on Saturday. I often slightly over expose, as Les has suggested, although it's not always necessary.

If I'm using my Canon gear I tend to use a monopod. With my Olympus gear which is much smaller and what I tend to use more often these days, I go handheld. The wind buffeting is always a problem, as is the spray. I carry a small water spray bottle and cloth - camera is weather sealed!

The two kitesurfers you've captured are father and 15 yr old son - he does some huge jumps.

There are plenty of software options other than photoshop so it's worth researching before you splash out....
Click to expand...


What I said was to expose for the actual subject - in this case the surfers :)
 
Lez325 said:
What I said was to expose for the actual subject - in this case the surfers :)
Click to expand...
You are correct - sorry - in this instance it would have been to slightly over expose the rest of the scene to get the surfers exposed well.... which is what I often do :) I should have just left out the 'as Les has suggested' :ROFLMAO:
 
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Bebop said:
You are correct - sorry - in this instance it would have been to slightly over expose the rest of the scene to get the surfers exposed well.... which is what I often do :) I should have just left out the 'as Les has suggested' :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Not a problem :ROFLMAO:- you are of course correct- by exposing for a dark subject the surrounding area ( sea) will of course be over exposed :)

However: This can be adjusted in post

like this

8kuB3SG.jpg
 
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Sorry to Talk rather than discuss the actual shots but I noticed on a recent drive along the beach down at Exmouth (beach was pretty packed so stayed in the car) that there were a lot of hydrofoil type kite boards and a fair few with what appeared to be hand held kites/sails. Is this a fairly new thing or have I led a sheltered life for the past few months?
 
Hydrofoils have been around a little while, but the wing foils are fairly new. Many years ago (c. 30years ) I remember a similar thing being used in a video on the Hood river. They didn’t take off then, if you’ll forgive the pun. They look rather ungainly to me.

The hydrofoils could potentially give you some nasty injuries. I watched someone struggling at my local beach recently. They need a certain depth of water to get started and he was getting trashed in the shore break as he kept grounding.
 
Nod said:
Sorry to Talk rather than discuss the actual shots but I noticed on a recent drive along the beach down at Exmouth (beach was pretty packed so stayed in the car) that there were a lot of hydrofoil type kite boards and a fair few with what appeared to be hand held kites/sails. Is this a fairly new thing or have I led a sheltered life for the past few months?
Click to expand...

I photographed the same thing last year- so maybe it is a regular occurrence :)

Les
 
I saw someone using trying to use one a few years ago but seemed to need a blue tablet... From (poor) memory, he was using a single foil whereas the current ones seem to be twin foiled.

Used to do a fair bit of windsurfing back in the early '80s - not sure I've seen a windsurfer for several years now!
 
Nod said:
I saw someone using trying to use one a few years ago but seemed to need a blue tablet... From (poor) memory, he was using a single foil whereas the current ones seem to be twin foiled.

Used to do a fair bit of windsurfing back in the early '80s - not sure I've seen a windsurfer for several years now!
Click to expand...

I’m an ex-windsurfer too. There was one going out as I left the beach today and three out yesterday, so they’re still around, but they’re not young - still very talented though!

From what I’ve heard, kitesurfing is trickier (and more dangerous) at first, but once you get past the beginner phase, you progress more quickly. I just never fancied that learning curve of being dragged up the beach [emoji4]
 
Me neither! Not sure my back would put up with any type of wind assisted boarding these days.
 
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