Taking photos of people surfing - proper settings

Have a Nikon D2Xs with a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 80-200 mm 1:2.8 D lens ... feel

like I've tried every variety of settings and still not getting the level of

photo I should be ... any suggustions? Had a clear, sunny day, using

continuous focus - checked, my focus points are on the money, but my photos

just look flat.

 

Thanks.

When you say "flat," what do you mean? Are you referring to the apparent color saturation and contrast? Best solution: post a nicely-sized example here, and you'll get lots of pointers. You've got good equipment (though you might eventually want a longer lens for farther-out surfers). So: let's see us a flat image and see what's what.

In the last year or so, I have done a fair amount of surfing photography in Santa Curz, on the California coast:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=658765

 

I typcially use a 200-400mm/f4 zoom or a 500mm/f4 AF-S. I am not sure what your shooting condition is, but a 80-200 is likely too short. In a sunny day, I typially shoot at ISO 200, aperture priority at f4 wide open. The shutter speed is around 1/1500 sec.

 

I too am not sure what you mean by flat. Sports images can look flat if there isn't sufficient (sun) light to create the necessary contrast.

Are you post processing and working with curves and saturation?

I think you'd like a little depth of field - hence "flat". Shoot wide open. Use aperture priority or manual.

Two words: sunrise, sunset.

"Flat" can also happen if you're shooting in the direction of the sun, and you get flare inside

your lens. A lens hood takes care of that, if you're not shooting directly into the sun.

I agree with Shun. 200mm is too short.

Without knowing how you had the camera light meter set [small spot, large spot, matrix,] you have a good question without giving enough info for one to answer you.

 

 

 

You could try the small spot meter, measuring the light off the back of your hand or a grey sleeve. Set your camera to 'M' mode and using the same light measurement as you had from reading your hand or sleeve. That may give the meter less chance to fool you with all the bright light off the water/surf, giving you better images.<div></div>

The attached image was shot under an overcast sky. While the action was quite good, rather poor light makes the image not very interesting. Fortunately for me, I get plenty of sunshine here in California.

 

For landscape photography and outdoor architecture, early morning and later afternoon are usually good for photography because of the low angle of the sun and side light. For surfing, however, the surfers need to be there so that sunrise is not necessarily a good time, especially the water is usually cold. I do see surfers hanging around until sunset, though.

 

For this discussion to move forward, as Matt points out, Victoria needs to provide an example or two. Focal length is a separate, side issue here.<div></div>

In Southern California, the easiest time to shoot surfing is within 2 hours after sunrise. Only moderate post processing is required. Typically after 10:00 AM, the light becomes really hard and a lot of post processing is required to rescue the image, particularly the color. I generally use a 300-800 on a D2X using matrix metering with dynamic auto focus. I use to rent big lenses before deciding to purchase the Bigma.

 

http://www.mdougherty.com/100-THEPHOTOEXPERIENCE/150-SURFING/07-boost-trestles/00-surfing-boost07-intro-htm.htm

I would put a teleconverter on your lens, be there at sunrise (surfers in the warmer climates like the glass in the morning) and you can use a monopod to get as close to the action as posible. Shoot raw, and if the light is low go for a little motion blur.

Are you on the east or west coast of the US (or elsewhere)?

 

If you are on the west coast, and you shoot afternoon/evening, you are aiming into the sun (generally speaking). Try shooting sunrise/sunset surfing with the sun to your back, and your pics will almost immediately show improvement.