Surfing photos, advise needed please

<p>

<p>Hi there, </p>

<p>I'm planing a surftrip on Bali next month and i would like to ask you guys, what is the gear i really need. As i am quite money less i would like to avoid buying something like a new len for 2000usd :) </p>

<p>Im planing to take the 70-200 2.8 on a d200, maybe d90. Im affraid the 200 will not be far enough so maybe i buy a 1.7 convertor. As i am on water and in sunny weather, i guess i will need a polarizing filter.</p>

<p>these are just my thoughts, is there anything else a have to take care of to have my perfect pictures?</p>

<p>if any of you have been on bali, please tell me what to take care of /examlple - how far is surfer from the coast, etc/</p>

<p>thank you very much :)</p>

</p>

<p>The 70-200mm will not be long enough unless the surfers are close to shore. I would suggest the 70-300mm VR lens (do not consider the G or ED versions) over the 1.7x. A used 70-300mm VR lens is not that much more expensive than a converter. If you want 400mm, consider Nikon's 2X converter with your 70-200mm. I have had good results with the combo:</p>

<p><a href="../photodb/folder?folder_id=907907">http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=907907</a></p>

<p>Your best bet would probably be Nikon's 80-400mm. You can get one used for $1000. If you only need the lens for the trip, my suggestion would be to buy the for the trip and sell it after you get back. You should be able to get your money back.</p>

<p>Your best time to shoot will be when the sun is in front of the surfers. </p>

<p>Thanks Elliot, what i am affraid of on the 2x convertor is the loosing of light, if i am right it is 3 steps. I am a novice at this, so is the sun that strong that i just dont have to worry about this?</p>

<p>Using the 2x will give the 70-200mm a f5.6 aperture which is more than adequate for daylight photography. I typically shoot surfing f8 or f10 (dending on the lens) to increase DOF and keep the subject well in focus. They are often moving pretty fast when surfing and a larger DOF will insure proper focus even when the camera 'misses'.</p>

 

<p>ok so when i am reading this right it IS a better choice to buy a convertor <br>

A - the 70-200 2.8 is a freakin good lens, so even with loosing some stops it is still better choice than a 70-300<br>

B - i dont have to carry around two long lenses<br>

C - i dont have to buy a useless lens which would have no other use than on my vacation</p>

<p>is this right or do i miss something?</p>

<p>If I were you, I would investigate whether the surfing is done near a pier or not. If near a pier you may not have to buy new long lens. I shot surfing before, and most of my shots were on the pier with a 400mm + 1.4 TC lens. 200mm + 2x TC is too short.</p>

<p>Branco, IMO your best choice would be the 80-400mm. It is a coin toss between the other two choices - they each have their advantages and disadvantages. </p>

<p>Brano,<br>

Nice to hear that. I'm going there and then to mentawai islands.<br>

Well, everytime that I visit indonesia, i used to use Canon 2.8 70-200 USM for Lineups and photos inside the water. Tokina 10-17mm for freesurfing inside the water; Canon 600mm for some places (for example sumatra and gland). 70-200 is a flexible lens, and you can try to do some photos in a boat also. 100-400 is a good lens also. I use a Canon Mark III and 40d (as backup).<br>

Dont forget to buy a good waterhousing (spl or aquatek are the best in my opnion) and a flash.<br>

The best way to get/take surfing photos in indonesia is inside water in my opnion, you ill need a good fins as viper or techfins and a water boot to protect your feet allowing you to stay for 2 or more hours in the water.<br>

Be aware: Dont try to sell surfing photos for tourists or anyone there. The local photographers can punch you or call the police and it can cause a lot of trouble for you because probably you ill get a tourist visa.<br>

Good luck there and post some photos here later.<br>

Best Regards,<br>

F.</p>

<p>Oh im sorry. Since that you had a limited budget. Maybe a 100-400 would be a good choice.</p>

<p>You don't really need a polarizing filter if you are shooting early morning or afternoon. it does help if you are getting lots of reflection off the water in the middle of the day, but the photos for the most part probably won't be that great either because the face is in shadow. I may use a polarizer 10% of the time I shoot surfing.</p>

<p>I shoot pretty tight so line up shots with sky and clouds might be helped with a polarizer. </p>

<p>Ditto on what Fraja said about selling photo's. I spend quite a bit of time in Bali and got to know the lay of the land pretty good. They will chase you off or worse, if they ask you can either say you work for a mag or tell them there for yourself and they will leave you alone. Though I would never say its a good idea to impersonate a mag photographer.<br>

For longer distance breaks like Uluwatu you need at least 600mm to shoot outside. You can get away with a 70-200 on the inside break (Race Tracks) but from the warung the break wraps around the cliff so you don't get a full ride. If you can't afford a longer lens, rent one.<br>

Breaks like dreamland, bigins, and padang padang you can use a 70-200 with a 1.4 tele convertor and be happy.<br>

I travel with my 4x5, 1dmkii, 40D, spl water housing, tokina 11-17, canon 50 1.4, canon 70-200 2.8, canon 17-40 and my canon300 2.8 plus teleconvertors. The only reason I don't bring the 600 is just the added weight, i wish i had it everytime i go but with all of the extra gear it would break my back.<br>

Have fun, where are you planning on staying?</p>

<p>wow nice pieces there in your bag :) </p>

<p>we're going to stay in hotel near kuta beach but just 20 mins before i was told the nice spot for enjoying surf without a crowdy beach is Padang beach which is just next to Kuta. As we are not Pro's and still in phase of learning, i would say we spend 95perc time here and then go to see how the big guys do it somewhere near cliffs. I'm so excited to go there, it is like dream came true, so i guess i will be shooting everything :) No seriously i will try to find some rental to do the from-beach-shots and i'm playing with idea to get some underwater housing. But as i somehow dont realy trust these things i gues i will use here d60 and old old old 18-200, that would be not so horrible to get it damaged or something... i'm thinking of aquapack as their sortiment is here "to have", any experiences?<br>

I have no plans to sell some of my pictures, we are group of 15 ppl so i will only shoot them, not some pros or whatever, but right now i feel a bit scared to shoot there :) is it realy that bad?</p>

<p>Sorry dont be scared to shoot, everyone is really friendly over there. The only thing is alot of the locals who shoot depend on the tourist for a living so than can get touchy. Just smile act polite like you should do in any foreign country and if they ask tell them they are for your self.<br>

As far as the aquapac I wouldn't waste your money. I had tried one with one of my point and shoots six months ago and they really aren't worth the money. Water spots are a bear and since its not designed for any real specific camera the controls are had to deal with. Either save your money or put it towards another spare battery. Or rent a longer lens, that would be money well spent but rent from your local shop there are two decent shops in Denpasar but I am not sure if they rent.<br>

Have fun in Kuta it is packed with people day and night who are just out to have fun. Bintang beer for a buck god I missed that right now. I am in Malaysia right now and when you can find beer it is really expensive.</p>

Hello,

 

Try to contact liquideye if you want to try any water housing you want, also if you have any other question feel free to ask ...super nice guy and located in Bali.

If one day you come to Hawaii,you could borrow water housing from me.

 

contact@liquideye-whs.com

 

http://www.liquideye-whs.com/us/products-2.html

 

Best regards.

<p>Doug - thanks for info, i'm much calmer now :) i guess will go and see the aquapack but as you said - it looks very strange and doesnt to seem to work :) i was looking for some other brand, but google showed up with this result so... it is not that easy to get this stuff here as we are in central europe :)</p>

<p>stephane - thanks for tip, is this adress directly to the guy in bali or its just some international adress? how will i find him?</p>

<p>thanks a lot guys, love this</p>

Hello,

 

This is his direct e-mail address, and his name is Phillipe he will respond to u no problem,tell him I send u.

 

Best regards.

<p>this si unbelieveble :) thanks stephane :)</p>

<p>One last thing to let you know about. You probably already have an international drivers license being from Europe. It's not as common in the States. If you don't make sure you get one even if you are only going to ride scooters. Tell your whole group to get one as well. The police will regulary shake you down for a few bucks for breakfast at check points for really anything but if you don't have an international license they will extort a whole lot of money out of you or worse try to jail you. The latter doesn't happen very much but they do extort money on a daily basis especially in Kuta.<br>

My driver and I went trough Kuta in passing one day and counted three check points in and out of town within a twenty minute drive. All they had pulled over were tourists and there were alot of them.<br>

If someone in the group forgets theres and wants to drive you can go to the local Polsi and tell them you forgot yours and they will stamp a new one for you, for a small bribe. This really isn't a big deal of sorts but one last thing to have straightened out before you leave to solve any extra head aches. </p>

<p>Oh yeah one more thing, don't stress about any of this stuff and have fun. This is all an fyi of things myself and other photog's are work with have seen or been nailed by.<br>

Check the Double D on Legian for good dinner style food and what ever footy game or F1 race is on back home and the Rain Forest Cafe has pretty good live band that plays killers to zeplin.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, tomorow i will do that, its really cheap here so it saves a lot of money :) thanks for tip and for the reastaurants :) the time is getting short, got to buy the convertor now!! :)</p>

<p>Hey guys, <br>

thanks once again for your tips for Bali. Well, the issue with international driving licence is true - you got to have one, otherwise you run in trouble with local officers. its not a big deal as it is not a big amount of money, but after 3 times, it is paid back.<br>

I bought the 1.7 converter i was talking about and i did right decision - coast around Bali is not very deep, so the surfers are quite far away and yes - the 70-200 + 1.7TC is still not enough :) I didnt have problem with local photographers, but a friend of mine surfed corals where only the big guys have their fun and he told me, that on certain beaches are photographers "for rent" who shoot couple of pictures of you surfing for some amount of money /i think that was the Balangan beach/</p>

<p>I didnt use the underwater housing as it just cost too much and i somehow didnt believe in the Aquapack. I just bought cheap lomo with underwater housing and did some fun pics. Anyway, in every local grociery store you can buy a underwater Kodak to have fun with. </p>

<p>As for the country - i fell in love with Bali and definitely want to go there next year once again and again and again... People are so nice /hope thats not just mask on their faces/, the ocean is unbelieveble, sun is shining, everything cheap + Bintang bear everywhere. Really didnt have such a good feeling nearly nowhere till now. On our way back we stayed in Bangkok for two days - its nothing in comparison with Bali, i would say i dont like Bangkok at all.</p>

<p>This is all for now, i hope this helps some guys planing to do the same trip :)</p>

<p>thanks a lot for all your answers guys</p>