Photographing Surfers - Advice Please!

[jean melissa]

I am trying to learn how to take decent photographs of the local surfers on the

waves. It's the Jersey Shore, so while it's not shooting the California waves,

I still think it would be a lot of fun!

 

The details. I own a D70s, a tripod, and the following lenses: Nikon 18-70mm,

Tokina 12-24mm, Nikon 50mm/1.8, and a Lester A. Dine 100mm.

 

Would appreciate any pointers as I'll be going down to the beach tomorrow

morning bright and early! Should I use "Shutter priority", go completely

manual, use my longest range lens (18-70mm since my 18-200mm is still on order),

etc.? Any advice would be great! I realize I have to work with what I have and

want to make the most of it.

 

Thanks,

Jeannie

[clint h]

I would use aperture priority, AF continuous. You are a bit limited on range. Lighting might be an issue when shooting in the morning. Keep your shutter high enough to freeze the action. I have shot surfers in California and Florida using aperture priority and a tripod or monopod with good success. I use a 400 mm lense or 70-200 with a 1.4 TC depending on conditons.

Good Luck, it sounds fun.

[philg]

Professional surf photographers use long lenses (300-600mm) and then they wade out into the water, typically protecting the camera and lens with some sort of housing. If you're going to stand on the beach, you need at least as long as lens as the pro standing thigh-deep in the water. Don't own a 600/4 (same price and weight as a good used minivan)? Rent one! (well, maybe rent a 300 or 400mm prime lens; the 600/4 is a bit of a handful)

[william_pope]

Jeannie, hate to say it, that 70-200mm lens just isn't going give you the reach you'll need. Frankly, you'll need at least a 400mm lens....and a sturdy tripod. Keep it away from the water....no wading out. Seriously, your best bet...for good images....is a 600mm f5.6 or f4...the nikkor 400 f2.8 ais is a great lens. If you're up for manual focus....there's some great deals on used, late model mf nikkors....but they won't meter on your D70.......maybe look into a used d1x....a great camera. I shot for Surfer Magazine for over 10 years...and still shoot freelance today.....so I've had occasion to do just what you're wanting to do. Have fun.

[raymond_petty1]

If you are serious about surfers cancel the 18-200 and get a 300/4.0 AF.

 

The D70s still won't be the greatest at driving this non "s" lens.

 

If you are REALLY serious, you could get the 300/4.0 AF-S. The D70s will have an easier time with it re autofocus. Also, down the road, you could purchase an AF teleconvertor and retain AF.

 

It's all about what your true needs are and how much you can afford to ring up the cash register.

 

I just can't see how 200 mm is going to be very saisfying for the distances you'll be dealing with.

[Jerry_]

If you shoot from a fishing pier (or dock?) __ a slow AF 400mm lens should work in sunshine. The image following was done with a lowly Nikon D50 and a AF 80-400mm VR Nikkor lens, ISO set at 800.

 

 

 

Should the salt air be spraying at beach level, be sure to have a filter on the lens. It is easier to clean (or replace) than the front element of your lens.<div></div>

[bobmichaels]

If you're comfortable in the water, do something different. A used Nikonos with the 35mm lens is way cheaper than any of the long lens mentioned, plus it's a new perspective. Add a pair of fins and get close to the action.

[dan park]

I use a Kenko pro teleconverter (1.4) D50 in Shutter priority at 1/250 (to stop water droplets) and an 80-200 f2.8. Don't forget the tripod and a good hat.

 

Dan

[nolan_ross]

The white water causes underexposure so I would shoot manual after determining correct exposure. Without a long lens you need to be on a pier, boat or some situation that can get you close enough to the action...Even with a long lens, photos from the beach tend to be plain....nolan

[dan park]

All beaches are different. Depending on the swell size, location of sandbars, tide etc the waves will break at varying distances from the beach. Here in NC we have sandbar bottoms and at mid to high tide on a small to medium swell the waves tend to break closer to the shore making it easier to stand on the beach and use a medium telephoto (200-300mm) for taking fairly close up shots.

 

The Jersey shore shares a lot of the same charactoristics as well as swells with the NC shore so the same might apply there. You guys also have a lot more Jetties and Groins and it might be worth trying to shoot from one of them as well if it can be done safetly.

 

You're 18-200 will probably work fine for this but watch your shutter speed and make sure you're comfortable with the VR and it's capablilites. Higher shutter speeds and a tripod will make for crisper shots especially with a slower lense.

 

Hope this helps.

Dan<div></div>

[dan park]

Another shot using a tripod and 1/250 of a second shutter speed.</br>

 

<a href="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/10042190-lg.jpg">Surfing #2</a>

[hbs]

I agree strongly that you'll need a long lens and need to get close. Here's a shot I took last week in Rockport, MA with my 18-200 VR at 200mm. I was not that close and it shows.<div></div>

[aaron l]

You'll likely be dissapointed with the lenses you have. The attached shot was done with a D200, 80-400 @ 210mm, 1/2000, f8 @ ISO 400. Rent a rocket launcher lens. Most of my shots on a D200/70 are in the 300mm range on my 80-400. The break was really close to shore this time. I used to shoot a 500mm on film so the 300mm on digital works pretty well for me. I like the ability to zoom/crop so a fixed wouldn't be my style. But, that 200-400 sure looks nice...<div></div>

[aaron l]

Oh, and the VR was on normal and the shot was hand-held. I was too lazy to bring the tripod this day. I prefer pan/tilt heads rather than ball for shooting like this. A wimberly or cobra would be even better, though.

[rob_sronce]

I'm sure you have already made your trip and had time to evaluate the results. I'd thought I'd contribute another method for action photography that has worked well for me.

 

I find that if I use shutter priority my aperture is all over the place and I really want to control DOF in action shots to isolate the subject (or move away from the soft end of a cheap-o lens).

 

So rather than use shutter priority I use aperture priority, open wide and (using a D70) set the ISO so that the camera is setting high shutter speeds (without it getting too noisy in the shadows). (The in-between "ISO's" like 640 come in handy here!) Keep an eye on the shutter speeds so you can dial down the ISO to avoid the noise when possible.

 

I recently shot my friends waterskiing using this and it worked fine hand-held leaning back in the "look-out" seat next to the pilot at 9:00 before the wind and other boats made it too choppy.

 

I also use spot metering on the subject to eliminate the high reflectivity of the water. To expose properly for an off-center subject I lock the exposure on the subject and re-frame. (My AF/EL button is set to "lock/un-lock exposure only." Check you D70s manual for how to set this.) Make sure to move your AF point to off-center or lock focus before re-frame.

 

BTW leaving it on matrix meter will sometimes produce nice shiloettes (sp?) or you can meter off the water.

 

Have fun!

-- Rob S

[gabi_a]

I have two questions:

 

1. What is a teleconverter?

2. Question for William (Pope), re. - quote - "there's some great deals on used, late model mf nikkors". I own an old Nikon FE, and would like to get a good telephoto or zoom lens for it. What kind of deals are you specifically referring to?

[ShunCheung]

Gabi, it turns out that Wikipedia has a pretty good description of what a teleconverter (TC) is:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleconverter

 

An example is Nikon's TC-14E II: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=228165&is=USA&addedTroughType=search

[julia_tom]

well jeannie- these ppl are certainly photo experts, but I have shot quite a few surf shots (living in Hawaii and being a surfer) I learned a trick from some pro photogr. at my last surf trip of spot metering the whitewater and adding 1 1/2 stops so not to underexpose the surfer and to make the white water bright WHITE. Used a tripod, panasonic fz-5 (420mm lens), and many of my pix turned out great, have fun