Kiteboarding This Week

[tonylong]

Hey All,

This summer I'm chasing kiteboarders, among other things!

In an earlier post I mentioned that this was my first attempt at serious "sports" shooting, so I've been learning as I go along!

You can see my recent attempts at the top of my PBase Sports gallery here (http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/recreation_sports).

Here are some samples from a couple of outings this week along the Columbia River, Monday at Sauvie Island, OR and Tuesday at Stevenson, WA.

http://www.pbase.com/image/99890990/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99914961/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99973740/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99973820/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99936196/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99936781/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99937438/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tonylong/image/99938227/original.jpg

[Kenski]

SOCKS???

[tonylong]

SOCKS???

Heh! Yeah, it's funny! Here in the Columbia River area, with the water still cold, you never know what kind of "gear" you might encounter! Combined with wetsuits, you see snow-boarder types of outfits along with stranger things -- such as socks!

[Kenski]

hehehe, when I saw that I just started laughing to myself... Hmmmmm, I see everyone forgoes the life jacket and uses the 1960's life belt... Ok.. Might not be as bad as the ones from the 60's but still not good.

On second thought, those are just harnesses for the envelope.... HUH..

[Desertraptor]

I guess the water was cold :)
Nice shots

[GeneS]

nice shots dude. what lake were these taken at?

[tonylong]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone!

nice shots dude. what lake were these taken at?

These shots were takens at two locations along the Columbia River (bordering Oregon and Washington).

The first four were taken at Sauvie Island, OR -- northwest (downriver) of Portland.

The last four were taken at Stevenson, WA, east in the Columbia River Gorge, a little ways downriver of the wind/water sports "HQ", Hood River, OR.

As far as safety gear, a lot depends on the skill level of the rider. At some point, those who are experienced and training for competition tend to shed things that add weight.

[Darsk47]

nice series - interesting bokeh in shots 1& 3- especially at f5.6
Is that natural or did you touch it in PP?

[Smad728]

Nice shots. Crazy gear.

[tonylong]

Thanks for the compliments, all!

nice series - interesting bokeh in shots 1& 3- especially at f5.6
Is that natural or did you touch it in PP?

The bokeh is the normal way that the 100-400 handles a background that is "granular" (that's the way I put it) and the lens is stopped down because of distance/long focal length. If I were to bring these shots into Photoshop I'd probably apply some blur to the background, but these are straight out of Lightroom -- quick turnaround:)!

Nice shots. Crazy gear.

Heh! Crazy gear can help if you're chasing a crazy bunch of people practising a crazy sport:)! Actually, I've been learning -- today I switched to my 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens and stuck to closer shooting, plus I switched my focus setting to multiple points from center point only because I have a hunch that the Ring Of Fire setting will work better for these jumpers!

But, yeah, all the AF firepower you can throw at a sport like this will help you get "the shots".

[kenyc]

Nice work. Great start.

[CanadianKitKat]

Very cool series!