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rparchen
26th of July 2009 (Sun), 17:47
I was invited out by some friends for a day on the water to shoot wake boarding and some wake surfing. I used my 70-200mm for the boarding shots and my 17-55 F/2.8 for the wake surfing since they were just a few feet in front of me. The surfing shots were a bit scary since I had my camera/lens off the swim deck just a few inches off the top of the water but everything worked out well. Enjoy!

1)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_3526-edit.jpg

2)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_3701-edit.jpg

3)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_3707-edit.jpg

4)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_4148-edit.jpg

5)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_4154-edit.jpg

6)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_4163-edit.jpg

7)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_3663-edit.jpg
rparchen
26th of July 2009 (Sun), 17:48
8)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Wake%20Surfing/IMG_3508-edit.jpg
Undispu7ed
26th of July 2009 (Sun), 17:52
Amazing! Are they friends/family or?
rparchen
26th of July 2009 (Sun), 17:59
The guy in the green shorts was a new acquaintance (who was amazing), the girl in the blue jacket is my sister, and the guy in the white shorts is a local radio DJ (pretty new to wake surfing and had to use the rope). All in all, I took 600 pictures and have more keepers than I'll have time to process. It was a blast and I can't wait to get out there again. Thanks for the comment!
poppie guy
29th of July 2009 (Wed), 00:11
Nice series, I especially like the second shot!
TristanCardew
29th of July 2009 (Wed), 05:27
Loving the wake-surfing shots. A really unique perspective. Really well done!
MikeFairbanks
29th of July 2009 (Wed), 09:27
Yeah, the wake skating shots were the best. Those up close ones are really good.
rparchen
29th of July 2009 (Wed), 12:47
I also thought the wake surfing shots were the most interesting since it is something that people don't generally see every day. In fact, I think I'm heading to the lake right now. It's 100 in Seattle right now and the lake is a great place to be :) Thanks for everyone's comments!
HOPE-C
29th of July 2009 (Wed), 18:52
Very nice shots! how do you deal with the water... ? I mean, 50d isn't suposed to like taking showers.
beauch1322
29th of July 2009 (Wed), 19:37
Im surprised how close you got with the 200mm!
MikeFairbanks
30th of July 2009 (Thu), 08:33
What kind of board are the "surfing" shots using? Is that a wake skate?
Undispu7ed
30th of July 2009 (Thu), 08:45
What kind of board are the "surfing" shots using? Is that a wake skate?


Girl in the blue vest. You can tell because the board is smaller like a skateboard
PubUltraStar
30th of July 2009 (Thu), 13:39
What kind of board are the "surfing" shots using? Is that a wake skate?

Actually, they make wakesurf boards now specifically for wakesurfing. More volume than a wakeskate, and couldn't be used for actual surfing as their really isn't enough volume for that. I have a liquid force board for wakesurfing.

Awesome pictures. I'm sure even the guy who was new to wakesurfing enjoyed these!
MetricMeter
30th of July 2009 (Thu), 15:25
Great shots!!! I really like the 3rd one, and the one of your sis smiling.
rparchen
30th of July 2009 (Thu), 16:19
Very nice shots! how do you deal with the water... ? I mean, 50d isn't suposed to like taking showers.

The 50D in fact does not like water. I just kept it is dry as possible, which wasn't too hard. I would lay down on the swim step after the wake/wave was developed a bit as it wouldn't splash as much. I got nothing worse than a few droplets on the lens which were easily wiped off. What fun would it be if there wasn't a little risk involved though? :)

What kind of board are the "surfing" shots using? Is that a wake skate?

I'll be honest that I don't really know the difference. It seemed to just be a small surf board to me, but I'm certainly no pro with this stuff.

Thanks for the comments everyone!
IdiotWithAGun
31st of July 2009 (Fri), 18:20
really love these shots. looks like there was a big risk taken with some of these. great job.
MikeFairbanks
31st of July 2009 (Fri), 18:27
Pretty cool. I might have to get into that (wake surfing) as I've been surfing my whole life and now live nowhere near the ocean.

And it just seems the perfect sport to photography because of the close distance between photographer and surfer.


Have you been to a cable park? They are relatively new, but now wake skaters and wake boarders are literally being pulled by overhead cables that the rope is attached to.

There's one in Orlando, one in South Carolina and one in Texas. They can pull about six to eight boarders at a time.

There's no wake, of course, because no boat is involved, but there are rails and jumps, etc.

I'm going to check one out pretty soon when I have a lens good enough to shoot from about a hundred feet.
PubUltraStar
31st of July 2009 (Fri), 21:18
Pretty cool. I might have to get into that (wake surfing) as I've been surfing my whole life and now live nowhere near the ocean.

And it just seems the perfect sport to photography because of the close distance between photographer and surfer.


Have you been to a cable park? They are relatively new, but now wake skaters and wake boarders are literally being pulled by overhead cables that the rope is attached to.

There's one in Orlando, one in South Carolina and one in Texas. They can pull about six to eight boarders at a time.

There's no wake, of course, because no boat is involved, but there are rails and jumps, etc.

I'm going to check one out pretty soon when I have a lens good enough to shoot from about a hundred feet.

The cable parks are seriously cool, and those guys end up getting more air than the pros behind a boat. Basically, they build up the tension on the line when going around corners, and then release and get like 25 feet up, and travel 75 feet. Pretty intense. I was just happy making it around the course twice. I've only rode the one in Kansas City, but they had cable park nationals there once, and I wish I would have had a longer lens back then.
MikeFairbanks
31st of July 2009 (Fri), 21:42
I'd love to organize and build one here. We have three (about to be four) reservoirs that would be perfect (because they are small) for building a cable park, and it could be a regional thing for the circuit.

But they're expensive.

Man, it would be a thrill.

I'd also like to (less ambitious but still big) start a huge skatepark here.
Kyle88
3rd of August 2009 (Mon), 18:34
I love how incredibly clear your photos are, especially the first one. Is that the lens doing most of that work or PP? I'm talking about the vivid colours and everything.

(new here, still learning)
Would love to try some of these shots.
psurrette
3rd of August 2009 (Mon), 23:32
Good set of photos, it is nice when the sun shines here in Seattle. So much better than the normal overcast days we normally get to shoot in!!
rparchen
5th of August 2009 (Wed), 18:04
I love how incredibly clear your photos are, especially the first one. Is that the lens doing most of that work or PP? I'm talking about the vivid colours and everything.

(new here, still learning)
Would love to try some of these shots.

I shoot everything in RAW and then process in LR/CS4, which certainly helps with the colors. Knowing PP goes a long ways in terms of colors, etc. Getting the shot correct and shooting through a nice lens doesn't hurt either :)

Good set of photos, it is nice when the sun shines here in Seattle. So much better than the normal overcast days we normally get to shoot in!!

It has been a great summer so far, hopefully I'll be able to get plenty more shots before the rains come. It's tough to beat Seattle on a sunny day.