2012 US OPEN of Surfing

Met up with fellow POTN'r Airbutchie and shot the US OPEN of Surfing @ Surf City (Huntington Beach), Ca. The event kicked off Saturday with an estimate of 55,000 people showing up on the opening day. The morning started off a little nippy with an onshore wind but photogs and the like (and I know there's a lot of POTN'rs out there shooting) doesn't mind the weather at all as they're busy clicking away to get those aerial shots of the surfers. Swell is @ 1-3 ft and expected to increase in time for the finals this coming weekend.

Anyways, all these were shot with a 1DMKII + 400 F2.8L MKII + 1.4xII. <(*.*)> Enjoy...

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really like 2,3,4 and 5. that tan surfer is nice too

Wow! I love them all (last one too )

Pat, I had shot last year's US Open of Surfing with 50D + 70-200mm f/4 + 1.4x, and I was shooting from the beach. Should I be shooting from the beach or the pier this year (50D + 300 2.8 + 1.4x)?

Dennis

I really hope to make it over there in the next day or two to capture some great surfing!

rick_reno wrote in post #14793376
really like 2,3,4 and 5. that tan surfer is nice too

^^ Glad you like 'em, Rick.

blueskyoveraquatic wrote in post #14793786
Wow! I love them all (last one too )

Pat, I had shot last year's US Open of Surfing with 50D + 70-200mm f/4 + 1.4x, and I was shooting from the beach. Should I be shooting from the beach or the pier this year (50D + 300 2.8 + 1.4x)?

Dennis

^^ The 70-200/1.4xII will work fine at the pier but I find it short down the beach unless the surfer comes up near the shore. I have the 300 F4L IS and with the 1.4xII works well too but the beastly 400 F2.8L/1.4xII is just perfect when shooting from the beach. Fellow POTN'r Airbutchie shoots with the 300 F2.8L and hopefully can chime in as to what setup he uses and tips for ya. We both shot the event over the weekend and will shoot the Finals as well. Who knows we might bump into each other hehehe.

Darrylg wrote in post #14795687
I really hope to make it over there in the next day or two to capture some great surfing!

^^ Hope you make it to the Finals. It would be a fun shootout.

blueskyoveraquatic wrote in post #14793786
Wow! I love them all (last one too )
Pat, I had shot last year's US Open of Surfing with 50D + 70-200mm f/4 + 1.4x, and I was shooting from the beach. Should I be shooting from the beach or the pier this year (50D + 300 2.8 + 1.4x)? Dennis

patrickf117 wrote in post #14797453
^^ The 70-200/1.4xII will work fine at the pier but I find it short down the beach unless the surfer comes up near the shore. I have the 300 F4L IS and with the 1.4xII works well too but the beastly 400 F2.8L/1.4xII is just perfect when shooting from the beach. Fellow POTN'r Airbutchie shoots with the 300 F2.8L and hopefully can chime in as to what setup he uses and tips for ya. We both shot the event over the weekend and will shoot the Finals as well. Who knows we might bump into each other hehehe.

Thanks for the shoutout, Pat... Great captures, BTW... I'll post mine soon, too... Hehehhehehehe....

Dennis... The 50D + 300 2.8L + 1.4x TCon should suffice nicely from the beach... Your focal length would roughly be ~672mm (considering the 1.6x crop factor with the 50D)... That's good enough to fill the frame on your viewfinder... They'll be much closer if the surfers ride the wave closer towards us... I was shooting with a 1D3 + 300 2.8L + 2x TCon (~780mm FOV) with Pat this past Sunday... It was good until they started surfing closer to the shoreline... At that range, I started cutting off surfboards and body parts because they were too close... Hahahhahaa... Nonetheless, the combo you have will do fine if you decide to shoot from the beach...

Hope to see you there!!! PEACE!!!