Kiteboarding At Sauvie Island, OR

Hey All!

One of the favored kiteboarding spots along the Columbia River is a section of the beach on Sauvie Island, OR.

Now, I'm not a sports photog -- my love is wildlife, and Sauvie Island has a big wildlife preserve, but, dang, when you drive by and see all these kites in the air and see the kiteboarders having such a blast, well, I decided to include them in my wildlife shooting!

So, last Friday I checked the conditions via a link on the web site for the kiteboarders of the Pacific Northwest, saw that the wind was great for the sport, and headed out!

I took ~1k shots, and I've posted some here.

Here are a couple from the day, enjoy!

Hey that's close to me! My friends live in Sauvie Island!
Cool stuff, I'd love to get out there and try that some time

Tony,
Also close to me and the funny thing is that a buddy of mine was out there this weekend and said he'd never seen so many naked old men in his life...lol he has a tendency to embelish the actul truth but I thought it was funny.
I know there used to be a area that was kind of set aside for the sun bathers but he said they were everywhere now.Been along time since I was over that way it does look like fun shooting these guys. What gear did you use I checked for Exif data but it was not there,I have the same issue mine is always striopped as well I need to read up on how to post this info with.photo.
Anyway nice shots.
pacdzyne

Jimmy,
What part of Washington State are you located?
pacdzyne

Longview

Jimmy,
Im in Vancouver, did live in logview for a time top of columbia heights rd. enjoy the weather the 4th is comming so it should be raining soon...lol.looks like you got a good gear list going.I'll be looking for your post from here on out.
pacdzyne

Great shots! Thanks for the tip on shooting Kite Surfers at Sauvie Island. I thought Hood River was our closest venue.

Good to know!

Hey All,

Thanks for the compliments! I had a great time!

pacdzyne wrote in post #5824808
Tony,
Also close to me and the funny thing is that a buddy of mine was out there this weekend and said he'd never seen so many naked old men in his life...lol he has a tendency to embelish the actul truth but I thought it was funny.
I know there used to be a area that was kind of set aside for the sun bathers but he said they were everywhere now.Been along time since I was over that way it does look like fun shooting these guys.

Heh! The main Sauvie Island beach area is "clothing required". As you drive along the beach-side road, it turns into a gravel road with trails marked to the beach through the woods. The last few trails are marked "clothing optional".

The kiteboarding section is toward the end of the main beach -- no nudists!

I was using a iD Mk III with the 100-400 IS. The exif gets lost in PBase if you don't link to your original file, which is too bad -- when I upload to PBase my original is aound 1024x768 but when I post a series of shots here I usually prefer the smaller file.

T.D. wrote in post #5825328
Great shots! Thanks for the tip on shooting Kite Surfers at Sauvie Island. I thought Hood River was our closest venue.

Good to know!

Thanks! Yeah, it's nice to know the kiters have a place nearby! They also go to Stevenson, and supposedly it's a good place for photography, so I'll head out there as well. You have to keep tracking wind conditions for these places. The wind needs to be 10mph or higher to draw them out. I saw the forecasts for last Friday and saw it would be a good day, and it was the best so far this year, and they came out in droves!

It is a learning experience shooting this sport! They come from way across the river right up to near the bank where you are shooting, and at any time can get airborn or do some interesting maneuver so you have to keep adjusting the zoom and keep on top of your AI Servo operation and be ready to follow them up in the air. Fun Stuff!

You should come up to Hood River when the wind is blowing.....Sauvie is nice but its hard to bee a strong Gorge wind!

Jason_G wrote in post #5828334
You should come up to Hood River when the wind is blowing.....Sauvie is nice but its hard to bee a strong Gorge wind!

Hey, that's definitely in my plans, as well as Stevenson! I just have to have the stars a bit aligned -- have the time, the will, and to see that the "surf's up" (I mean, the wind's up)!

tonylong wrote in post #5829022
Hey, that's definitely in my plans, as well as Stevenson! I just have to have the stars a bit aligned -- have the time, the will, and to see that the "surf's up" (I mean, the wind's up)!

Sounds good.