Kite surfing / boarding?

Whilst at the beach today (mainly for the windsurfing), I noticed a kite surfer a fair way away, so I grabbed a few although into the sun & bright light, allowed +1 for exposure but still came out a bit dark - I wish I could have got closer but this guy was some way out (Thanks to the 500 at the time).

Apart from getting closer to the action of course, any tips on shooting into the sea with a bright background appreciated please.

All at 400ISO, 1000th/sec, shutter priority. (can't remember apertures, but pretty sure about 11 or 18 maybe - need to go back and look for EXIF info), photoshopped to lighten them up.

Kiteboarding is a difficult sport to photograph.
When the wind is best it is usually the middle of the day... IE: lots of sun and an extreme range of light which washes out photos.
Backgrounds are limited to sky and water. Not extremely pleasing.

I like the shots you have but to be honest would rather see the scene than a close up of a flying surfer. Try shooting wider and including the kite in the comp. Also i would rather have blown out the scene and exposed the surfer on point.

I shoot this sport in late afternoon with the sun behind me...and lucky for me, the sun always shines

Always ISO 400, A1 servo, AV at f8 on my 100-400 L IS ...samples.

Roy

mikeassk wrote in post #8269271
Kiteboarding is a difficult sport to photograph.
When the wind is best it is usually the middle of the day... IE: lots of sun and an extreme range of light which washes out photos.
Backgrounds are limited to sky and water. Not extremely pleasing.

I like the shots you have but to be honest would rather see the scene than a close up of a flying surfer. Try shooting wider and including the kite in the comp. Also i would rather have blown out the scene and exposed the surfer on point.

Roy Webber wrote in post #8273021
I shoot this sport in late afternoon with the sun behind me...and lucky for me, the sun always shines

Always ISO 400, A1 servo, AV at f8 on my 100-400 L IS ...samples.

Roy

Thanks for the replies - If I went for the kite as well, then the pic would have been all sea & sky, with only a diminutive figure in it, as the kite was on quite long 'strings'.

We should be so lucky Roy!

Vulcan58 wrote in post #8276329
Thanks for the replies - If I went for the kite as well, then the pic would have been all sea & sky, with only a diminutive figure in it, as the kite was on quite long 'strings'.

We should be so lucky Roy!

I agree ...very lucky.

Vulcan58 wrote in post #8268093
Whilst at the beach today....

no one says whilst a lot these days. Kudo's to you for that alone! (All I can think of is Hott Fuzz... " have you ever fired your gun whilst jumping through the air?...")

Oh, and nice shots too.

londonblue007 wrote in post #8287078
no one says whilst a lot these days. Kudo's to you for that alone! (All I can think of is Hott Fuzz... " have you ever fired your gun whilst jumping through the air?...")

Oh, and nice shots too.

Shame eh - Such has the English language evolved thus.

Roy Webber wrote in post #8273021
I shoot this sport in late afternoon with the sun behind me...and lucky for me, the sun always shines

Always ISO 400, A1 servo, AV at f8 on my 100-400 L IS ...samples.

Roy

Hi Roy, just had a look at your fantastic kite surfing images...well done, good to see you were using the 7d thought they had been shot with a 1d body. I have only had two attempts, we don't have the light like you have here on the east coast UK.
Well done. great samples.

Roy.

www.royhowell.co.uk.

g4whq wrote in post #10000020
Hi Roy, just had a look at your fantastic kite surfing images...well done, good to see you were using the 7d thought they had been shot with a 1d body. I have only had two attempts, we don't have the light like you have here on the east coast UK.
Well done. great samples.

Roy.

www.royhowell.co.uk.

Hi Roy,

Thanks, but most were shot with the 350D and a few with the 40D...I start using the 7D in the new season...next month!