Balancing Act

Comments and feedback welcome 🙂

I like the choice of a high shutter speed to freeze the action and the water. The contrast of the dark subject against the white spray also works well.

I am not sure this was shot from the best POV to capture the sense of motion and the extreme lean needed for balance. The surfer is at a severe angle to the water but the overhead shot diminishes this. I suspect this would have been much better from a lower angle and a view from the front emphasizing the lean of the surfer and the spray of the water.

Nice image. If it would be mine, I would crop it from the bottom and right side to move surfer from the center closer to the edge. IMO it will give more sense of the motion.

Thank you :-)

I needed the fast shutter speed because of the 800mm eq. focal length and I was hand holding the camera.

I took the photo from the edge of the raised carpark at the rear of the beach. Going down to beach would have been OK. The climb back to the carpark not so much.

Thank you, I'm glad you like it.

To be honest though, I don't see much difference in the sense of motion in your slight crop but thank you for the suggestion.

Maybe it's the way my eyes and brain work.

Nice “pose”. Action well captured. Good use of shutter speed. Lovely color palette. No notes.

Thank you jaberg :-)

I'm glad you like it.

Nice photo!! I agree with camperjimk that you chose a good shutter speed to stop the action of the surfer and the water and allow it to still convey motion. I really like the shape of that spray. The spray behind him, the angle of the lean and the s-pattern in the wave foam shows me he was making some sharp turns working that wave.

I disagree with part of sagittarius's choice of crop. By removing a some of the water at the top you bring the surfer closer to a point of the "rule of thirds" taking the surfer out of dead center. That blue water is not adding to the story so you should show less of it. Also, as sagittarius suggests, by taking some off the right side you are putting him closer to that "rule of thirds" point and giving the illusion of space in front of him that he will move into. The action and story are in the wave so if you cropped from the bottom you lose the part of the story showing the movement that he has performed and where he will continue to.

This is strictly my opinion and what your photo shows me. Please take what I have said as what your photo is conveying to me and what I think will make it stronger. I'm sure others will see it differently and in the end the only opinion that matters is your own.

Thank you Dodie 🙂 I'm glad you like it.

Thank you also for your ideas regarding cropping. You make some good points.

Below is the uncropped version. I played around with various crops to see which works best for me to highlight the surfer and motion and the one in my op worked best for me at the time.

This photo will show nicely in any number of crops/aspect ratios. I’d do my best to keep some space between the nose of the board and the edge of the frame and I agree that the blue water at the top isn’t all critical. It isn’t particularly problematic either. Beyond that I don’t see much change in impact between the various crops…and it looks just fine as shot too.

Again, good capture.

Yes, the original uncropped version is now starting to grow on me 🙂