Eric, you had a really unlucky night - you didn't choose what he liked did you. I love this and had it way up as a 20, its an amazing capture and composition even if he isn't looking at you - he is surfing for goondess sake, it requires a lot of concentration and you've captured the moment so perfectly. I love all the texture in the water, the light on him and the water, his position in the frame, all the detail in his wetsuit and the sea - all in all a very difficult image to capture - Wow.
Thanks Avril - I thought his critique was incorrect for this shot. I could think of other reasons to mark this shot down a bit but not the reason he gave. In order for surfers to generate an arced spray they have to be semi-side on in which case they will not be looking at you and they will be very much concentrating on not falling off their board! My guess is that maybe as a landscape photographer he hasn't done much sports photography. The shot of a surfer in action is not an easy shot to take as it deals with focussing accurately on an unpredictably moving subject and taking the shot at exactly the right moment. You can't actually shout out to the surfer and ask him/her to look this way, pose and smile!! But just to shoot myself in the foot, I have another surfer shot in the next PDI which is better and where the surfer is actually looking straight at me!!
Ha ha I seem to have got that right then, I know how hard these shots are to get because I tried in Sri Lanka and I don't think I have one good shot. Good luck with the next one, I await his feedback with baited breath and pray you get a 20
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Eric, you had a really unlucky night - you didn't choose what he liked did you. I love this and had it way up as a 20, its an amazing capture and composition even if he isn't looking at you - he is surfing for goondess sake, it requires a lot of concentration and you've captured the moment so perfectly. I love all the texture in the water, the light on him and the water, his position in the frame, all the detail in his wetsuit and the sea - all in all a very difficult image to capture - Wow.
Thanks Avril - I thought his critique was incorrect for this shot. I could think of other reasons to mark this shot down a bit but not the reason he gave. In order for surfers to generate an arced spray they have to be semi-side on in which case they will not be looking at you and they will be very much concentrating on not falling off their board! My guess is that maybe as a landscape photographer he hasn't done much sports photography. The shot of a surfer in action is not an easy shot to take as it deals with focussing accurately on an unpredictably moving subject and taking the shot at exactly the right moment. You can't actually shout out to the surfer and ask him/her to look this way, pose and smile!! But just to shoot myself in the foot, I have another surfer shot in the next PDI which is better and where the surfer is actually looking straight at me!!
Ha ha I seem to have got that right then, I know how hard these shots are to get because I tried in Sri Lanka and I don't think I have one good shot. Good luck with the next one, I await his feedback with baited breath and pray you get a 20