[EnglishBob]

Taken at Morro Bay a couple of weeks ago.

[nia]

WOW! Well captured Craig, He is almost in the air Wonderful photograph, I loved it,

Thank you,
with my love,
nia

[EnglishBob]

Thanks for the comments Nia.

[Toad]

Great action shot, C.

[EnglishBob]

Thanks

I was on the end of the sea wall and the odd wave was hitting me with a little spray... the lens and 50D seem to of come through unscathed though.

[matthew]

You've definitely captured a great moment here. But as this is in the critique section, I was looking at more of what it's showing. The background bothers me a bit; there's an odd feel to the background, with what looks like camera movement causing a double-line boke along the buildings. (I doubt that's what it is, I'm just at a loss for a better description.) Since the story is the surfer, not the place, I don't think you'd lose anything by cropping down from the top to include the surf and beach but exclude most of the green from the background. I hate getting all camera-clubby by recommending a crop, but it might help simplify the composition.

[EnglishBob]

Get Camera Clubby by all means This is headed for competition at some point in the PJ section for sure.

It is probably camera shake causing it, I was panning as i was shooting these. Thanks for the critique.

[Irma]

I see two important elements in your picture, Craig, the surfer and the wave in the foreground. It flows nicely across the frame.

I would agree with Matthews comment about crop, if you could preserve the format and not breaking much the flow of the wave along the frame. The possible crop that I can see would place the surfer in the middle left of the frame.

I would advice trying a bw conversion with yellow or red filter and lift up the light a lot more. In this way, I see the white lines of the foam in the background enhancing the context, and the surfer popping up. Maybe a possible crop just to get rid of the white blurry thing in the upper right corner. There you have a nice straight line of foam to top or to use as a base in composition.

I know it is a bit odd to think about a picture like this one in bw but I believe it would be interesting giving a try.

[EnglishBob]

Thanks for the comments Irma. I plan to use this shot in a PhotoJournalism Division, B&W Images don't fair well in that context, but from an art perspective i will certainly give it a whirl.

[Keith Alan]

I would have been proud to capture something this good.

My only critique would be to raise up the midtones a bit, then find a suitable new black point to preserve the same realistic contrast.
You're in no danger of clipping the highs as far as I can tell.
Just would like it a little brighter overall.

I like your composition as-is--gives me a sense of "place".
Too tight and you start getting compared to the geezers who stand in the water and shoot surfers for a living. This isn't that type of shot and shouldn't pretend to be.

[EnglishBob]

Thanks for the comments Alan.

No definitely not standing in the water, though i did get a little wet. Where this was shot at Morro Bay, there is a sea wall and Road that separates the Bay from the harbor. I clambered along the sea wall as far out as I felt safe and the surfers in the bay came in pretty close, though most of my shots are still at 500mm. I was pretty happy with the results overall, this was my first time shooting surfers other than Kite Surfers.

[Keith Alan]

I wish I lived closer to the coast.
Stuff like this is exciting.
Wetter and better than the rodeo.

[EnglishBob]

Then i have double luck, Clovis has a great Rodeo every April