Surfin' with the Alien

[Steve Cavigliano]

OK, so I wasn't surfing and the only alien was our friend from da Big Apple, Andy Williams :rofl

Andy and I had planned to shoot around the beach Friday afternoon before he boarded his flight back to NY. The morning weather looked bad :huh Overcast and flat light. But we decided to see how the afternoon looked before we decided to go or not. The afternoon weather cleared nicely so we were off to Santa Cruz. After stopping on the wharf so Andy could get a sourdough breadbowl full of clam chowdah :lol3 we went to shoot the surfers. Andy had his 5D so I let his use my new 400mm F5.6 and I used the Bigma. There were blasts of cold wind freezing our hands, tough side lighting and we had left our bags in the rentacar with the top down....lol So we only shot for about 15 minutes. Still, I was I able to get a few kewl shots :thumb

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/48642317-L.jpg

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/48645124-L.jpg






http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/48647447-L.jpg

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/48639500-L.jpg

Well we wound up going down by the boardwalk from Steamer Lane and got some decent shots there too. Plus we got to eat dinner out on the wharf ....ummmmm

An all around fine day of eating and shooting with Andy :clap One of the best days I've had in a long time :):


Thanks for looking and comments or criticism is encouraged :thumb


Steve

[bfjr]

Well now there you are :scratch What it takes Andy to drag you out and do some shootin, sure shouldn't be that way :rolleyes :D

Well whatever the reason glad to see a fine post from ya :thumb

[rutt]

Wow, love #1 and #2. We don't get much of that in Nantucket, and certainly there is no way to get that angle. Great light and great action.

[ian408]

Nice Steve! Sorry to have missed the call. Work(sux) to borrow from across
the hall.

That new lens would appear to be treating you right :thumb

Ian

[Dee]

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/48639500-S.jpg

This one makes me laugh for some reason. Looks like he's riding a "frog" board!

It's been rather on the chilly side these past two weeks, except for last weekend which was nice. And today it's rain, rain, rain. Ugh!

[Andy]

I'm not much of a tele shooter :lol3 but that 400 f/5.6 sure is fun to use! I had fun wit ya, Steve :eat

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/48685541-L.jpg

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/48685650-L.jpg

[gus]

What great shots ...really good stuff !!! I love that lens.

Hang on the pennys just dropped ...steve did you sell the bigma & get a 400 f/5.6 ?

[gsgary]

Great shots :thumb i'm looking to do some surf shot at christmas and new year here in the Uk Christmas up the North east coast and new year down in Cornwall hope they are as good as these

[gus]

Ok ok ok...so you all now know that i only look at the pictures.

[Seamus]

Ok ok ok...so you all now know that i only look at the pictures.

:rofl , another convert to the 400 5.6, great shots steve & andy.

[photocat]

Hey Steve, we were in Santa Cruz for a surf contest a couple of weeks ago. I live in UK, and this was my first sight of the pacific. We sure did not have waves like you had. Are we talking about the same Santa Cruz?
It was extremely foggy the day we were there, and no waves...
I wondered why the exitement was there... after seeing your pics, I see that we had bad luck... (fog!). And of course, my photography is not near yours... But I try to learn. :rofl :rofl :rofl

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/47922759-L.jpg

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/47924743-L.jpg

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/46988980-L.jpg

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/47920376-L.jpg

[ian408]

Hey Steve, we were in Santa Cruz for a surf contest a couple of weeks ago. I live in UK, and this was my first sight of the pacific. We sure did not have waves like you had. Are we talking about the same Santa Cruz?
It was extremely foggy the day we were there, and no waves...
I wondered why the exitement was there... after seeing your pics, I see that we had bad luck... (fog!). And of course, my photography is not near yours... But I try to learn. :rofl :rofl :rofl

Hard to tell from the surf shots. But it kinda looks like Steamers or maybe
41st Avenue.

Did you see this? If so, it's the same place.

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/4288108-M.jpg

[photocat]

Hard to tell from the surf shots. But it kinda looks like Steamers or maybe
41st Avenue.

Did you see this? If so, it's the same place.

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/4288108-M.jpg

Nope, but then we did not go into Santa Cruz. They had a pear, with a fish restaurant, and we were very close to Half Moon bay.
My California pics are in this gallery.
http://photocat.smugmug.com/gallery/1013470

I did love California. I am now back in UK, and longing for the next trip coming up in january. (Florida, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona).
I was close to San Jose for fourteen days, and also had the pleasure of getting an inside tour of apple headquarters. Smashing!

Thanks for enlightning me on the Santa Cruz mission...

[ian408]

Nope, but then we did not go into Santa Cruz. They had a pear, with a fish restaurant, and we were very close to Half Moon bay.
My California pics are in this gallery.
http://photocat.smugmug.com/gallery/1013470

I did love California. I am now back in UK, and longing for the next trip coming up in january. (Florida, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona).
I was close to San Jose for fourteen days, and also had the pleasure of getting an inside tour of apple headquarters. Smashing!

Thanks for enlightning me on the Santa Cruz mission...

How's about this place?

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/18228489-M.jpg

It's the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It's shot from this pier.

http://ian408.smugmug.com/photos/11667686-M.jpg

Ian

[gus]

On thie subject of califonia guys...why are so many of the cali hills so bare ? Are they naturally like this or have they been hit hard by man ?

[photocat]

I might have seen that if there would not have been that much fog...
All I saw was grey... I did see a rollercoaster though...
Thanks for trying to help me out. It is appreciated. I hope to return one day
and seen the pacific with a blue sky...

Thanks Ian


http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/46987767-L.jpg

[maczippy]

...and I live just around the corner from here!! :clap

[Nikolai]

I'm very glad to see that ole gud 20D holds its bar vs 5D:-)

BTW, I noticed you have Timeline on your home page. I looked all over my SM control panel but could not find a way to turn it on.:dunno Any hints?

TIA!

[Andy]

I might have seen that if there would not have been that much fog...
All I saw was grey... I did see a rollercoaster though...
Thanks for trying to help me out. It is appreciated. I hope to return one day
and seen the pacific with a blue sky...

Thanks Ian


http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/46987767-L.jpg

'cat - here's a pic taken tableside at Andy's restaurant there in your photograph :lol3

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/11128670-L.jpg

[photocat]

'cat - here's a pic taken tableside at Andy's restaurant there in your photograph :lol3

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/11128670-L.jpg


:clap :clap :clap
Big smile here on my side... How neat Andy. Thanks for sharing that pic with me.
The restaurant was still closed when we arrived.
The world has become such a small place. It is so s wonderful to see that other people were in the same locations. I always find it very interesting to see other pics s from the same location.
You made my day with your pic...

[Andy]

:clap :clap :clap
Big smile here on my side... How neat Andy. Thanks for sharing that pic with me.
The restaurant was still closed when we arrived.
The world has become such a small place. It is so s wonderful to see that other people were in the same locations. I always find it very interesting to see other pics s from the same location.
You made my day with your pic...

Thanks 'cat :D here's one more for you, same spot:

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/18247778-L.jpg

[ed_h]

On thie subject of califonia guys...why are so many of the cali hills so bare ? Are they naturally like this or have they been hit hard by man ?

If you went to S/California you would think that were back in WA

[Steve Cavigliano]

Well now there you are :scratch What it takes Andy to drag you out and do some shootin, sure shouldn't be that way :rolleyes :D

Well whatever the reason glad to see a fine post from ya :thumb

Thanks Ben :D

Sorry, that I haven't been around much. Lots of stuff happening :uhoh This was the first time I spent more than 15 minutes shooting in months. It was really fun, as it always is shooting with Andy.

Thanks for your comments and I'll be around much more often now :thumb


Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Wow, love #1 and #2. We don't get much of that in Nantucket, and certainly there is no way to get that angle. Great light and great action.

Thanks Rutt,

Yeah, we had Nantucket weather though....lol Andy was saying that we should have worn shooting gloves :rolleyes With the wind chill it must have been like 45 degrees...LOL Just a Brisk Summer day for you New Englanders :D

Thanks for looking and for your comments,

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Nice Steve! Sorry to have missed the call. Work(sux) to borrow from across
the hall.

That new lens would appear to be treating you right :thumb

Ian

We missed ya Ian. We knew Friday afternoons are tough for you to get away. But we were thinking of you. To be honest, we really didn't think we were going to get any good pics at all. As I mentioned in the thread over in the People Forum, we were upset that we didn't get much and vowed to do a better job of planning for our next shoot. San Francisco in Feb? I was pretty happy with these surf shots and I got a few other beach shots that turned out well too. So not only did we tank up with fine seafood on the wharf, we got some nice keepers to take home :D

Thanks for your comments and we'll try to make sure you can go with us next time :):

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/48639500-S.jpg

This one makes me laugh for some reason. Looks like he's riding a "frog" board!

It's been rather on the chilly side these past two weeks, except for last weekend which was nice. And today it's rain, rain, rain. Ugh!

Thanks Dee :D

Yeah, that one is funny with all the fins/skegs sticking out of the water :rofl It was chilly Friday too. Our fingers were getting numb from the cold wind :uhoh Good thing we were able to get some nice hot chowdah to warn them up....lol


Judging by how ugly the weekend was, we were lucky to get any shooting in at all :D


Thanks for commenting,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

I'm not much of a tele shooter :lol3 but that 400 f/5.6 sure is fun to use! I had fun wit ya, Steve :eat

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/48685541-L.jpg

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/48685650-L.jpg

Andy,
Yep we always have fun. Sometimes we even come back with a decent pic or two :rofl Your surf pic looks good. It does look like that lens is a bit long for shooting surfers with if using a 20D. But boy oh boy is it sharp :lust

Also coulda done without the pic of the squinting homeless dewd......LOL


Hey, this was so much fun, let's do it again?.....lol


Thanks for the companionship and for your comments,

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

What great shots ...really good stuff !!! I love that lens.

Hang on the pennys just dropped ...steve did you sell the bigma & get a 400 f/5.6 ?

Hiya Gus and Thanks :D

Nope, haven't sold the Bigma (yet). I got tired of seeing how sharp Daniella's shots with the 400mm + 1.4X TC wide open were, so I had Santa pick me up one....lol I'd love to be able to keep the Bigma too. It works so nicely at surf focal lengths (250-350mms). Oh well, we will see what happens :rolleyes

Thanks for your comments,
Steve

[Shakey]

I hate you guys...


(Jealousy rears its big ugly head):boid <---- joking .
As always it is good... nay...great, to see the both of your stuff.

I have but one regret in life so far and that is I have never surfed.
I have skied and skied hard and have knocked off many a ski hill.
I have ate and ate hard and continue to do so :D .


But alas I have never surfed. Thanks for posting these excellent shots.:thumb

Cheers
Tim

[DoctorIt]

But alas I have never surfed. Thanks for posting these excellent shots.:thumb

Cheers
TimNever say never.

The breaks at Waikiki beach are smooth, predictable, and looooong. Falling in the water at a small break don't hurt so bad at all. You canadians can swim, can't you?

:lol3

[Shakey]

Never say never.

The breaks at Waikiki beach are smooth, predictable, and looooong. Falling in the water at a small break don't hurt so bad at all. You canadians can swim, can't you?

:lol3

Yes but the years have been very kind to me and my midriff and I am afraid a wipe out might constitute a save the beached whale campaign.:rofl

Tim

[DoctorIt]

Some of the best long boarders I've ever seen have well developed mid-riffs. :nod

I'm tellin' you, smooth break and a 14 foot board are pure heaven. Combined with a good friend and a Hawaiin sunrise and you have the makings of a near perfect day. Makes me think, since that trip I haven't been back to the brutal, short, steep, and COLD breaks of Cape Cod. :lol3

But I digress, the point is, if you have the will, you can do it!

[Shakey]

Damn you, Doc It! now you got me pumped!:D

Close your eyes it's gonna get ugly.

Cheers
Tim

[ginger_55]

So, Andy, you were shooting with MY lens, and you liked it. You got some good stuff!

And Steve! From the other shot, of you all at a lookout or where ever, it doesn't look like what I think of as surfing water, but those are wonderful shots.

Steve, you are using the extender? Do you have the pins taped? Or do you not need to with your camera? I have stayed away from the extender for that reason. I heard that it was slow in focusing with the pins taped.

ginger

[Andy]

Steve, you are using the extender? Do you have the pins taped? Or do you not need to with your camera? I have stayed away from the extender for that reason. I heard that it was slow in focusing with the pins taped.

ginger

You do *not* need to tape the pins with the Tamron 1.4x extender. It just works. And works beautifully. Focuses wonderfully, as well. Ginger - this is on the 20D I'm speaking of. Go for it.

[ginger_55]

Andy, I have the 20D, but the extender I now OWN is the Canon extender. I own both the 1.4 Xs and the 2.0 Xs. My experience with the 1.4 on my old 300 mm lens was good. I have been reluctant to part with a good extender such as a Canon, that I already own and have paid for, in order to get a Tamron.

Would you, personally, think that I should sell the Canon extender to get the Tamron which would be of more use to me now?

Does that question answer itself, smile?

Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I wonder if someone would like to just trade.

And I know this does not belong on this now hijacked thread, once you see it Andy, you can delete it.

ginger (I was proud that it was a Canon......at one time. But now it sits in my camera bag and has been used once, not taped, but the bird was an eagle behind tree branches. I had some fantasy that a longer lens would get rid of the tree branches, it didn't.)

I might post on another thread re this situation, or after the "holidays", I might purchase some tape and see if that lens does truly "hunt" with the Canon extender on it taped.

[Andy]

Andy, I have the 20D, but the extender I now OWN is the Canon extender. I own both the 1.4 Xs and the 2.0 Xs. My experience with the 1.4 on my old 300 mm lens was good. I have been reluctant to part with a good extender such as a Canon, that I already own and have paid for, in order to get a Tamron.

Would you, personally, think that I should sell the Canon extender to get the Tamron which would be of more use to me now?

Does that question answer itself, smile?

Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I wonder if someone would like to just trade.

And I know this does not belong on this now hijacked thread, once you see it Andy, you can delete it.

ginger (I was proud that it was a Canon......at one time. But now it sits in my camera bag and has been used once, not taped, but the bird was an eagle behind tree branches. I had some fantasy that a longer lens would get rid of the tree branches, it didn't.)

I might post on another thread re this situation, or after the "holidays", I might purchase some tape and see if that lens does truly "hunt" with the Canon extender on it taped.

:lol3 it belongs here just fine. It's great hijacking Steve's threads :deal

If you can tape the pins on your canon, well then, keep it. If not, ditch it, and buy the Tamron. Quality's just fine IMO.

[Steve Cavigliano]

Great shots :thumb i'm looking to do some surf shot at christmas and new year here in the Uk Christmas up the North east coast and new year down in Cornwall hope they are as good as these

Thanks Gary :D

I wish you good luck with your shots. My only concern is it's a bit gray there (in the UK) during the Winter. You really need decent light for surf shots. I hope you get some sunny weather :thumb And remember, stick to your forte (racing) and don't show myself, Ian, Andrew, or any of the other surf shooters up.....LOL Jus' kidding :rofl

Thanks for your comments,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

:rofl , another convert to the 400 5.6, great shots steve & andy.

Thanks Shay :D

I got the 400mm F5.6 last Monday and I've only had a chance to take a few shots with it. I'm impressed with Andy's shot and the other shots I've taken using the 1.4X TC with the 400mm. This is one sweet lens :thumb I can't wait for the weather to clear so I can go play with it some more :clap


Thanks for your comments and I hope you continue to enjoy your 400,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Hey Steve, we were in Santa Cruz for a surf contest a couple of weeks ago. I live in UK, and this was my first sight of the pacific. We sure did not have waves like you had. Are we talking about the same Santa Cruz?
It was extremely foggy the day we were there, and no waves...
I wondered why the exitement was there... after seeing your pics, I see that we had bad luck... (fog!). And of course, my photography is not near yours... But I try to learn. :rofl :rofl :rofl

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/47922759-L.jpg

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/47924743-L.jpg

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/46988980-L.jpg

http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/47920376-L.jpg

Thanks for your comments PC :D

Hey, don't feel bad. This area gets lots of foggy days and you do have to have some luck on your side to get a clear day AND one with good size waves. But, as I mentioned, the food on the wharf is great even in the fog...LOL

You know, looking at your pics I think you were around Capitola. I certainly don't recognize that intersection or that large cliff :dunno So while you were close to the same place, you were probably about 8 miles South.

Thanks for taking the time to comment and I like your "But I try to learn" comment. That's a great attitude that I believe will help improve your photography more than any equipment or book can :clap

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

On thie subject of califonia guys...why are so many of the cali hills so bare ? Are they naturally like this or have they been hit hard by man ?

Gus,
The hills are bare in the central and southern parts of the stae cuz we don't get much rain. Up here we get about 14 inches over maybe 5 months and down South they only get 7-8 inches. Plus we get most of it during our rainy season so the grasses and hills are brown for 2/3 of the year or so :dunno

Now if you go up to Northern CA it's green for 2/3 of the year. Then again, they get about 3 times the rainfall as we do.

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

I might have seen that if there would not have been that much fog...
All I saw was grey... I did see a rollercoaster though...
Thanks for trying to help me out. It is appreciated. I hope to return one day
and seen the pacific with a blue sky...

Thanks Ian


http://photocat.smugmug.com/photos/46987767-L.jpg

Hey PC,
You got to see Andy's California business venture.....LOL Good thing he's in NY mostly, cuz he'd literally eat up all the profit :lol3

The proud owner surveying his kingdom :rofl

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/25603054-M.jpg

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

I'm very glad to see that ole gud 20D holds its bar vs 5D:-)

BTW, I noticed you have Timeline on your home page. I looked all over my SM control panel but could not find a way to turn it on.:dunno Any hints?

TIA!

Thanks Nik :D

You know I just noticed that last night when I was changing my themes around. I figured everyone had one in their SM galleries too :dunno It took me 2 hours to change themes....lol I'm not exactly a whiz at this stuff. So I've got no idea how to turn that timeline on or off. Maybe a techie like Andy or Ian can let you know how it works. Sorry, I couldn't be more helpful.

Thanks for your comments,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

I hate you guys...


(Jealousy rears its big ugly head):boid <---- joking .
As always it is good... nay...great, to see the both of your stuff.

I have but one regret in life so far and that is I have never surfed.
I have skied and skied hard and have knocked off many a ski hill.
I have ate and ate hard and continue to do so :D .


But alas I have never surfed. Thanks for posting these excellent shots.:thumb

Cheers
Tim

LOL Shakey,

Thanks for your comments :D I've got to tell you that sometimes we get skunked. For pictures that is, never for food....LOL But it is so much fun to shoot with someone you not only like, but someone who is a font of photographic knowledge. And here you guys thought all we did was talk about other Dgrinners....LOL

I understand where you're coming from on all three items. I have surfed, but not for 35 years or so (I had a long board like Doc mentioned...LOL). I skiied quite a bit and used to rip up those slopes pretty well :lust Now eating, that's my forte...LOL I also cook very well and eat to much of my own cooking :rolleyes So I'm with ya on the expanding waistline :huh Still, as also mentioned, some of the best surfers I used to watch had potbellies and still shredded those waves :thumb So if you get the chance to try surfing, go for it. My only advice would be that if you have to wear a wet/drysuit, it's too cold to learn....LOL Go for that Hawaiian surf in 80 degree water :clap


Thanks for your comments,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Never say never.

The breaks at Waikiki beach are smooth, predictable, and looooong. Falling in the water at a small break don't hurt so bad at all. You canadians can swim, can't you?

:lol3

Yeah, what Doc said. Smooth, predictable, long and most importantly warm water :rofl

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

So, Andy, you were shooting with MY lens, and you liked it. You got some good stuff!

And Steve! From the other shot, of you all at a lookout or where ever, it doesn't look like what I think of as surfing water, but those are wonderful shots.

Steve, you are using the extender? Do you have the pins taped? Or do you not need to with your camera? I have stayed away from the extender for that reason. I heard that it was slow in focusing with the pins taped.

ginger

Thanks Ginger :D

I think Andy did well with the 400mm. It does take some getting used to when you shoot mostly wide angle.

No extender ot TC with the 400mm. I had one attached, but it would have been too long to use even with the 5D for where the surfers were. I did however take a seagull pic on the wharf using the 20D, 400mm F5.6 + the Tamron 1.4X TC. I posted some crops in the Camera Forum (in the 300mm lens thread that you also posted to). I really like this lens and this combo :lust The Tamron may not be the best or sharpest TC, but you never have to worry about taping pins and it works with any lens :thumb Not to mention it's very affordable $80 price.

Thanks for taking the time to comment,

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

:D Andy, I have the 20D, but the extender I now OWN is the Canon extender. I own both the 1.4 Xs and the 2.0 Xs. My experience with the 1.4 on my old 300 mm lens was good. I have been reluctant to part with a good extender such as a Canon, that I already own and have paid for, in order to get a Tamron.

Would you, personally, think that I should sell the Canon extender to get the Tamron which would be of more use to me now?

Does that question answer itself, smile?

Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I wonder if someone would like to just trade.

And I know this does not belong on this now hijacked thread, once you see it Andy, you can delete it.

ginger (I was proud that it was a Canon......at one time. But now it sits in my camera bag and has been used once, not taped, but the bird was an eagle behind tree branches. I had some fantasy that a longer lens would get rid of the tree branches, it didn't.)

I might post on another thread re this situation, or after the "holidays", I might purchase some tape and see if that lens does truly "hunt" with the Canon extender on it taped.

Ginger,
You can tape the Canon TC, but it is still slower to focus than using the Tamron w/o tape. If you seriously want info on this I can get you the poop on which pins to tape. Or, as you mention, if you find an extra $80 lying around go for the Tamron you won't have to sweat the taping. Or, as another option, consider selling your 2X if you never use it, pick up the Tamron and you'll still be $ ahead :D

Steve