Maxiy said...
Some sweet pics there rdunlop, what lense are you using? i do snowboard photography as a hobby, but now that i have started kiting would like to take more pics of kiting. My current lense kit is limited to a max zoom of 55mm so looking at a new Super zoom, just interested in knowing what people are using.
Hi, these pics were taken with a Tamron 70 - 300mm f4 - 5.6 zoom on a Nikon D90. Its not a fast lens but kitesurfing normally takes place on sunny summer days and 'The Pond' shots have the sun to my back. Try to keep the aperture around f5.6 - 7.0 with shutter speeds around 1200 - 1500/sec. The D90 rattles of at 4.5 frames per second, most of the shots published here are chosen as best from a sequence of 4 or 5 exposures. Kitesurfers move quickly and often towards the camera hence the zoom range, there is also a lot of rapidly changing light conditions, lots of reflections off the water, sky and equipment. The only down side is for simple jumps (no revolving in the air) you get a lot of back views, always looks better with a face in the picture. Sports photography needs the flexibility of a good SLR with continuous focus control, you have to be able to track the subject through the lens while shooting. Watch for me on the beach over summer and take a look at the setup.
