California surfing at sunset is really
beautiful to watch and take a photo of.
Surfers hate to leave the ocean, even
when the sun goes down on that perfect
beach day. you can't go wrong taking a
silhouette photograph of a surfer
carrying a board along the shoreline.
What's really nice as well is catching a
surfer in the subdued tones of the water
as the ocean reflects its colors onto
the waves. The colors are sometimes
muted and often very pastel.
When you photograph the California
surfer's sunset, you'll need to shut
down your f-stops and apertures a bit or
face overexposure. Many of today's
center-weighted camera meters that
utilize light averaging of several
sections of the picture frame still
cannot over-ride that huge ball of sun.
A different effect you may also
experience is the under-exposure where
everything comes out really dark except
for this big globe, beach ball-like sun.
What to do? If you have digital, you can
play around with it. Try pointing the
camera to several slightly different
locations and see how the light changes
with each position change. Not
only is it an experiment in lighting
effects, it will show you how sensitive
your light meter is and how it works.
For the surfer gliding along on that
board out in the water, it's a bit tough
getting contrast between the surfer dude
or dudette and that colored sky. Your
angle must be almost below their
position on a wave to accomplish such a
contrast in color. It can be done at
some beaches, however. Just give
it a try. The old-fashioned color film
guy or gal taking pictures with
celluloid will have to wait to see the
results. Nevertheless, a high quality
film, a tripod and some great lighting
can't be beat for making a big picture
blow up to frame on your wall. It's the
perfect memento of your
California beach vacation.
