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Surfing USA. Surfers are
an integral part of the
California beach scene
and at sunset they make
especially great
subjects for
photographs. The
contrast of the board
shape, stick figure body
and a pier, all lend to
this photo of color,
shape and form. In fact,
the picture above have
become one of our most
commercially popular
image in recent years.
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.
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