Saturday, June 27, 2009

Wave-eye view


The kite surfers at Shacks Beach - especially our good friend Eric - are among my favorite photo subjects. I have photographed them from the beach and have some pretty spectacular (if I modestly say so myself) KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) photos taken from above with a kite. One of my photos was chosen for the cover of the current issue of Kiting, the magazine/newsletter of the American Kitefliers Association.

The one perspective I don't get very often is from water level. For the most part the winds are best for kite surfers in the winter - which is also surf season. Usually the water is too rough and choppy to bob around trying to dodge kite surfers and get some good pictures. Plus, in the winter there is usually a strong current along this part of the beach which makes it hard to keep the proper position.

But last week the conditions were nearly perfect: good wind for Eric to kite in, warm calm water with little current for me to tread water in. I was out snorkeling when I saw Eric putting up his kite. I kicked hard to get down to that part of the beach.

The results are pretty good for a first try. I learned a lot. Hopefully, I'll get a few more chances like this while the water is calm, before the surf kicks up in the fall. I really like this perspective and want to work with it more. And Eric is such a great subject.

You can see more from this set on Flickr.

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