14 replies to this topic

[loftus]

Picked up my SPL surf housing in San Diego last weekend and got it wet at Canaveral Sea Shore State Park yesterday morning. The surf was very messy and the fisherman thought I was nuts going in with the undertow and rip currents. I took a nice pounding for about an hour and I'm still washing sand out of my ears.
Beside for the pounding I took, the hardest part was keeping water spots off the dome. My spit is just not great quality I guess.
These are with the dome port and a 16mm
I have not tried the 70-200 port yet, maybe next weekend with some surfers.

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Edited by loftus, 05 April 2008 - 01:33 PM.

[MikeVeitch]

waves can sure be scary eh? is amazing how strong even small ones are. good effort!

[pakman]

Nice Loftus. So you booking your flight already for Maui for some slightly bigger breaks.... like Jaws?

out of curiousity, what controls do you have with that surf housing?

[loftus]

Maui breaks will be photographed with the 70-200, at a distance. I do not plan to graduate past Florida East Coast breaks with the 16mm. A little tip given to me by Sean, the owner of SPL, is to hold your arm fully extended when the wave breaks over you while holding the lanyard. The lanyard length is carefully calculated so that the housing will then not be able to whack you in the head.
The housing has Command and Subcommand wheel controls and shutter release only. There is also a shutter release button on the attached handle.
You can see the zoom control lever on the 70-200 port. I think I may see about having my dome port modified for the Tokina 10-17. I think that would be a great lens to use.

Edited by loftus, 06 April 2008 - 04:42 AM.

[TheRealDrew]

My spit is just not great quality I guess.

Nice shots, good job. Strange shooting semi-above water?

Also congrats on DEEP, really love that shot...

[okuma]

You should have hitched a ride out to Cortes Banks while you were out here; 40 footers!

[loftus]

I will be in San Diego again end of the month; how do I get out there?

[Drew]

Cortes Banks is off San Clemente. From what I remember while diving out there, there were private charter boats doing tow-in surfing. We were there during crappy surf days and they were 20 ft waves off Bishop. That was apparently a boring day!
On the other hand, earlier this year:
http://www.surfline....m...=13060&ad=1
The Billabong XXL is on tomorrow and Grant Baker and Mike Parsons are both up for biggest wave rides from Cortes ON the same day. If you ever get to Capetown in July, the surf south of Hout Bay is also known to be 40-50ft type.
There's also Shark Park off Santa Barbara which is also epic! Contact Greg Huglin as he organizes photog surf trips. I hope you can drive a jet ski with one hand while shooting with the other! And no, going uw with waves like that is only advisable if you just signed a 100 million dollar life insurance policy to your wife and she really doesn't like you that much.

[loftus]

Cortes Banks is off San Clemente. From what I remember while diving out there, there were private charter boats doing tow-in surfing. We were there during crappy surf days and they were 20 ft waves off Bishop. That was apparently a boring day!
On the other hand, earlier this year:
http://www.surfline....m...=13060&ad=1
The Billabong XXL is on tomorrow and Grant Baker and Mike Parsons are both up for biggest wave rides from Cortes ON the same day. If you ever get to Capetown in July, the surf south of Hout Bay is also known to be 40-50ft type.
There's also Shark Park off Santa Barbara which is also epic! Contact Greg Huglin as he organizes photog surf trips. I hope you can drive a jet ski with one hand while shooting with the other! And no, going uw with waves like that is only advisable if you just signed a 100 million dollar life insurance policy to your wife and she really doesn't like you that much.

Heh, heh, reading that story, I don't think I'm going to Cortes Banks except in a helicopter. I will probably be back in SA next July -growing up there we did not visit Cape Town much in the winter, just hung out on Clifton Beach and Muizenberg in February. But then I never thought of taking photos of waves then.

[Drew]

Heh, heh, reading that story, I don't think I'm going to Cortes Banks except in a helicopter. I will probably be back in SA next July -growing up there we did not visit Cape Town much in the winter, just hung out on Clifton Beach and Muizenberg in February. But then I never thought of taking photos of waves then.

The spot is called the Dungeon. Bring your 600mm + 2x It's not a inwater spot either.

[james]

Looks like fun Jeff - I'd love to give that a try. I grew up swimming in the waves in San Diego (shell beach in La Jolla - way cool) but wasn't a photographer then.

Cheers
James

[jonny shaw]

You Cali boys have got heaps of big wave options though maybe not for in water shots but on the back of a ski maybe:

Mavericks
Todos
Ghost Trees (Careful of the kelp!)
Cortez



Jon

[Graham Abbott]

Yeah but those Cali boys don't have consistent daily barrels like Indo has!
Hey Drew, so what's the diving like at Cortez Banks?

Edited by Graham Abbott, 31 May 2008 - 07:24 AM.

[ScottS101]

Yeah but those Cali boys don't have consistent daily barrels like Indo has!
Hey Drew, so what's the diving like at Cortez Banks?

Graham, Diving is excellent at Cortes when the weather permits. It is a legendary lobster hunting spot. I have not dove there in years but it's a great spot. Very clear water, many pinnacles and boilers. I hope to see it again some day.

[Hani Amir]

Haha sounds like you had fun man. Looking forward to more shots