Thursday 14 February 2013

Chasing Surfers


My Day Chasing Surfers;
I have  never been a big sports photographer but  certainly enjoy the genre.   I’ve never made it the main focus of my portfolio however, I like action photography whether it be sports, dance, or motocross racing. I love a photograph that captures a moment by freezing the action on a very fast shutter speed or by “panning” and having the main subject in focus and the background blurred and out of focus.
So I decide to tackle some surfing photography as I want surfing photos as part of my portfolio. After some hurricane research I find that Tues. Sept. 11th at noon is the highest swells and I decide to head to  Lawrencetown Beach at 12:15 pm. Lawrencetown is known for its big waves and a lot of local surfers spend a great deal of time there.
When I get there I see my friend and great sports photographer Scott Kirkpatrick with his camera equipment in hand. He's not looking too happy as he starts telling me that the waves are just not surfer-friendly and there are no surfers around to speak of. Scott decides to follow a car that pulled up with surfing boards on top but leaves shortly after for another location after they see the wave conditions as not favorable at Lawrencetown Beach. I decide to get my gear and take a walk up the Hill that overlooks the beach and on the way up I meet another photographer. He tells me of a place 5 kms down the road where all the surfers have gone because it has  better surfing conditions than Lawrencetown beach at this time. I still decide to go up the hill where the Kannon Beach Wind and Surf shop resides which has a café and art gallery and a very picturesque walk overlooking the North Atlantic Ocean. On top of the hill I see two surfers heading out and one captures a wave and gets a decent ride. My photograph of this action is the first picture on this blog.

Because the shot wasn't a real interesting picture taken from afar, I decide to apply some “lens blur” from Photoshop and then remove some of the blur on a layer mask. Basically I am trying to create a Tilt Shift photography effect. I think it is one of my best shots from this days excursion.
I ended up heading out to where the other photographer suggested and was delighted to see more surfers catching decent waves. There I park my truck and head out on the rocky beach where there are other spectators and photographers. Finally I’m getting some shots but the surfers are not doing too much complicated stuff which I hoped to capture. I notice some other surfers further down a rocky beach and I quickly decide that I came this far so I might as well pick up and try my luck “shooting” down the beach.
A long walk over rocky terrain and passed by a grumpy land owner who wasn't pleased I was walking down near his property. I started getting the photos that I want, big waves, surfer guys and girls riding bigger swells. I notice down the beach another surfer dude coming with his board and he's interested in who I’m shooting for. He tells me that “down here” they don't like photographers coming on their land and I ensure him that I was not on anyone's private land walking down the beach. I certainly didn't feel welcome in this particular area.

I continue getting shots of these more experienced surfers (pictures I uploaded) but wrap up kinda quickly as the tide is coming in and I am out on a point of land where I am not sure how far the water would come to shore. All in all this wasn't a bad day as it was good to get out and shoot on a warm sunny day on the Nova Scotia coastline. I enjoyed the challenge of photographing surfers and I hope to get out and try getting better shots another time and hopefully this fall. As stated above, my favourite photo was the one where I used the Tilt Shift effect. One of the things I like best about photography is trying to make a photo better by manipulating it in Photoshop or another image editing software program.

Last Camping Trip of the 2012 Season

Oct. 7/12 was the last provincial campground camping weekend for the 2012 camping season and It wasn't my weekend with my little boy and most of my Rv'ing camping friends had either put their campers away or were finished for the season. I wanted to get one more camping weekend in as well as to get away from the city even if that mean't camping by myself. So I decided that I didn't want to stay at a provincial campground as I would be kinda isolated as well as dependent on my generator for power. This is usually not a huge deal during the summer
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months when it's warmer but when the weather is colder and you want to use an electric heater instead of all your propane plus battery power, it becomes a bigger deal plus the fact you can only run generators from 10am in the morning until 8pm at night in NS provincial campgrounds. I decided that a campground near a town with two or three way hookups would be the way to go for this camping trip. I have always been fond of Lunenburg and their artistic community and galleries. I made a quick decision that Lunenburg would be a great spot as my trailer resides in Chester and the drive from Chester to Lunenburg is not that far. However finding a campground close by and with the proper amenities might be a bit of a challenge. Of course Google played a huge part in finding a campground almost in the town of Lunenburg called; The Lunenburg Board of Trade Campground (http://www.lunenburgns.com/the-lunenburg-board-of-trade-campground.html) and it's literally a 5 min. walk to downtown Lunenburg. I have been RV'ing or camping for about 11 years now and I have never heard of this campground. Making reservations was pretty easy as it was off-season. I arrive about 3pm on a Thurs. and have everything setup by about 5:30pm. I will say that this is NOT the “ hard core “ campers campground as there is very little wilderness and it is next door to a nursing home PLUS no campfires allowed due to it being in the town. I really didn't care as this was perfect for my agenda this weekend. I am usually pretty tired after picking my trailer up in Chester and getting it hooked on and then the drive ( which really wasn't too far) and then to disconnect and have everything set up to perfection. Next on the itinerary was food and a sociable. I head downtown Lunenburg ( by foot of course ) and before I get my fix of edibles, I decide to walk along the waterfront part of the town and take a few pics. with my Iphone. It's dusk and not a lot of people around being that it is off-season but the quiet and serenity of this small town is perfect. I ended up finding a bar and grill called the Grand Banker(http://www.grandbanker.com) with a great menu, nice wait staff and looked over the water and Lunenburg Golf course ( which you can barely see now as it it's dark ). After Dinner and the walk back to the campground, I call it a day.
I never sleep in but I slept until 9am Friday morning so my day had a late start and I had made arrangements with a pastor friend of mine to have coffee for 10am at Kate's Sweet Indulgence Catering and Cafe  (http://www.sweetindulgence.ca). Steve Hiltz and I haven't seen each other in 25 years and I think we could have talked all day but just stayed the hour or so and then Steve took me to Blue Rocks where both him and I got our photography gear out. It was not the best time of day ( Cloudy ) but we snapped a few being “ Photog "   guys. SteveH. had to leave due other commitments and I drove to another scenic place in and around Lunenburg called Stonehurst.
Believe it or not I have not been to Blue Rocks or Stonehurst before and they are commonly photographed scenic places in and around the Lunenburg area. Mid afternoon I make it back to the trailer for a bite, rest and then head out to see some galleries in Lunenburg. This was one of the main reasons I came to Lunenburg, to take in some of their( besides getting away from the city ) galleries and artistic community, maybe even buy a painting. I went into 3 or 4 galleries and the one I liked the most was a gallery by the name of Peer Gallery, www.peer-gallery.com. A lot of abstract art with many oil on canvas paintings. One particular artist was working there by the name of Barbra Mclean and besides being a great person to talk with, she is a great artist. Check her site out at; www.barbaramclean-artist.com.  A contemporary artist who uses muted colors with strong dark details. I went to a few more galleries and one artist that really stood out was an artist by the name of Paul Kelly. I really thought his paintings were extraordinary and at first glance I thought they were a photograph; www.paulkelley.ca .
 Saturday was my last full day of camping and of course I got up late again. Weather was not the best again but I wanted some more photo opportunities. I decide to take a drive up to Petite Rivière where I photographed a wedding a few years back . From Lunenburg I took highway 332 into Bridgewater and then hooked up with the 331 (which is very scenic ) and then continued down past the Lahave Bakery ( http://lahavebakery.com/ ) and Rissers Beach until I got to Petite Rivière.

I stopped at a china/antique shop and the woman who was working was nice enough to let me take her picture while she carried on her duties. On the way back to the Lahave Ferry I stopped at Crescent Beach while wind and Kite surfers were tackling the elements.
As well they were kind enough to let me take their pictures while I invaded their space. By this time I am kinda tired and decide to call it a day. With Stops at Lahave Bakery, Crescent Beach and Rissers Beach and then the Lahave Ferry back to East Lahave, the whole trip was roughly 4 to 5 hours. Quick shower and a short walk and I am back to the Grand Banker for another fantastic meal with one or two sociables. My last camping trip for the season was incredibly relaxing and I was able to see some old friends, cousins and snap some scenic shots as well. In May 2013 it will be the beginning of camping season again and I am sure my/our opening camping excursion will take us either to The Lunenburg Board of Trade Campground or The Ovens Natural Park to kickoff camping 2013.www.stevejess.com