Surf Devil
Under extreme conditions it takes a cool head and superb hand eye coordination to capture the action. To have the presents of mind to follow, compose and capture the peak moment takes planning and forethought not luck.
This outstanding image is not just your average surfing photo it’s an excellent example of a number of photographic principles. The first is composition. The surf rider is positioned not on the bulls’ eye center of the frame but to the left one third allowing space in front of him for anticipated movement. The stop action is perfect; this must have been shot at a very high shutter speed to get every water droplet in mid air. The lighting is excellent with no harsh mid day shadows. You will note he is moving from the dark water to the light again dividing the image along the one third line. And finally the scene has been boiled down to the surfer and the wave with no extraneous information.
This image captures a moment that tells a story. The fins of the board are out of the water, he is about to either swing back over the wave to fall forward onto the face of the wall of water. His out stretched arms are pointing along a converging axis of with the surf board taking our eye up and forward breathlessly into the next second yet untold. In short the viewer is also riding the surf.
If there were one thing I could change it would be to give the surfer a haircut. The photo-artist may like the crop of hair flowing out to the right but to me it appears counter to the movement of the rider and the board. It may be the way it was but it could be removed if you desire.
Click on Image 
Marked Up 
Modified 
March 8th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Pic taken in San Diego off a pier, which allowed for close-up shots. The surf’s name is Ralph and he is a long-hair character; as well as a professional surfer. His hair was flowing in so many shots, I admit to overlooking it in all the pictures. Removing it does clean up what could be distracting to some viewers.
The shot: 200-400 lens at 240 mm, 1/2000 @ f/7.1, ISO 800. Shot late in the afternoon under slightly overcast conditions.