alpharon's posterous

I managed to process a couple more photos from the 2011 Volcom Pipeline Pro.  All the photos I'm posting from the event are from the final day of competition.  I really like how these shots turned out.  Not much processing was done to them at all.  The biggest thing I had to do with them was some cropping to get the framing of the photo just the way I wanted it.  All the shots were taken using the center point expansion on my Canon 7D, so I tried to frame them in post with the surfer off center to show movement.  I do that with a lot of the surf shots I take, so I hope they don't start to look repetitive.  I've still got a lot more photos from the event, but I've had too many distractions keeping me from editing them.

I've also had a lot of suggestions about getting these images published in a magazine or sold to industry professionals.  Unfortunately, the media business is all about speed and I was unable to get these pictures processed and uploaded in time to beat out any of the professionals.  Also, a lot of publications and websites already send out their own photographers to these events, so most outlets already have the photos they need.  For now, they'll simply remain a part of my collection until someone decides they'd like to purchase them.

Enjoy the photos.  I may post more from the event in the future.  I will also be posting an update to Project 365 and maybe some gear reviews coming soon (!!!), so keep checking back for that!

My first full month of Project 365 has just been completed!  It's been a blast so far without too many challenges yet, but I'm sure I'll encounter those days soon. Here are Days 29-31 followed by a short slideshow of the month's photos at the end of this post!  Enjoy!  Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about the series so far.

[029/365] :: Flats.  My wife and her shoes...She's most comfortable in a pair of slippahs, but slips into some toe coverings when the weather turns cooler or when her outfit dictates it.  I've seen he wear these particular flats before, but they grabbed my attention a little bit when I saw them on her this evening.  I guess I like the pattern or something.  I was trying to do this photo in black and white, but I couldn't get the right look I was looking for in post, so I desaturated it a little and gave it a light tint.

[030/365] :: The Sniper.  It's the Canon EF 400mm ƒ/5.6L USM.  This is my longest reaching lens used mainly for surf photography from the beach.  It also doubles as a wildlife or birding lens.  I have also had great success using this as a portrait lens with enough distance between me and the subject.  I took this photo using another gem in my lens lineup, the Canon EF 135mm ƒ/2.0L USM.  Each of these lenses has a very limited use because of their long focal lengths, but I don't think I'll ever get rid of either of them because I consistently get outstanding results from each one.

[031/365] :: Keep It Simple.  I had a lot of ideas running through my head about what type of shot I wanted to shoot for today, but they were getting too complicated and it would have taken a while to get the shots set up, so I decided to just keep it simple with a nice flower shot.  I don't normally shoot these type of shots, but it's something I wanted to try especially since I've been playing with my 135L for the past couple days.  I like the simplicity of the single flower and uncluttered background.

Well, that's it for the first month of my Project 365!  On to the next!

:: Project 365 - January Slideshow ::

The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii has been a mecca for surfers worlwide.  It was a privelege to be able to visit this 7 Mile Miracle during one of the biggest swells of the year.  The swell brought Eddie sized waves to the North Shore.  Unfortunately, there weren't enough big waves to run The Eddie, but there were plenty of big waves for all kinds of shenanigans. 

There was a lot of surfing going on and the swell just happened to fall into the the timeframe for running the 2011 Volcom Pipeline Pro.  My family's vacation to Hawaii coincided with this event and we decided to check out the last day of competition during our visit to the island.  It was flawless Pipeline with both Backdoor & Pipe barrelling perfectly.  This was my first time at a surf competition with waves as good as they'll ever be at Pipeline.  The surfing was near flawless as each competitor got barrel after barrel.  These guys really made it look easy out there.  The winner of the event was 18-year-old John John Florence from the North Shore.  He lives only a few houses down from where the competition was held and is considered a seasoned veteran on these waves.

I shot all these photos with a Canon EOS 7D and Canon EF 400mm ƒ/5.6L USM lens mounted on a Manfrotto monopod with tilt head.  This setup was very portable and worked really well.  I was able to get A LOT of great shots, but I'm only picking out a few to share on this blog.  You can view the rest of the shots from my Flickr set as I finish editing and uploading them.

Enjoy the photos and please let me know what you think by leaving a comment!

Aamion Goodwin was getting some of the best tube rides of the whole contest.  I loved his style and ease of getting in and out of the wave.

Aamion Goodwin performing a rare cutback after exiting a barrel. 

Makuakai Rothman falling from the sky.

Corey Lopez scooping some water to slow for the barrel.

John John Florence screaming in for the ride.

Bruce Irons entering nirvana.

John John Florence, Chris Ward, Aamion Goodwin & Jamie O'Brienshowing some great sportsmanship at the end of the competition.

John John Florence hoisted up the shoulders of friends to claim his win.