Candid Camera

I was very fortunate to open my 2012/13 kite surfing season today with a very nice southeaster and an opportunity to try out my new GoPro camera. I have to admit that I was rather worried that the camera was going to fall off, so I wasn't too adventurous on my first session. As I see the camera staying put and I convince myself that it will not fall off, I will try and get better shots with more action.

When I mounted my camera on my board there were basic two options, on the left or on the right. I wasn't sure which side to choose, but considering which side I will be facing when wave riding and which side the sun comes from most of the times at Kite Beach, I opted for my right side. The angle was a bit of a problem as I could not see which angle would capture the best picture, so I just went with my gut feeling. I think I didn't do too bad on that. I can still use some of my other brackets to change the angle a bit if I have to. 

I had to laugh at myself because after 20 minutes in the water I thought I should have enough pictures by now. Then I realised that my setting was wrong again and that I only took one picture. After getting the setting right so that I could take a shot EVERY ten seconds and not only one AFTER ten seconds, I went back in. Here are seven of my 155 shots. Obviously most of them were rather poor, blurred and just shots of water splashing so I only posted the better ones....

The problem with having a fixed camera is that all the shots basically looks the same. Taken from the same spot with the same angle does not give much variation, so instead of focusing too much on the angle, focus on the difference in lighting,  water, colours, etc. For instance on one my face is visible, on the other my kite is. Finding droplets on the lens is something that one has to get used to when taking pictures in the water. At least they change the whole time, not like a black spot on the mirror of your SLR.

What I love about this picture is the water splashing. I think one the things I love most about kite surfing is the constant splashing of water in my face. I had plenty of pics where you could only see the water and nothing more. Here you can at least get a feeling of what I must've been feeling while skimming across the water. 

These two were probably my best two pictures of the day. This was taken on my way towards the beach, opposite direction from the first two pictures. Also from the same angle, but two completely different pictures. After seeing the second picture I realized that I had my camera mounted on the best side, I managed to get Table Mountain in on the back. There were quite a few pictures with Table Mountain, but this one was the best. The brown colour of the water is actually the sand. It is probably about 5 to 10 centimetres deep here. I have to work on my toes that are always bend upwards when I kite, they are too prominent on these pictures.

When you have your camera set on taking pictures, don't think that you will only get good shots in the water. Sometimes you might take pictures where you didn't expect to see anything nice. One usually get people coming to you and asking you about kite surfing, like this gentleman did when I got out. The last picture was taken just before I switched the camera off. I can hardly wait for my next session.