Yay, surf! It was the first big surf of 2013 and I'm sure the surfers were happier about it than I was. The 1,000 mile long storm at the end of January stretched from Florida to New England. As warm spring collided with cold winter, tornadoes arrived in Georgia and swell came to RI. It was 6-8' from the southwest with a strong west southwest breeze. Watching the forecast all week it looked like the day might be a blowout with winds above 30 knots. But I went down to Narragansett in the morning anyway and it turned out to be a brilliant day by the water! The sun was out, it was 50 degrees, the breeze was strong and the surf was high. Hoards of surfers were in the water from the seawall along Ocean Drive down to Monahan's Dock, and even at Little Rincon.
I had my long lens out, 70-200mm, plus my 2x teleconverter. Sitting on the seawall I got some great shots of the surfers, plus some really interesting ones looking further south towards Monahan's. This second composition (which you can see towards the bottom) looked at the waves stacking up and gave a wider perspective of the surf which I really enjoyed. It can be tricky to shoot surf because as soon as you get the composition you like the waves might have already rolled by. Then you have to sit and wait for the next set to roll in, crossing your fingers that the waves will stack up as nicely as they did before to give you that perfect shot! It's all about reading the water and being quick on the trigger.
By noon the swell started to die a bit, but here are my best shots of the day! See them all on my website under Surf & Sport. Or if you're one of the surfers, check out the Viewing Gallery!
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