[dflorez]

Again, shot on a gh2 with K-mount lenses.

Getting a little weird with this one - your thoughts please.

Vimeo

[Alex645]

Again, shot on a gh2 with K-mount lenses.

Getting a little weird with this one - your thoughts please.

Love the style, pacing, light, and motion of video. If I were to nit pick technique, there were a couple of out of focus shots that didn't seem stylistic but rather poor technique, mostly surf shots.

As far as what would take this to the next level? Shot in 2015? Why not audio from 2015? Obama, Trump, Jeb, Dalai Lama, CNN, Fox News??? I do love how the recordings from '69 have a nostalgia to Florida back in the day, but just bring it to the 21st century and then it's much more original and meaningful.

[dflorez]

Thank you to all the above!

Yeah, it's difficult to focus sometimes on the gh2's lcd screen. Definitely not as nice as the Pentax units, and as a weird quirk, it's not sharp until you hit record. Might just be a hack byproduct though.

Interesting on the newer voiceovers. My original thought was to find some boxing or other sports matches to play in there, but the first website I came across with public domain speeches had a lot of NASA/WW2 recordings - which were fun to play with. Kind of take them out of their context, though with such iconic speeches also grounds into something else. One of those things, where as I'm editing not entirely sure if it was a good thing to play with. Thank you rather much Alex!

[osv]

a lovely model who knows how to put her toes on the nose... it's an opportunity you should be taking better advantage of.

washed-out oof shots don't do it justice, you need to get back to the basics of shooting real video, instead of trying to rely on gimmicks.

unfortunately when it comes to surfing, everything is backwards and wrong in florida, so it won't be easy... east coast lighting, weak to non-existent swell, etc.

still camera lenses are not good for shooting surfing, you need parfocal glass, even a cheap camcorder would be better.

i like the choice of music, what you are doing with this video definitely shows potential, it just needs to be channeled in the right direction.

[Alex645]

a lovely model who knows how to put her toes on the nose... it's an opportunity you should be taking better advantage of.

washed-out oof shots don't do it justice, you need to get back to the basics of shooting real video, instead of trying to rely on gimmicks.

unfortunately when it comes to surfing, everything is backwards and wrong in florida, so it won't be easy... east coast lighting, weak to non-existent swell, etc.

still camera lenses are not good for shooting surfing, you need parfocal glass, even a cheap camcorder would be better.

i like the choice of music, what you are doing with this video definitely shows potential, it just needs to be channeled in the right direction.

Being from Hawaii (and raised in San Diego) I did have an initial reaction of "is that surf?" But after awhile, I understood it wasn't about a pro surfer carving it up but rather just someone grooving for the fun of it. I also had a reaction in the first shot where she smiles into the camera, and wished she didn't make eye contact. But again, once I understood more of the style and where this narrative was going, I think it fits.

[dflorez]

Sent from a phone - please excuse errors.

All noted! And believe it or not, that's a slightly above average day compared to our summer. It's rarely over chest here until a hurricane comes through.

To the fellow who remarked on lens quality, care to elaborate? How would a camcorder help?

Thank ya much!

[beachboy2]

I enjoyed it. Dialogue is great. Goes with surfing style and era of board. Cool!

[MikeD]

For me left me cold - you obviously show some serious skills here but they seem miss applied. What I am seeing (maybe I just don't have the art skills needed to appreciate this) is a grayish fog over everything, a decent looking subject that, may have some skills but looks like she couldn't handle anything bigger than the ripples she's riding and the audio is as you put it in your first post is just weird. Now this may have turned out pretty darned cool with a better choice of audio assuming you were going for Nostalgia, I just don't see old news cast audio as helping, maybe some Bob Dylan or other 60's artists would have worked better.

---------- Post added 12-01-2015 at 09:23 AM ----------

By the way if you were going for Nostalgia old boards never had 3 skags. Just one

[elementdtlop]

im guessing the fog is naturally there. its always foggy at the beach in nj too. if you are adding it in as a stylistic effect then don't. i agree with the oof things and i understand its tough to focus on the fly like that. at least surfers go in relatively one plane with small adjustment needed to keep them in focus. my dogs change direction constantly and can come at me at like 20mph pass me right next to me and go 20mph the other direction. in those cases its really tough to track manually. the tough part about somewhere like there is its tough to set your focus point and just hit record when she paddles because the waves don't break at relatively the same distance away. presetting the focus and making minute adjustments when you are ready to roll is how i shoot surf video. you could widen the aperture with that camera right? I'm sure there wasn't much light to play with though so thats definitely a tradeoff. the foggy transition thing works in the beginning but nix it if you are adding it. the pacing works for that style of surfing i guess. you can mix the tempo up with a track that goes at a slow pace and uptempos to real time.

[grispie]

I agree to some of the comments.
But my overall feeling is that by using that audio & also by the less conform framing, you made the video stand out from just another surfing girl video & kept me enjoying it until the end.

[dflorez]

Thanks to all the above!

As they're all things to keep playing with, I'll probably still experiment with dialogue vs. music, maybe removing both entirely.
For fog - none of it was added. However, I do like muted colors in most applications. Obviously it won't always make sense, and that'd further change if it's for a client.

Again, all appreciated and will keep in mind.

[PiDicus Rex]

Nice work Dan, enjoyed it, little peaceful moment amongst all the crazy fast paced stuff we see everywhere.

[Chris Hewgill]

Really nice work Dan, I like the mood stuff...I shoot surf and ocean still shots (Hewysurf | Surf Photographer) with the Pentax K3, but lurching towards trying video in the surf with my housing...

[interested_observer]

Really nice, I enjoyed it very much....

I'll show my age here (and having grown up in California) - the classic from the Beach Boys - Surfer Girl

Little surfer little one / Made my heart come all undone / Do you love me, do you surfer girl / Surfer girl my little surfer girl…