Whitewater + black rocks + bright sun + fast moving objects = some difficult shooting conditions. Or so I learned today over the course of two 4-gig memory cards.

This is a kayak event on the Potomac River. My monitor at home is really lousy so I have no idea how sharp these are or are not. I usually check them out at work on a better monitor before posting but I won't be in until Monday. I had to beat Mike (MMRiley+, who planned the shoot at the competition, what happened to you Kim?) to the punch. I'm sure the shots he'll be posting later will be much better than these.










Lenses used (but I don't know on which or if all are represented here, and don't feel like going back through the data, but I can look for a specific one if someone really really wants to know) were my Quantaray 70-300, mostly at the 300 end, Mike's Bigma (I soo want one of those!) and my Quantaray with Mike's vivitar 2x tc, rendering everything manual causing a miriad of problems.

I have 8 gig worth of shots to go through so maybe I'll find and post some of the falls area itself. It was really gorgeous. So close to me and I've never been there before. Thanks for looking!

Nice work Mel, looks like you were right there in the action. In fact I think I just felt spray on my face. Oh that's right, I remember now, I'm sitting on the beach in Hawaii.
I like the last one best because it really shows how small those guys are compared to what they are dealing with and how brave/stupid they are.
That Quantaray serves you well.
Gary

[maxwell1295]

Great captures. Looks fun and terrifying at the same time...

[reeftool]

Very nice!

[heliphoto]

Nice shots of some BIG water.

[cupic]

Absolutely fabulous great use of everything available to you

Got anymore you have wet my appetite

cheers

[mel]

Very nice!

Thanks

Nice shots of some BIG water.

Yes it was big water and there was a whole whole lot of it.

Absolutely fabulous great use of everything available to you

Got anymore you have wet my appetite

cheers

Thanks all!

Pun intended? Yeah I have 8 gigs worth more. But I've never shot watersports before, being more of a landsports shooting kinda girl so I definitely don't have 8 gigs worth of GOOD stuff.

And watch out for Mike's shots. He actually knew what he was doing so I'm sure he'll have some awesome stuff.

[mel]

Nice work Mel, looks like you were right there in the action. In fact I think I just felt spray on my face. Oh that's right, I remember now, I'm sitting on the beach in Hawaii.
I like the last one best because it really shows how small those guys are compared to what they are dealing with and how brave/stupid they are.
That Quantaray serves you well.
Gary

Thanks and yeah I'm getting some pretty good mileage out of that lens. Hawaii? What on earth are you doing in Hawaii? Not a vacation or something? I lived there once for about three years and would love to go back. So we'll be seeing pictures soon?

Great captures. Looks fun and terrifying at the same time...

I agree. Although leaning more on the fun side for me, especially after standing up on the observatory areas for a couple hours. It got pretty hot. A slide down the river in a kayak looked quite appealing.

[SCGushue]

Nice work Mel. This is one of the few things that is more fun to do than photograph though.

I don't think I have done drops quite that high but close. You should give it a try.

Stephen

[NaClH2O]

Great shots Mel, you didn't do to badly! If this is a sample of what is on your cards than you've got a bunch of keepers. Thanks for sharing them with us. And despite what Stephen says, "dem dudes be wack!"

NaCl(a bit of plastic and a tiny paddle against the river? No thanks!)H2O

[mel]

Nice work Mel. This is one of the few things that is more fun to do than photograph though.

I don't think I have done drops quite that high but close. You should give it a try.

Stephen

Thanks!
I would love to try it. I think it looks like a lot of fun. I'll build up to those big drops though if that's okay.

Great shots Mel, you didn't do to badly! If this is a sample of what is on your cards than you've got a bunch of keepers. Thanks for sharing them with us. And despite what Stephen says, "dem dudes be wack!"

NaCl(a bit of plastic and a tiny paddle against the river? No thanks!)H2O

Thanks! I did end up with more keepers than I had anticipated and I have no idea what to do with them all. And I still think it looks fun!

Here's a few shots of the river and the falls, going further out with each consecutive shot. You can get a better idea what they were paddling down.

[monochrome]

Really nice, Mel - you captured the action really well.

It has been about 30 year since i did that, on the James River I think - in Central Virginia anyway. The water wasn't that big and I remember we portaged a couple drops because one of the other guys said they were 4 Water and only for experienced kayakers.

Crazy sport. Great shots.

[mel]

Really nice, Mel - you captured the action really well.

It has been about 30 year since i did that, on the James River I think - in Central Virginia anyway. The water wasn't that big and I remember we portaged a couple drops because one of the other guys said they were 4 Water and only for experienced kayakers.

Crazy sport. Great shots.

Thank you! It was a really fun change from the usual soccer and baseball. I really need to go out more and hunt down different sports like this. I'm becoming rather addicted to action shooting I'm afraid.

Thanks and yeah I'm getting some pretty good mileage out of that lens. Hawaii? What on earth are you doing in Hawaii? Not a vacation or something? I lived there once for about three years and would love to go back. So we'll be seeing pictures soon?

I hope so, I also have a pinched nerve in my back so I have been in a lot of pain the last couple of weeks. This vacation has turned into recuperation except that I'm not recuperating too well, or quickly. Ces't la vie.
Gary

[mel]

I hope so, I also have a pinched nerve in my back so I have been in a lot of pain the last couple of weeks. This vacation has turned into recuperation except that I'm not recuperating too well, or quickly. Ces't la vie.
Gary

Wow bummer to waste a trip to Hawaii in pain. Hope your recovery speeds up a bit!