What to do on a windy Lake Superior day (WOW!)

[Steve Foss]

You wouldn't catch me doing this these days, now that I'm overweight and overage.

But there was a cadre of wave runner aficionados off the shore of Canal Park this Saturday doing what they love to do when the winds are 30mph out of the northeast and it's still summer . . . sort of.

These are grab shots taken off the cuff from the concrete platform around the lighthouse as these hotdogs did their stuff. They're zooming for sure, but it's the environment for more than one kind of zoom. Try getting good images in 30mph sustained winds of rapidly moving targets at different ranges with a prime lens, and a non IS lens at that.

All shot with Canon 20D, Canon 100-400L IS at various focal lengths, all at iso400. Man, it was hard to hold that lens steady in the wind.

It sure takes a big wave runner to tame Lake Superior waves.

Starting out. 1/100, f7.1 at 170mm

Talking it over. 1/1600, f7.1 at 235mm

Gaining speed. 1/800, f11 at 200mm

Turning into wake. 1/800, f11 at 200mm

A little air. 1/250, f11 at 235mm

A LOT of air. 1/640, f7.1 at 285mm

[Dbl]

Steve, are you looking for some part-time work. Those are great. Very tough exposures with the water and bright sun. The last three are "money" shots. I have shot kite boarders on the Columbia river in conditions as bad as that (wind to 40) and that lens is tough to hold. Really enjoyed those shots, thanks.

[Skeets]

Awesome shots!

[Steve Foss]

Thanks Skeets and Dbl. Dan, know anyone at Sea Doo?

In fact, I wished at the time I wasn't in the company of others and that I didn't have other photographic committments. I'd have hung around another couple hours until the light got right and REALLY got some money shots. But I was there to shoot senior portraits for a client, and when the light got right, those were the "money" shots I needed.

The worst part was that the best Sea Doo images were of the guys jumping into the waves, which faced them northeast, while the sun was to the southwest behind them. Would have paid a lot of money for a light overcast day to even out the contrast.

I'll take photo money for any type of photo I can get. I'm not proud. Nature is my love, but I've done a lot of other things, too, and to make a living strictly as a nature photographer is not a reasonable goal these days. So there are the weddings, the sports assignments, the action portaits, the photo tours . . . and, oh yes, that nagging full-time job, too.

However, I've got a wedding shoot coming up in a couple weeks where the guy is coming across the lake to the wedding ceremony in his tux and driving . . . you guessed it . . . his camo duck boat! Now that's a wedding I can get into.