I was down at Woodman Point today & grabbed a few photos including these of Aaron Hadlow in training. Cheers, Gordon.

Great shots! Will he be there today?

Quality looks good but can do some work on timing. Shots chosen look to be too early or late in Aaron's trick. Photos make him look like just another joe when he is one of the best in the world.

Choose photos mid trick, when inverted or passing the bar which is usually at the apex of height in the trick.

I think it's important to take some pics of the unsponsored local riders, not just the pros. Something majorly lacking amongst the Perth photogs. They all lose their loads when the pros rock up. All the "here for the season" semi pros turn to douchebags trying to have their photo taken and the sesh turns into one big mega cluster-fck (not very enjoyable). Give something back to the locals who have to put up with BS behavior when a photographer rocks up

Select to expand quote

default said..
Quality looks good but can do some work on timing. Shots chosen look to be too early or late in Aaron's trick. Photos make him look like just another joe when he is one of the best in the world.

Choose photos mid trick, when inverted or passing the bar which is usually at the apex of height in the trick.

I think it's important to take some pics of the unsponsored local riders, not just the pros. Something majorly lacking amongst the Perth photogs. They all lose their loads when the pros rock up. All the "here for the season" semi pros turn to douchebags trying to have their photo taken and the sesh turns into one big mega cluster-fck (not very enjoyable). Give something back to the locals who have to put up with BS behavior when a photographer rocks up

I agree. As usual your photos are technically strong but an understanding of kiting / freestyle is much more important when shooting freestylers, it's all about the timing.

Guys, thanks so much for the input on what is being looked for in Kitesurfing photos, & I mean that. This was my 2nd attempt at trying to do some freestyle photos & honestly was not really sure what was being looked for. I found with Aaron in this set he was not happy with his session (IMHO) & only stayed for about 25min at the most, down at Woodman's #3. I was hoping to see him doing a few more "tricks", but he seemed to be doing a set routine. I am purchasing some kitemags tomorrow to try & help me understand the discipline of Freestyle etc. ( Photos ). There were some locals down there yesterday & I will be putting a few photos together of them with Aaron In a separate folder. Should be done in about three days. A real mix of photos in that Gallery I promise. Todays session down at Safety Bay will include a bit of everyone & hopefully a few locals. I really do enjoy just showing people having a good time whether your #1 in the world or a local doing something special. I will notify when the Gallery's are going up. Have a good weekend guys. Cheers, Gordon.

Select to expand quote

Hybrid_Z said..

default said..
Quality looks good but can do some work on timing. Shots chosen look to be too early or late in Aaron's trick. Photos make him look like just another joe when he is one of the best in the world.

Choose photos mid trick, when inverted or passing the bar which is usually at the apex of height in the trick.

I think it's important to take some pics of the unsponsored local riders, not just the pros. Something majorly lacking amongst the Perth photogs. They all lose their loads when the pros rock up. All the "here for the season" semi pros turn to douchebags trying to have their photo taken and the sesh turns into one big mega cluster-fck (not very enjoyable). Give something back to the locals who have to put up with BS behavior when a photographer rocks up

I agree. As usual your photos are technically strong but an understanding of kiting / freestyle is much more important when shooting freestylers, it's all about the timing.

Why not just put it on motor drive or burst mode ,most decent cameras will snap off a few frames per second ,some just keep clicking away and edit later for the best shots,pretty simple.Really hard to snap one shot at just the right moment.

I wonder why he doesn't use the safety system when connecting his leash? he looks to have some sort of home made connection where hes connected to ?

Even if they don't capture much of the trick, the second and third pics show how hard he loads up and at what speed - that's some serious spray.

Its ok i figured it out its to stop the leash from getting wound up after passing the bar, as it has a swivel on it. Mystery solved everyone relax

Select to expand quote

Ricardo1709 said..

Hybrid_Z said..

default said..
Quality looks good but can do some work on timing. Shots chosen look to be too early or late in Aaron's trick. Photos make him look like just another joe when he is one of the best in the world.

Choose photos mid trick, when inverted or passing the bar which is usually at the apex of height in the trick.

I think it's important to take some pics of the unsponsored local riders, not just the pros. Something majorly lacking amongst the Perth photogs. They all lose their loads when the pros rock up. All the "here for the season" semi pros turn to douchebags trying to have their photo taken and the sesh turns into one big mega cluster-fck (not very enjoyable). Give something back to the locals who have to put up with BS behavior when a photographer rocks up

I agree. As usual your photos are technically strong but an understanding of kiting / freestyle is much more important when shooting freestylers, it's all about the timing.

Why not just put it on motor drive or burst mode ,most decent cameras will snap off a few frames per second ,some just keep clicking away and edit later for the best shots,pretty simple.Really hard to snap one shot at just the right moment.

There's more to it than that. Having a strong understanding of the sport and tricks allows you to know where to position yourself, where to aim and when to press the button.

Select to expand quote

default said..

I think it's important to take some pics of the unsponsored local riders, not just the pros. Something majorly lacking amongst the Perth photogs. They all lose their loads when the pros rock up. All the "here for the season" semi pros turn to douchebags trying to have their photo taken and the sesh turns into one big mega cluster-fck (not very enjoyable). Give something back to the locals who have to put up with BS behavior when a photographer rocks up

If you want someone to take your photo that badly, pay someone to do it, or do better tricks. Or get a selfie stick.

Personally, I have no problem with douchebags lining up to get their photo taken leaving the rest of the beach empty for people to kite. Very happy when Gordon rocks up!

Select to expand quote

TrueSpirit said..
to try & help me understand the discipline of Freestyle etc. ( Photos ).

Good luck with that one.
1st up theres the discipline itself - takes the experts all their time to keep up.Then theres the even more difficult problem of how to shoot what only the rider knows whats happening !!
But dont give up. We all love the pics - perfect or otherwise.

Thanks jackforbes & puppetonastring. One of the things I'm trying to do while learning the different disciplines that are part of Kitesurfing is to improve my photos, but most of all is to not become a nuisance while on the beach with my camera. I would hate to find out that I in any way was putting you guys off from a good session.
My photos from Sundays session down at the Pond are now up on True Spirit Photos for your viewing. I was hoping to get a few more of the locals, but I will have to leave that for another day. These photos are predominantly Team #North. Any critic/comments are most welcome. Cheers, Gordon.
Link www.truespiritphotos.com/Watersports/Kitesurfing-November-2014/The-Pond-with-Team-North/46786688_q3K6WD

Select to expand quote

doonut said..
I wonder why he doesn't use the safety system when connecting his leash? he looks to have some sort of home made connection where hes connected to ?

looks like the len10 customized leash to me.... super strong.

TSP, some great shots of Sam and Tack there

Thanks tomme. Looking back at the photos, I just wish I had moved my angles a bit more, but that will hopefully come with time.

Yeah Gordon throw some diff angles in there.. Like placing yourself inline with the downwind landing (of trick) with the kite in the frame. Money. And a few wide angles..But a good first proper sesh I reckon. They look good

Select to expand quote

TrueSpirit said..
Thanks tomme. Looking back at the photos, I just wish I had moved my angles a bit more, but that will hopefully come with time.

Hey man it's looking pretty good for the most part, like others said your timing is a bit off on some but I get it, it's bloody hard to time right even when you know freestyle well.

My honest advice though is that if you want to see what a good freestyle photo looks like, take a look at some of Toby Bromwich's work and look at a lot of cable wakeboarding photos. These will give you a good idea of what a photo should look like at the apex of tricks. Unfortunately I find a lot of kiting photos, even in magazines, they use fairly mediocre stuff. There are way too many photos of raleys or blind judge variants (which are some of the most basic freestyle tricks) and not enough of technical inverts, rotations and passes etc.

I know cable is a different sport but in terms of style between freestyle and cable they are fundamentally the same discipline, often cable will look a bit better and cleaner thanks to the improved consistency of the sport, you know when and where the tricks will occur every time.

Another good tip is take a day and just watch someone who does a large variety of tricks, pay a lot of attention to the way they approach and enter a trick. You'll notice there are difference in the way they edge based on different tricks and that can give you a hint for timing.

Hi default & Charl dv. Thanks for your feedback. I have been doing quite a bit of online research into different freestyle photo shoots & like most things, I hope to get this right with practise. I have the equipment to do it, but just need time on/in the water. I'm heading over to South Africa in three weeks & will be hoping to get one full day down at the Red Bull King of the Air ( Cape Town ) while I'm in that city. I don't know what the story is with accreditation to do the event, but I will be giving it a go. Hopefully by then I would have improved a bit Thanks again.

No worries man, there are some pics on your site that are quite good. It's good to have more photographers wanting to get good shots of our sport.

You evidently have a good eye for shots Gordon. Ignore comments here, ignore what you see online. Come up with your own angles, they might be refreshing and new.