Sunday, November 8, 2009

Mavericks First Big Swell of the Season


Here is the janky ass video I shot of Mavericks. I didn't have any video tapes for my stereo 3d rig so I shot this with my point and shoot. You can see the rig below. Anyway it was fun to get out and watch the first big swell of the season!


A couple of guys getting ready to head out. I love those boards.


A lady with bigger balls than most tough guys getting ready to go out.


This is the view from where I was standing. This is at the top of a 40-50 foot is cliff and is probably one of the best spots you can watch from short of being in the water. That wave in the middle top which is the farthest out is the break. There is actually someone riding it and if you click to view the bigger image you can almost make them out but probably not. The guy there in front of me had a huge lens.


Here is what that barbed wire fence protects. It's some kind of Navy installation. I think mostly weather and radar stuff. It has the prime spot for watching Mavericks and normal people are not aloud in.


Here is the top of the cliff. In this picture you can see just about all of the top of the cliff that you can watch from. I was standing along the very steep back side of the cliff. Not a whole lot of room for spectators. I think only 10-20 cameras could get a good view or maybe 30-40 people.


Here a view from the same spot looking down. It's a pretty steep climb as you can see from the guy making his way up. There are some spots along that edge you can watch from but they are not so comfy and less than the best view.


This is they guy who was in front of me with his huge lens. I bet he got better shots than me.


Here is the super cheap and small gheto lens extender rig I took with me. It's why my video is less than super. The clamp thing cost $20 from B&H Photo and totally worth it for lo-tech video. Though my rig is cheap and less than perfect I actually really enjoy the janky quality of the video I shoot with it.


All hooked up and ready to go. I hand held all of my shots and had to do a lot of post deshake to make it kind of watchable.


This is the end I spend most of my time looking at.

5 comments:

snap! said...

I like the party-wave-take-off at the end of the video. Fun stuff

jimmy said...

Yeah, it seems like those big wave riders like to party. Half the waves have 2+ people on them. I think it might be that once you commit to going for the wave you have to go even if someone else is in a better spot. Then you pull out after you survive the drop as you can see them doing. Most places you might get beat up or stabbed for doing that over and over but I think at Mavericks everyone is happy to have company and to survive.

snap! said...

Yeah, it looks like there is plenty of room for multiple people on each wave. It's not like they are going to run into each other that easily.

mike said...

Did you get another new camera? Isn't that the s90? How is it? I'm thinking about getting a new one, but I am kind of torn between that, the G10 or 11, one that has HD video with it, or just buy one of those Kodak Zi8 HD palm cameras. I also wouldn't mind checking out the 3d fuji you got too. Too many toys, too little time! Happy Turkey day,by the way!

jimmy said...

Yep got the s90 a few weeks back. Love it! Since you already have an SLR you should go with the s90 not the g11 or g10. The s90 and g11 have better sensors (larger more light sensitive) than the g10 so at the very least you have to go with the s90 or g11. I say s90 though since it's totally pocket-able with all the sensor and brains of the g11. The g11 is still a bit chunky and at that point you might as well go with one of your SLRs. Happy Turkey Day right back -:]