I headed out early this morning to Montrose Harbor, ostensibly to photograph birds at the Magic Hedge and dogs at Dog Beach. I knew that was not going to happen. Neither subjects are of particular photographic interest to me. Several birders assured me that I wouldn’t be photographing birds with seeming gale force winds blowing off the lake.

Of course, I wanted to photograph those winds, which meant photographing waves. Mid-morning, I stumbled across two gentlemen with kites. Yes, kite surfers. Boy did they move along the water, at times becoming airborne as their kites lifted them five or so feet out of the water. The white caps tried to defeat their attempts to defy gravity.

That’s the romantic view. I am not convinced the goal is to become airborne. Had it been me, I would have gone for the ride, but the two navigators quickly brought themselves back to sea level each time they headed aloft. Actually, had it been me, I wouldn’t have been out there.

Back and forth they went, sliding horizontal to the shoreline.

[Click on an image to enlarge it]

Triple Sling Shot

Going Back for More

Whoosh, A Circular Motion

Photographer’s Notes: I have never photographed surfers before. I found this exercise to be particularly difficult because of the sail. The trick was to get the surfer and his sail in the frame. In one sense that is fairly easy to do if you have the right lens. I, however, like the subject to dominate the frame, but that is difficult when including the sail that is a hundred or so yards downwind from the surfer. To do it the way I would like, I would need to be in the water next to the surfer, shooting upward so that I could also capture the sail. Of course, I’m not nuts. To get that image today would have meant fighting undertow and riptide. Plus, I would have to swim really fast to keep pace with the surfer. Given those limiting factors, I opted to capture the lake’s furry and man’s need to overcome it.