The swell was dying down, so I figured it was the time to go all-time on slow-mo. Most shots here are at 240 frames per second – a tenth of real-time – not quite getting stoked, but there’s a smoothing beauty to it all. Shot on Fuji X-T4 with Opteka 500mm lens, often with a 2x Teleconverter.
The GoPro Hero10 shot in here at which is was also recording at 240, but edited with a little bit of time ramping. It’s tough to get better when you can only paddle out a few times each month, so hopefully a close look at some of the better surfers in here can show you a pointer. A few real-time shots near the end start at 40:33.
Pulling focus here is tough, I need to mount a monitor next time. The X-T4 is a cropped sensor too, so apparently it’s more of a 750mm / 1,500mm. I’ve tried Fuji’s 100-400, which has a reliable autofocus, but the extra 100 here feels very intimate and is much more rewarding when it sticks. Not that I nailed it on many of the shots, so just squint or watch it on a projector and you’ll never know.
