East London Sardine Run 2009

Pictures Here

Trip Report Here

Regards

Jean.

Awesome Jean,

The action never ceases to amaze.

Jean what is your opinion on how the world cup will impact traveling to SA next year. I would like to come for the Sardine Run and some safari time with the family, but avoid the world cup madness if possible (I'm originally from Joburg)

Do you think one can get there in June when most of the qualifiers are on, and then be out before the bigger matches start in July?

Great pics and report! I can't wait to get there!!! You've convinced me I made the right choice picking up another lens (Canon 10-22) and thanks for the tip to keep the strobes low for faster recycle time. Glad I got a 16GB card as well! What settings (ISO, shutter, aperture, etc.) were you using?

Thanks,

Phil

Awesome Jean,

The action never ceases to amaze.

Jean what is your opinion on how the world cup will impact traveling to SA next year. I would like to come for the Sardine Run and some safari time with the family, but avoid the world cup madness if possible (I'm originally from Joburg)

Do you think one can get there in June when most of the qualifiers are on, and then be out before the bigger matches start in July?

With a username like Loftus where else could you be from??? I think the airlines are going to hike the air ticket prices by quite a bit. The major cities hosting events will be a nightmare from an accomodation and traffic point of view. I am seriously considering leaving Cape Town and spending most of June/July in East London or Port St. Johns to escape the onshore madness and enjoy the underwater mayhem. If you can get to EL or P.St.J. you will be out of the way enough to enjoy yourself, and getting out before the big games should be ok. Everything will hinge on getting tickets...

Regards

Jean.

Great pics and report! I can't wait to get there!!! You've convinced me I made the right choice picking up another lens (Canon 10-22) and thanks for the tip to keep the strobes low for faster recycle time. Glad I got a 16GB card as well! What settings (ISO, shutter, aperture, etc.) were you using?

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

That 16gb card is essential, I took two and filled both in one exceptional afternoon. Here's some advice regarding settings that I sent to a friend going to Port St. Johns tomorrow:

I used mostly base ISO of 200 except on a cloudy day when I bumped up to 400. The high ISO performance on the D200 is poor so I would just keep it at 200.

I used the maximum shutter speed that will sync with my strobe which is 1/250th. I still had motion blurring in some shots but most were fine. When I realised that the strobes were not recycling fast enough I turned them off and pushed the speed to 1/500th on shutter priority and let the camera choose the aperture (mostly f/8 to f/11).

Motor drive is possibly the only way to get the action as it happens so quickly, especially the bird diving shots. Focus is easy on single point AF-S as you set it on the sards and keep your finger halfway down to keep it locked. When the sards start to disperse...fire!

I used the 10.5mm on the only clear water day we had, but in hindsight this was the wrong choice. Next time I would go with my 12-24mm. I did used the 12-24mm on the next day but the photos were kak due to bad viz, however the compositions were better.

I found that starting out freediving was by far the best option. In most cases the action was moving fast and the guys with tanks missed a lot. Once the sards were properly baitballed the action was more static and I would swim back to the boat for my tank.

If there are lots of guys on your boat then be the first guy at the action... too many people and it disperses.

Advice worth only what you paid for it! Perhaps some of the more experienced guys on the forum have something better.

Regards

Jean.

Stunning...

... except that (and I can guess why) the resolution doesn't do any of the images justice. Is there any chance of posting one or two watermarked high resolution images?

Tim