Folly hasn't looked like Folly lately. We literally have had waves plus offshore to no winds for the past month give or take. It's been a little gutless at times but there have been some really fun sessions. Yesterday we had our first heavy fog. That time of year.

I've captured a lot of pictures not only of the waves we've been getting but also the beach itself the past few days.


On the other hand the tides have been massive. From the hurricane swells we've had this season I'd say, judging from the boardwalk pylons, the beach has lost an average of over a foot and a half of sand. I took the above picture just because I thought the tree was precariously hanging over the edge of the dunes, ready to take a plunge. It was too foggy to take surf pictures so I went for a surf. Middle of the session I hear a big splash....



The tide was so high yesterday one of the new palm trees the city planted at the second walkover fell victim to the sea.



Waters been deep enough you can start paddling right off the stairs




Waves break so close to shore now




"Photographers" are coming out of the woodwork. Lately I have seen a million people with
telephoto lenses at the Washout. Where are all the Nikon people?



"Gary what'd ya get? I got the youngster in the red swimming costume!"
"Oh, the young fella wearing the red trunks! How about you Linda?"
"The young man wearing the red bathing suit!"


(not hating...have a laugh. Leave a comment if you really feel the need)



Spike strip for the Folly Beach Public Safety ATV...no open containers people. Lot's of sand gone.

Ok, the part you all scroll down to. The Waves. In no particular order except the order in which I took these (most recent to oldest).









Pelican's got competition












Another example of how close the waves were breaking to shore










Last Word:

Honestly I don't like watermarking pictures, it takes away from the picture's true meaning and effectively ruins the shot. Recently I have seen my pictures on other websites. This makes me truly happy that someone would take the time to post my pictures on another online photo album. I just ask for one thing: give me some credit. Link my blog or put my name on there; easy as pie.

Oh it's far from lame though. After a great stuggle with YouTube, the Thomos Bros were able to post a new video last night. This is their best one yet. Yeah I say it every video; I'm not kidding with this one. The editing and post processing is on point to the max.

See the Nicole throw away video at A Thomas Brothers Production

I have work late tonight but I have a bunch of pics to post up. If anything, another post with pics will be up after 12am when I get out of work.

Mike C
update via iPhone

"Almost Nicole" is the name of the feature. Go check it out.



It's anonymous for real now. YOU can leave a comment. When I uploaded this new template it messed up a bunch of other things too that I still haven't got around to fix.

I was going to post this one yesterday but for some reason just didn't.


Where was everyone Monday afternoon? Must have been worn out or watching some football. Fine with me and the Folly Beach Surf Media. The Thomas Bros, myself, and literally 5 other people surfed some Monday Funday waves. Okay you didn't miss anything but good times.

And the dunes. Poor dunes. Silly humans. Really though, I don't know if Earl sucked all the sand off the beach but the tides have been extra high.


Few shots just for the fun of it

I'm standing on the stairs of the 2nd walkover at the Washout. Never seen the waves break this close to the steps. You actually were wading in waist deep water at the bottom of the steps.







Alaia

*All shots taken with the 'old' lens

From top left to right.


Gleaton


Blown out exposure but still a good tube


Busey


E. Thomas







'The Media'
Bradford of Andrews Water Photography
Thomas Brothers of Thomas Brothers Productions

Camera/Post Processing Talk

**After looking at the photos I posted in my last post before this one I noticed something looked wrong. They looked way over sharpened, had a weird blueish/violet tinge, along with some other weird colors etc.

I used my new lens with a UV filter on it to protect the front lens element from the salt and sand. At first I thought the UV filter was fringing the photos. Then I remembered I had the setting in Photoshop calibrated for my other lens which had a myriad of problems. My old lens was soft, off color, and just beat. In Photoshop you can create automatic algorithms for editing your photos. I changed them up and calibrated everything for the new lens. It could be just me but I didn't like the results of yesterdays post processed shots. This new lens basically needs no post processing.


Which one looks better?

You're probably going to say the bottom one because the face of the wave is lit up. But if you look at the larger image in my last post it looks cartoonish. The above photo isn't the original but it is only slightly edited lighting up the face of the wave a little. I can't just brighten details that physically are not there in the digital image file. When I try to brighten details that weren't captured by the camera, the result becomes pixelation and cartoonish looks, which is the computers way of trying to enhance detail that is non existent.

The above photo is more 'natural.' I only enhanced what the camera was able to capture. This photo was taken during the late morning hours when the sun was in the worst possible position for taking pictures/video. Highlights are exaggerated by the sun and in turn darken the shadows (face of the wave) even more. No matter what aperture, shutter speed, or ISO I had my camera at would save such a severely back lit photo; not to mention the bright reflections of the foam and water surface.

Mike C

Leave me a comment if some of the stuff I am saying is off or there is something more I can improve. I've never taken a digital photography class but want to in the future. To leave a comment you have to scroll back up to the title.

I may have made a mistake in yesterdays post. I was told yesterdays waves were actually produced by a low pressure system that grew off the coast of Georgia. Could be wrong but today I'm pretty sure these were Nicole's waves. Who cares whose waves they were; around noon time conditions went from fair to good to great. Seems like I've been saying that a lot. Folly has treated us well this tropical season.

I shot over 600 pictures today so don't expect me to post a whole bunch of photos tonight. Only a few will show up because I am exhausted.

Shots will start showing up within 30 min. Again don't expect a lot.

Thing to remember. During the mid-morning hours the sun is in a terrible position. Many of the photos I'll be posting tonight were from the AM session. Keep in mind if you're like blah these are all bright.

Kyle Busey

Cuff Gleaton


B Thomas (have a better one)






Above photos are from the AM Session

All photos below; from the PM Session



E Thomas




Finn D.




Posted waaaayyyy too many for a Friday night. Tomorrow expect some sequences and some I looked over from tonight.

Mike C