Well this has been a very informative thread.. I must say! Thanks to all!

Oh wow, my first 50 post!

Validus... what camera are you using?

Johnny great pics what lens do you shoot with?

. . just an amtaure . i'll leave the pro stuff up to you and arron mathews, dean and donny

.....hot pix!

Be nice wanton lol

I am using a Canon 20D, EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, and a Speedlite 580EX.

hit me with an email

yikes!!! :1orglaugh

Wow! So much useful information in this thread...Thanks all!

OK heres some tips not mentioned...start by shooting in early morning or late evening light (called golden hour)

get your self a good circular polarizer

a light meter is not necessary if you are using a good digital camers most of those have great metering systems including a spot meter mode that will give you all the info you need to calculate the proper exposure

start by using the cameras matrix metering mode and take a few pics noting what it is using then switch to manual and and make subtle changes logging your exposures

remember shutter speed is for exposure and aperture is for depth of feild (generally speaking)

always use fill light with either a fill flash of a reflector or both

you will get the hang of it

Thanks for the tips :)

I just came across this...

http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html

You might like this too.

http://www.thegristle.com/kg/IMG_8046_re.jpg
http://www.thegristle.com/kg/IMG_8046_ba.jpg

nice thead! Very usefull information BTW!
Trying to hit you up on ICQ johnnyhey!

Wow. Great pics.

What gear are you using?

scrim or bounce the light to stay within the dynamic range of the sensor and the surfer's monitor.

lots of ways to do it, there is no one "right way". the goal is to make people attractive, and this usually means creating the illusion of natural light. you should bounce or use fill most always if you want good files. shooting in shade will cause most WB to go blue so shoot the girl holding a color chart and then bulk tweak to warm it up. easiest if you are shooting raw.

some cameras require very little post processing. just bought a canon 5d and most images are pretty good straight out---nikon d200 is also good.

fuji pro is also good for high dynamic range and works with nikon lenses, good velvia like color that surfers like.

awsome corrections
tips on photo editing?

Well you know, I used to only shoot JPG format but shooting in RAW makes things so much easier. So, try shooting in RAW format and it pretty much does most of it itself.

Also, the histogram is a neat little tool. Check out this link:
http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/p_4_005.html

straight on without the difuser

try it now, i had the wrong ICQ number in my sig. sorry

some of these pics look like they are from the Azshootout...

I have a shoot this weekend out near canyon lake, using a full length gold reflector, canon 20d with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lense.

model will be posing with my horse.. will post a picture if they turn out like I am hoping :)

Oh really? Hm, alright. Next time I will use the defuser plate thing... and give that a shot. I will also not shoot in the direct sunlight... and check the histogram while shooting.