Some recent photos...
Soooooo I just got back from a little adventure. First we drove to My brother's wedding in Convict Lake, it was an amazing wedding my friend from Brooks Institute of Photography, Blaine and his wife Bethany took the pictures and they did a great job. Check out the slide show here. The next day we planned to meet our friends at Lake Nacimiento. We had two options, drive though Bakersfield(yuck) or drive though Yosemite National Park. Well of course we picked the the second one even though it was going to add hours to our drive. It was so worth it. I haven't been there in years(20). I need to go back and spend some major time in there. Being considerate to my girlfriend I kind of kept the stopping to a minimum although she is a trooper we still spent about 6 hours in the park. Next stop was Lake Nacimiento. Another place I haven't been in years. We had a great time here, we got to wake board, shoot guns, inter tube and relax. It was a great little road trip. Here are a few mostly from my water housing and Velvia Film......yes Film!!!

Something about hands and feet and I. I guess we all have a pair....this is my girlfriends. The water felt great to me but she was freezing she's a great sport.

My hand....what else would you expect...these two are at Convict Lake.
I know... feet again....so the wake boarding picks below this shot were really fun to shoot. I haven't really shot wake boarding before. The guy wake boarding was really good and I wanted to shoot from a different angle than just the standard from the boat shot. He was game. I was on the inter tube which had a shorter line than his and we got towed at the same time. It worked great but the inter tube had a hole so we only had a few goes at it. Next time I want to get closer and even maybe behind him. But it was still fun to try it. One of my friends took a picture of us in action as soon as I get it I will post it here so you can see how we got these shots.

At one point as the boat was doing a little turn and the inter tube went over the wake, I knew I was in trouble, all of a sudden I went flying in the air, off the tube holding on to my camera. It must of looked so funny from the boat. No damage was done just a little water enema...


These two are shot from the boat.


Well that's all for now...I'll post more soon. Thanks for stopping by.....

Out of Town

I just got back from being out of town for a few days. I have tons of pictures to go through but for now I leave you with one. Can anyone guess where this is?

Hint: It is somewhere between Ventura and Mammoth.

Happy Memorial Day!

For all you traveler's I hope you don't hit road conditions like this.

We want to see your pics!

Tidalstock now has a new Flickr Group. If you have great Ocean, Water, Life photography come on over and post your pics.

Our group is Ocean Water Life ----what did you think it would be. I am excited to see your work!

List of Water Housing Manufactures for Surf Photography

I talked about surf photography in my other post. I put together a small list of companies that make surf water housings. I use SPL water housing but I have used Mike Waggoner' s housings as well. All these manufactures make great products, it really comes down to what your needs are. SPL housings work great for my needs. Good luck if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
splwaterhousings.com
www.liquideye-whs.com/us/story.html
www.photosupportsystems.com/
www.aquatech.com.au/
www.surfhousings.com -- Mike Waggoner
Del Mar Housings

Dale Kobetich

Links Updated 2/4/2010

TidalStock'S Newest Contributer!

Tidalstock.com would like to welcome Noah Schultz to the TidalStock team. Noah is amazing photographer who also graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography. Noah fits perfectly with our brand, Ocean, Water, Life photography. Noah also specializes in underwater photography. Please check his gallery out here.

Also TidalStock.com is always looking for new talent. If you think you fit our brand and would like to be a part of the TidalStock team. Please contact us at Infonow@tidalstock.com. We would love to see your work.

On a side note, If you live in California you know there has not been a whole lot of surf and if there is surf it comes with wind, fog and cold water. Need something to pass the time. The internet is great, I pass my time by watching the WCT and WQS professional surf contests and playing Fantasy Surfer. The contest at Tahiti just ended with Damien Hobgood taking the win. The next contest is at some secret wave in Chile I am sure it will be an amazing wave. So pick a team and root for your favorite surfer. Come join Tidalstock's clubhouse on Fantasy Surfer. Here is my page.

The Perfect Shot!
A brief how to on surf photography.

Surf photography is not easy. Looking at many surf magazines through the years and admiring the works of Art Brewer, Larry “Flame” Moore, Jeff Divine, and even local Ventura Photographer David Pu’u. I always wondered how they got such great shots. I now know what lengths photographers go to get the perfect shot. We have to get up early and put our bodies in very dangerous situations. Try not to drown. All the while trying to get the perfect shot. That perfect shot is what keeps us coming back day after day. So have you ever wondered how to get that perfect shot? Here are a few tips you can try.

Equipment: I have to buy what

You do not have to have the most expensive photo equipment to get a great a surf photo.

Water:
If you want to take pictures in the water there are many choices. If you are just a beginner, Fuji and Kodak both make throw away water proof cameras. These are great to learn with. Pentax and Olympus(Olympus
Stylus 720SW) both make digital underwater cameras, they run in the $300 price range. These work great and I have shot with both and have been happy with the results. Remember with point and shoot digital cameras, there is a lag before the picture is actually taken. The trick to making better pictures with these is to learn how long that lag time actually is, then you can estimate when to push the button. Another option is a water housing, basically a box that keeps your camera dry. Water housings can be bought for point shoot digital cameras (range in the $400-$1000) to professional SLR (range in the $1500 and up). I use a SPL water housing made for my Nikon F100 and am having one made for my Nikon D200. Other brands for professional SLR are Del Mar water housings, and AquaTech. Having a comfortable pair of swim fins helps and a helmet is a very smart and safe choice as well.

Lighting: Let the sun shine

What makes a good photograph from a great photograph? I would say 99% is the lighting. If you pick the right time of day to shoot it will make your photo that much better. It can be that simple. So what light is good? Early morning sunlight is amazing for surf photography. Most of the photos you see in the magazines use early morning light also called “front lit.” Shooting around sunset time will give you “back lit” light. I love this kind of light. The colors are often great. It usually will silhouette the surfer and look very artistic. The worst time to shoot is around the middle of the day. This is when you get to surf.
The best time to shoot is when it is sunny. What if it is cloudy or overcast? Try switching to black and white. Color is pretty dull when it is overcast or cloudy so a good way to solve that is to take away the color.

Location: Where am I

You don’t have to have the $10,000 telephoto lens to get a great surf photo. A little creative positioning will give any camera a decent chance of getting the shot. Shooting from piers is a great way to get closer to the action. Also beach breaks usually break closer to the beach. This is perfect to get you close and personal. Be creative and do not always think you have to be close. Try walking down the beach to shoot at a different angle. Try wide shots, meaning do not be always zoomed in. Line up shots are some of my favorite photos. Use depth of field to your advantage. Put something (an object, person, etc) in the foreground and have the surfer in the background. Use a tree branch or something to crop the top of the photo to bring the viewers eye to where you want them to look. Push yourself to look for opportunities to shoot something in a different way.

Practice, practice, practice

With the boom of digital photography it is very inexpensive to take a lot of pictures, this is a perfect way to learn if. Go back and critique your work. Take note of what you did right and wrong, I believe this is the best way to learn how to get better. The trick is to get the perfect shot, not the 5000 ok shots.

The last tip….HAVE FUN!

Please Visit RyanCardonePhotography.com and TidalStock.com to see more examples.

The Santa Barbara Zoo.

I went to the Santa Barbara Zoo the other day. I love the zoo. This picture is classic!!!

A few Kite boarding pics. The first two are my brother.

Some fun pics....

The other day I discovered there are a million starfish out on the Ventura Pier pilings.

Here is me hanging five again. These photos are not the easiest. I have to make sure my camera doesn't fall off my board when taking off. Then I have to walk to the nose and try to get a picture in focus. I love doing these shots. It gives someone who has never surfed a preview.

And lastly this is a really cool gas station by my office. I drive by it every night and I finally decided to stop.

Just another beautiful day in Southern California!

Today I woke up and decided it was too nice to go to the office. I went down to the beach and there were these perfect little waves breaking. It was so hot out, that I went out and shot a roll off. I ended up getting some great shots. I love shooting waves, they really are amazing creations of the ocean. Here are a few from today. I will try to post some more soon.

It has been a great few days...

It is funny how a lot of things happen all around the same time. I just was published on surfline.com. We had a great south swell and one of my photos was picked. Check out the story here. That is awesome because Surfline is a great site and I think every surfer I know goes to Surfline.com

I also found out that VC Life and Style ran my "how to on surf photography" story. They gave me a six page spread. I am really happy about that. Check out a PDF of the mag here.

And lastly I have my Art Show this Saturday at Franky's Place downtown Ventura. 5pm-8pm. Come down and say hi if your in the area.

Well I am off today to go shoot racing car engines and Hot Rods. Nelson Racing Engines is who I am doing the shoot for. They build some pretty mean engines. Oh ya most of the photography on the site is mine.

Finally Some Waves....

Tom Curren

Tom Curren

Chad Compton

Rincon Speed Blur

Dan Walker

Cory Arrambide




Tom Curren

New Photos!!!

Here is the info on the Art Show I will be in: Please Spread the word, Thanks



Aquanauts 2

"Another surf exploration into creation" By Vince Felix

An art exhibit at Franky's Place, located at 456 E. Main St, Downtown Ventura.

Photography by: Ryan Cardone, Jocko Mcfadden, Jim Pidgeon, John Slavin, and Hollie Trosper.
Paintings by: Wade Koniakowsky, David Lloyd, and G. Trejos.
Balsa Wood Art by: Rod Osborn.
Entertainment: Classic Hawaiian Vinyl.

Opening night Saturday April 21st 5pm-8pm

For more information contact (805)-223-0212

Come hang out, drink and have a great time!!!

I haven't really posted anything for a while, sorry. I have been super busy and haven't had much time. I am going to be in an art show coming up on April 21 at Frankie's Restaurant in Downtown Ventura. When more details get worked out I will post it here. So here are a few that might make the cut for the art show but I am not sure yet. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think, Thanks.

Drug Aware Pro Margaret River

Local Surfer Dane Reynolds wins his heat and advances to the next round at the Drug Aware Pro, Margaret River, Australia. Support Dane and watch all the action live at their official website www.drugawarepro.com.
Go Dane!!!

Volcom Surf Contest ---Galleries now up!!!

The Volcom galleries are now up. Here is the link www.tidalstock.photoreflect.com . There are two galleries, the contest at pipes on March 17th and the contest at Mandalay on Nov 4th. You can order prints from there, please email us if you have any questions, Thanks. Also be sure to check out our Ventura Pier Poster(very cool) for sale and our fine art gallery.



Cory Arrambide floats across a nice one!



Tom Curran do'n his thing!


Be sure to check out Volcom for more news, photos, and results.

Volcom Surf Contest, Pipes, Ventura March 17th

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!! The gallery for the Volcom Surf contest should be up by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Check back here, I will post something as soon as it goes up. You will be able to order prints. It was another great contest thanks to the competitors and the sponsors.

Image just published on FileMagazine.com

FileMagazine.com is a great site. If you haven't checked them out please go have a look. The photography is amazing.

Here is what they say about their site, "We publish images that treat subjects in unexpected ways. Alternate takes, unconventional observations, odd angles -- the photographs in the collection reinterpret traditional genres. The pictures say this better than we can." Courtesy of FileMagazine.com.

I just received an email that they published this shot. Super cool. Thank you File Magazine for picking my photo! Also there still time to vote on this image at Jpgmag.com, thanks.

TidalStock.com now in BETA

Surf on over to TidalStock.com and let us know what you think. We are busy adding new photos everyday. We have some amazing new and fresh contributing photographers and we are really excited to get their work up on the site, should be in the next few weeks. For OCEAN, WATER, LIFE imagery please check our site. Thanks....happy surfing!

3 Strangers and a Wedding event from the Mark and Brian show on 95.5 KLOS



3 Strangers a Bride and Two tired Photographers...
We woke up at 2:45am to embark on our mission to photograph the 3 strangers and a wedding event. It sure was a crazy event to say the least. Naughty nurse, McDreamy, and Mad Max, I think the names alone speak for themselves! Naughty nurse ended up picking McDreamy and they got marred on the spot, did I mention that she never got to see these guys before she had to pick one of them. Both of them seemed to be very happy with each other looks. They are now on a plane to Jamaica to spend a week on their honeymoon to get wild and crazy. We had a great time photographing this event and thank you to all the KLOS staff, Mark and Brian and everyone we took pictures of. You all made our jobs easy, Thanks!!!
...Will he get to blow the whistle??? You had to be there to get it.....

Where did the waves go???

It has been pretty flat here on the west coast. So I haven't posted any new surf shots. I guess the one good thing is that we have been getting a lot of work done. Tidalstock.com is now in beta, so please go check it out and let us know what you think. We have some amazing photographers and their work will be added soon.

In surf news: Stop one of the ASP world tour just ended. It was held at Snapper Rocks, Australia, with some pretty amazing waves. It was some of the best surfing I have seen on the WCT. Mick Fanning powered his way to a great victory. I wish I got waves like they had when I was there. Check all the action at aspworldtour.com. The next stop is at Bells Beach.

...and finally here are a few "artistic" photos. Let me know what you think.