Visual Example of How Learners Fail.

[jaffa1949]

Big out of control surf on all the exposed beaches , not learner territory at all.
I found an ideal learning wave at a beautiful location on a back beach!
Few surfers out and so I left the learners to learn and spent my time shooting them with a Canon
This sequence shows a common reason for failure and and how another surfer does it correctly.
I'll comment on each frame so it is clear.
Please click on the images if you wish to see them in more detail.

Small pretty wave for longboard, good paddle onto wave leaning forward for pop up Tick

Maybe needed one more stroke before standing but main problem stepped back in the pop up and stalled the board off the back of the wave FAIL

Next wave slightly stronger, two guys taking off ( drop in here doesn't apply they are friends and play at this) inside guy perfect take off line second guys looks to be coming off the wave in the same way as in the first two frames Tick.

Here outside guy has moved forward and dropped his board to engage the wave, both riding Tick

Outside guy has pulled off Tick. Wave is shaping nicely! Tick.

Here the wave has steeped and changed enough to allow a small turn , note the turn is based on leg drive and body torque not leaning and just how much of the board is free of the water ( lean and you would bog your rails) Tick.

Finally just a nice view of the same break from another angle. Tick

[surf patrol]

Nice Jaffa, simply explained and easy to follow.

[oldmansurfer]

Maybe the guy stepping on the back of his board was cutting out because that wave didn't have much to offer? Without your narrative that's what I would think. However with your narrative it does demonstrate that common mistake. What kind of camera do you use? Your photos are always nice and clear and well centered. Also in the background it looks like there is a wave breaking at almost a 90 degree angle to the wave they are riding. Is that just an illusion or due to the geography in the area? Maybe those are two point breaks along the sides of a narrow bay?

[jaffa1949]

Well spotted Oldman, there are indeed two waves but only the other wave is something like a point break.
The main break is undergoing a transformation as it is a river mouth sand bank and the sand is hopefully moving to where and how it was in the 1970s when this wave was better than Kirra for about 300 metres the bay is quite big but is part of a larger system which at its northern end is Uncle Jaffa's bar another river mouth but a left. Goofyfoot heaven
Both are very swell and wind dependent and need exactly the opposite of each to work.
OOps sorry photos thanks for the compliment a Canon EOS 550D with a 100 to 400 lens or for water shots an Olympus Muji Tough which is water proof in a housing for float.
Still trying to bring myself to shoot with a Go Pro I was given ( there will be no pointing backwards selfies, ).
I use photoshop at times to adjust light and colour and to crop but I try to shoot a reasonable composition each time.

Finally the the guy failing, he wasn't stepping back to pull off, he did it repeatedly on waves with more power.

[oldmansurfer]

I guess I will look around in the photograph section but I am thinking of getting another camera. I have a point and shoot that is rather unwieldy or difficult for me to shoot. Often the sun lights the screen up too much and I can't see the image well and I can't get it to focus plus I am a total newbie at cameras. I currently have a Cannon Powershot SX160. I need a telephoto lens to get pictures where I surf. Maybe I could just try getting a tripod for it. Today you could have gotten a picture of me doing that same thing but I was trying to tail stall and then fell on my rear.
Oh yeah I and obviously it is you behind the camera who is so good at photography that makes for the nice pictures

[dtc]

I'm not photo expert but there are some pretty good very long zoom point and shoot cameras around nowdays - equivalent to 400mm plus lens (or, in digital language, 15X or maybe 20X zoom). Some go up to 40X.

They wont be as good as Jaffa's set up, but will be smaller and probably easier for a 'novice'. At the extreme zoom range (over about 300mm or about 10X zoom) you start getting issues because your hands arent steady enough to take a clear photo, but a tripod or a camera 'bean bag' will solve that (I have a nice light travel tripod that folds right down). When you are zoomed in so much, a very slight movement at the camera end makes a big movement at the photo taking end.

There are some good camera review sites around - I like 'dpreview' but there are plenty of others - to give you some direction.

I find the move to just having the little screen at the back rather than a proper viewfinder really annoying as well, esp in sunny conditions (and if you wear polaroid sunglasses then the image complete disappears). You will find that larger cameras often still have viewfinders, but the more compact ones hardly ever do. So you have to decide what is more important - portability or viewfinder

[drowningbitbybit]

I'm not photo expert but there are some pretty good very long zoom point and shoot cameras around nowdays - equivalent to 400mm plus lens (or, in digital language, 15X or maybe 20X zoom). Some go up to 40X.

In fact, a 400mm lens (on a 35mm-equivalent digital camera) is only about 8x optically magnified*.
The point and shoots are sort of 'pre-cropped' due to their sensor size, so yes, they go up to 40x or so these days, which is equivalent to a 2000mm lens! The quality will not be as good as a 'proper' DSLR and a proper zoom lens, but a camera that you can be bothered to take with you is always better than one you left at home!

* the optical magnification is different from the magnification value of a lens, which is just a ratio of the smallest to longest focal lengths.

[drowningbitbybit]

Back to the surfing...

Looking at the spray off the back of the wave, seems to be a very strong offshore wind? In the first couple of pictures, I imagine as soon as he stood up, he acted like a windbrake and just stopped

[jaffa1949]

Quite an easy paddle in the wind, wasn't that strong just clean every else was on a washing machine cycle. The bay is quite sheltered from southerly winds as the height of the cliffs and hill around knocks the intensity off. Best swell NE from Fiji getting smashed best wind SE to SW.
Fun spot but ona bigger day it outruns most surfers.

[dtc]

In fact, a 400mm lens (on a 35mm-equivalent digital camera) is only about 8x optically magnified*.

I forgot you were a pro photographer - sticking my ignorant opinion in!