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Just trying a new Kenko 2x TC - I found all the shots a bit soft - but this might have been to me shaking a bit when taking them. Will have to use a monopod next time.

cc@t, please excuse me for being honest, but I don't really like this shot.
As you said it's a bit soft, but being handheld and with a 2xTC fair enough... however I don't think the PP you've done on this works.. I think for starters a slower gradient between colour and B&W may have helped..but I'm not sure.. I guess I'm just a little lost as to what you were trying to achieve...

I do apologise if this comes off badly - (I just got some bad news so am not in a good mood,but yeah this doesn't work for me).

I have obtained some very good handheld shots with a 2x converter but you do have to use shutter priority to maintain a high shutter speed. I would also like to ask if this was shot in jpeg mode as there are a lot of artefacts towards the bottom of the pic.

Keep on keeping on

Thanks for the comments guys - it was shot in raw but as I said when i was looking at it, it seemed too soft, so I played around in PS and found an action I had never used that gives you a coloured centre and B & W edges.........guess it didn't work though. The artefacts seem to be from that action tho - they weren't in the original...hmmmmm. The truth might be out there....

cc@t, please don't take my earlier comments to heart, been a crappy day and I was in a bad mood. It never hurts to try new things, it might not have worked this time maybe next time it will.

Alpha - no offence taken at all - the reason I submit pics is to get others point of view - sometimes it's hard to tell if something works or not being your own...

Yes, have to agree on the post processing here, not that good, BUT, the image has promise as it looks like he's about to fall from the top of a large swell!

IMHO, a shot doesn't have to be tack sharp to be good, it's more a case of capturing the decisive moment. There has been no swell up here on the north coast for months, I think my camera has been eaten by moths it's seen such little use of late!

Keep on with the surf shots. I usually use the following settings for surf shots:

Manual mode
Spot metering
F5.6- F6
1/1000 and up shutter speed
Auto WB
Keep an eye on ISO for cloud cover/light changes etc. If it's getting late, don't be afraid to bump up the ISO to 400 or more.

Cheers,

Max