One of the best things about surf photography is that the subject matter is different every time, nature always gives you something new to photograph however many times you go to the beach you’re never going to see the same wave twice.
But as someone who’s learning surf photography you might occasionally wish you could practice on something more consistent, well there might be a way you can do just that.
There’s a video doing the rounds at the moment showing some river surfing in Switzerland, here it is if you haven’t seen it:
Which reminded me of when myself and a friend had a go at something similar (but far less dramatic) in the UK a couple of years ago:
Flood! from Ben Pascoe on Vimeo.
But this site is about learning surf photography, so I’m going to look at the issues behind documenting river surfing, rather than actually surfing the river itself.
In the original video there’s a static camera angle from the side of the river, this is OK for purely documenting the action, but it does make for a pretty boring video, we can apply this to stills too as you wouldn’t want to look through a whole gallery of shots from the same angle just like you wouldn’t want to look at this kind of video longer than a minute or so.
When you compare a river wave to an ocean wave there’s some important pro’s and cons to consider for the photographer:
Advantages of Photographing River Surfing
- The wave is very predictable, the surfer will be performing manoeuvres in the same place each time
- You can usually shoot from both banks of the river and often from a bridge or other structure nearby
- Repeatable sections – if there’s a particular move or angle you want you can repeat the action again and again more easily than in the ocean
- No waiting for sets, and no white water on the later waves of the set
- No empty waves – if it’s a good wave and you’ve organised a few surfers you should be able to shoot non stop until the wave dies
Disadvantages of Photographing River Surfing
- The surfer doesn’t move around the line up (there is no line-up), so angles are limited
- You can’t shoot in the water easily
- It doesn’t barrel (with the exception of that crazy wave on the Zambezi) so no in the tube shots
Some techniques lend themselves to shooting this style of surfing so if you really want to make the most of your river wave, and you’ll find them in some of the better videos from places like Munich’s Eisbach.
- Aerial footage – you can set up the shot easily and there’s no need to track the surfer, it’s also an opportunity to show an establishing shot of the environment.
- Slow-Mo – as you can usually set up a camera on a stable platform and use a decent zoom you can shoot with bulky equipment at high speeds a lot more easily than you can in the ocean.
- Multiple angles – more often than not there’s at least two banks to shoot from, add in a bridge, a rider’s point of view angle from a GoPro ad an aerial angle and you’re able to get the same ride from lots of angles.
Now you’ve got a starting point for your next session on a stationary wave, let me know if I’ve missed something out in the comments.
Links and Resources
- Waimea river wave
- Team O’Neill at the Eisbach with drone footage and slow motion
- Zambezi Rapid number 11 river surfing
- River Break magazine (with worldwide spot map)