I know there are many people looking for a Sony a6000 Water Housing for surf photography, so I put together a video showing the modifications I’ve made to my Aquatech CR-60 housing which allow me to use my Sony a6000 camera body and all my lenses inside. Although this process was specifically for the CR-60 housing […]
As everyone in the surfing world knows the latest in a series of pretty big storms has hit the Northern Atlantic today with more big swell and strong winds forecast for tomorrow too. I’ve been out and about most days trying to find some good waves amongst the chaos, I’ve had good luck and been […]
I use Lightroom 4 to organise and edit my photo’s, I barely even open Photoshop anymore, Lightroom does everything I need to do quickly and easily. One of the best parts of the surf photography workshop I attended recently was seeing Mike Searle’s approach to sorting out his photo’s, I was reassured when I saw […]
I noticed a couple of people with GoPro cameras mounted on their backs at Spot M the other day, I think the mount has been made popular by the use of it during the IBA GoPro Pipeline competition earlier this year. This is Jonny Roberts using a back cam at Spot M. The first time […]
Yesterday I participated in a 2 hour workshop run by Mike Searle as part of the Art8 festival in Newquay, it was good fun and highlighted a few things that I will be working on in the future. I would definitely recommend a workshop like this for anyone learning surf photography, there were eight of […]
Any post which has Todays Lesson in the title is based on something I have learned on my most recent shoot, I am still learning a lot about photography, I even discover basic stuff that I probably should have picked up ages ago on a regular basis. Last time it was about setting the autofocus […]
Mike Searle is running a surf photography workshop in Newquay on Friday April the 12th, 10:00-12:00, it’s part of the ART8 festival, more details here: http://art8newquay.co.uk/ai1ec_event/surf-photography-workshop-2/?instance_id=979 Here’s a brief description of the event from the website: A two-hour workshop run by Carve and SurfGirl photographer Mike Searle. This is an experiential workshop and weather and […]
I was sent this link on the learningsurfphotography facebook page so I’m just having a watch on my lunch break, it features an awesome slide show of images from photographer Morgan Maassen, with a voice over explaining some technical and creative aspects of shooting in the water. It’s a must watch if you want to […]
IMPORTANT – please note that the latest versions of Magic Lantern do not support Pico C scripting, you can still use the scripts but you’ll have to use an old build of Magic Lantern, read more, and download the version I use, here: https://learningsurfphotography.com/manual-control-with-magic-lantern-updated/ I have a Canon 60D and an Aquatech CR-60 housing, this […]
Lucia Griggi is running a one day surf photography workshop in Newquay on the 5th of April, it looks like it covers a lot of ground in one day. Although it’s aimed at “beginner to intermediate” level it looks like there’s some industry side bits that are very focused on aspiring professionals, and some more […]
Whether I plan on shooting photo’s or surfing I always have a GoPro camera with me when I go to the beach, I’ve posted before about which one to get and the settings I use when I shoot with mine on top of my housing. This post is about how to use it when you’re […]
This is the last part on flash photography in surf for now, I have got a new project which is coming together nicely at the moment and should allow me to get some better in-housing flash shots in the future, as soon as I’ve figured it out I’ll add another post. In Part 1 I […]
Perhaps you’ve seen my video on the basics of incorporating flash into your surf photography, if not it’s a good primer for the following discussion on the remote flash shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kfwnNjxyHqA Just in case you haven’t read the Behind the Shot feature in issue 220 (November 2012) of Wavelength, the remote flash traditionally involves someone […]
This is the first video for Learning Surf Photography, it goes through the basics of incorporating flash into your surf photography. Parts 2 and 3 are up now and go into detail on the two basic types of flash shot that I show in the video. https://learningsurfphotography.com/post/43341085101/how-to-flash-surf-photography-part-1-waterproof-your (Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
The Flash I had been thinking about getting a flash for my DSLR for a while, when I got some Amazon vouchers for Christmas I decided to put them to good use and pick up a budget flash gun. The Yongnuo YN460 II has good reviews and comes in at around £42, it’s manual and […]
I will be going in to much more detail, including producing a video, in some future posts, but here’s a taster of the flash set-up I’ve botched together this weekend. Using some cheap radio triggers, a couple of butchered cables and a modestly priced flash gun I am now able to trigger a flash in […]
How To – Add Some Drama in Nazare Nazare has been in the news a lot recently, with Garrett McNamara being towed into one of the biggest waves ever surfed, I spent a week there in October 2011 with Ben Poole and we scored perfect waves every day with a host of local spongers and […]
You can buy a neoprene cover for your Dome port from Aquatech, but it costs $20 plus shipping, I decided to make my own with a spare bit of neoprene and a little spare time. Here’s how you can do the same: Materials This is what you need: Neoprene – if you don’t have any […]
I have been asked a few times about how I get frame grabs out of GoPro footage, here are my tips on how to get it done easily on the go. I use a cheap Acer Aspire One netbook when I’m not at home, it’s pretty low powered so viewing any HD video is hard […]
Even if you’ve never edited video before it’s pretty easy to get a simple surf video up online for everyone to see, it’s something anyone learning surf photography will eventually want to do so I’ll show you how. This is my latest video, I wanted to get it on line quickly so my friends who […]
I’m just starting out with this really, although I’ve been shooting video in the water for years, the stills side of things is relatively new to me, what I know now has been gleaned from the few dozen sessions I’ve had with my Aquatech housing and information that I’ve picked up on line and first […]
Fisheye photography has always interested me, I got a snap on wide angle adapter for my video camera as soon as I could, at the time I was influenced by skate videos like Misled Youth and the water footage in bodyboarding videos like No Friends, I like the distortion, the extreme close-up nature of the […]
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was inspired by Trent Mitchell to take some longer exposure shots of empty waves, as my Aquatech housing gives me access to the top dial I usually shoot in shutter priority mode and make sure the shutter speed is at least 1/1000 of a second to get […]
Back in November I took a trip up to North Cornwall with a couple of mates, we checked a few spots before hitting a little sheltered beach somewhere with surprisingly only a couple of other people in. It was pretty small but nice and hollow so it was the perfect opportunity to get some shots […]
I got up early this morning to go and take some photo’s at Bantham at sunrise, rather than rush in the morning I set up my camera in the housing the night before. The last few times I’ve used it I have been in manual focus with the wide angle lens, this time I knew […]
There’s some good information out there on which water housing to buy for surfing, I would particularly recommend Roger Sharps Blog post on the subject here: http://www.surfphoto.co/surfphoto/2011/09/surf-water-housing-buyers-guide.html But they tend to focus on what the options are for buying a new housing, which pretty much all cost over £1000, not that it’s easy to find […]
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I've been shooting photos and video of surfing for over 20 years.
I want to help surf photographers like me get the right gear and improve their surf photography.
Contact me: ben@learningsurfphotography.com