Surf photographers at contests can sometimes be overlooked, the last time I remember writing a post about a competition photographer they might have cost Kelly Slater a world championship. But now the media storm over Mick Fanning’s shark encounter during the finals of the J-Bay event has died down a bit you’re likely to have […]
I’m planning on writing up the full how-to for flash surf photography with the Sony a6000, but it’s going to be a while until it’s ready, this should get you most of the way there if you’re happy to experiment with some trial and error. What Do I Need for Flash Surf Photography? First you’ll […]
Although I started out searching for backup camera, this post is useful for people wanting to get into surf photography who want to maximise their budget, as well as offering you an alternative option if you already have a more traditional DSLR set up. I wanted a spare camera which I could use for everyday […]
There’s a couple of opportunities to participate in surf photography workshops coming up. Tim Nunn Workshops and Surf Photography Talk One for the UK readers: timnunnsurfandadventurephotography.com/2014/09/30/what-happens-on-a-photography-workshop/ Follow the link above or click on the photo to read about what goes on during the workshop and to sign up for it. On top of the workshops […]
I had a question from a Andrew Grose recently about polarizing filters and whether they would be useful in surf photography, in particular for cutting out glare in late evening shots. Here’s a quick explanation from Wikipedia: A polarizing filter or polarising filter is often placed in front of the camera lens in photography in […]
UPDATE: I’ve pre-ordered mine, through amazon.co.uk, so I should receive it in early November, as soon as I do I’ll do some tests and let you know how it works for surf photography and more general stuff. The rumours were true, you can now pre-order the Canon EF-S 24mm f2.8 pancake lens, and it’s a […]
With the announcement of the Canon 7D mark II and a few other interesting (and expensive) cameras at the Photokina photography event I thought it was a good time to talk about the results you can get from a much more basic set-up. Last night I saw a cheap Canon DSLR come up on the […]
I had the chance to get a few water shots at a popular reef/point set-up this week, and I had my 70-200mm port on my housing so I thought I’d chuck the camera in the car just in case the light got good in the evening. After surfing for a while the sun was threatening […]
I’ve started two or three posts like this one over the last few weeks, but I was finally convinced to write an update to my post about using compact system cameras for mirrorless surf photography after seeing some great examples from a reader. Xavi Baragona originally got in touch with me in January this year […]
I’m now back from France and upon my return I noticed that Tim Nunn had made a few spaces available on some surf photography workshops here in the UK, they all seemed to have filled up in no time but I think there’s a space or maybe two left on one of the dates, but […]
If you’re reading this website it probably means you’re relatively new to surf photography, like me, and in turn that means that I can almost guarantee you shoot with a digital camera. I don’t blame you, shooting with film is hard and expensive, digital is easy and cheap, it seems like there’s no sensible reason […]
This popped up on Peta Pixel, but was originally on Smug Mug’s blog, there’s some very useful practical advice for shooting underwater, especially with models or duck diving surfers, but the main thing that interested me was her use of the Outex silicone water housing thing. http://news.smugmug.com/2014/03/26/essential-underwater-photography-tips-from-sarah-lee/ The best tip for me was number three: […]
I’ve had a Canon 60D for about 18 months and have really enjoyed using it for surf photography, nearly all the shots you’ve seen on this site up to this point have been shot using the 60D (with most water shots using the Aquatech CR-60 housing), but a couple of weeks ago I dropped and […]
This subject was touched upon in a post from ages ago about Nazare in Portugal, site of several possibly record breaking big wave tow sessions, the type of perspective distortion we’re interested in here is compression distortion, it’s sometimes known as telephoto lens compression. Visit the links at the bottom of this post for some […]
I’m between DSLR’s at the moment, and there was a small swell with uncharacteristically nice weather this morning at a local beach, so I chucked my backup Panasonic GF1 and cheap kit lens in my bag in case there was a photo’ opportunity before the surf. There’s been a nice misty fog hanging around for […]
I’m on catchup with Stab’s Photolyfe series, here are the four latest instalments: Clark Little: http://stabmag.com/photolyfe-clark-little/ Domenic Mosqueira: http://stabmag.com/photolyfe-domenic-mosqueira/ Ryan “Chachi” Craig: http://stabmag.com/photolyfe-ryan-chachi-craig/ Damea Dorsey: http://stabmag.com/photolyfe-damea-dorsey/ All worth a look if you haven’t been keeping up with them, my favourite is Ryan Craig’s, some awesome photo’s and be sure to read down to the comments […]
I’m just re-acclimatising to the UK after a month away in sunnier climes, once the jet-lag and fin rubs have worn off I’ll be back to posting regularly here and catching up on al the surf photography related news, and adding more tutorial style posts, for now enjoy this awesome video featuring Ray Collins. SeaStills […]
This was posted on another one of my other sites back in 2011, it’s been fairly popular, and thanks to GoPro being sensible and keeping their mounts the same over the last few years it’s sill relevant to readers of this site. I’ve been getting a few questions about the board-cam I made for my […]
This is an old video, but it’s worth a watch as the subject is Phil Gallagher (of Le Boogie magazine and Aquatech), and some of his photographs are mixed in with the interview. Creative Interview with Phil Gallagher from The Friendly Faces (bodyboarding on Vimeo. He talks about his book DLUX and how it came […]
I don’t tend to post too much on social media sites, I’m concentrating on developing this site and making it a useful resource for people learning surf photography, so the majority of the photo’s I upload illustrate a technique or, just as often, a mistake I’ve made, but occasionally I see my photo’s picked up […]
You might remember seeing Chris McLennan’s awesome close up Lion photo’s that he captures with the help of an RC car and an Aquatech Sound Blimp, but he also takes some stunning water shots too. On his website beyondf8.com he has a bunch of how to style posts about some of the work he’s done, […]
There’s nothing more frustrating than a good water shot being ruined by a water drop on the front of the port. Depending on the type of port you’re using (find out which port to use for your lens here) there are a couple of basic techniques that require no extra equipment or special skills that […]
If you’re new to shooting photographs of surfing using a water housing I’d recommend looking at Part 1 of my users guide to get up to speed on some basics of using and maintaining your housing. One of the questions I get asked most often about shooting using a water housing is – which port […]
I read about the launch of this latest surf photo book on Chris Burkards Facebook page, I enjoyed his first book, The California Surf Project, and this one looks like it will be a bit more varied with featuring surf photography and travel across the globe, rather than just the sunshine state. EDIT: This is […]
I don’t know how I missed this one a few weeks ago when it went up, This 16 minute documentary on legendary surf photographer Brian Bielmann on vimeo is a real treat for anyone learning surf photography, it’s directed by Joey Maiocco and Scott Nichols. Bielmann: Straight Up the Man – Full Length Documentary from […]
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 […]
By now you’ve probably seen quite a few best of 2013 style posts, I’ve already mentioned The inertia and Stab Mag’s offerings on learningsurfphotography.com, but this one from Surfer magazine is especially interesting to budding surf photographers and definitely warrants a deeper analysis: http://www.surfermag.com/photos/best-photos-2013 For starters, all the images are first class, with many of […]
I learned a couple of things whilst shooting yesterday at Spot M, if you just want to see some of the photo’s check out the album on facebook, but read on for some more basic lessons on shooting (and preparing to shoot) fisheye. Lesson 1: Sunrise is not predictable Firstly, I was shooting in Shutter […]
I hope everyone reading this got what they wanted for Christmas, I had a few uncrowded surfs in between pressies, food and family time so here’s a couple of images to keep things ticking over until I get back into the swing of regular posts in the new year. There will definitely be a full […]
I’ve got a Panasonic GF-1, it’s a mirrorless camera which uses the Micro Four thirds lens mount, I’ve got an adapter which allows me to use my Canon EF lenses on the camera, I don’t get auto focus, and aperture control is handled manually by the adapter, so whilst it’s fun to use, especially with […]
I recently shot a session at a shorebreak wedge, there were plenty of people around so I got to put a new technique to the test, in the past I’ve pretty much just pointed by camera at the surfer straight on and fired away as they come close enough. When writing a caption for a […]
Every now and then I stumble across a feature on a website that I can’t believe I haven’t seen before, this time it’s Grind TV’s How I Got The Shot, and there’s a fair bit of content there that is going to be useful for learning surf photography. Here’s a quick list of the features […]
I learnt a few good lessons shooting yesterday, I’ll no doubt get around to writing up full posts on some of these subjects at some point, but here’s the top three lessons I will be taking away from the session. Take a test shot as soon as you load the housing – I got all […]
Winter has set in for the Northern Hemisphere, I love it, less traffic, less crowds and more waves. We had an awesome winter for surf last year in the South West and it’s already got off to a great start this year too, to get you in the spirit I’ve produced this practical guide to […]
This photo, taken by Ryan Miller and featured on Stab Mag, shows what an average day on the North shore of Hawaii is like for a water photographer, pretty hectic. http://stabmag.com/kelly-slater-vogue-at-backdoor-hawaii/ Notice the GoPro in Kellys hand (with what looks like a bobber handle on it), and a couple being wielded by the photographers too […]
I saw a post on the surf images blog about an advert SPL had in the latest Surfing magazine, unfortunately I couldn’t find a copy in the local newsagent when I checked last week so all there is to go on is the image in the post. The advert shows the Canon Rebel Splash housing: […]
I wanted a simplified version of the manual control script I wrote for Magic Lantern, so I could use the live view button on the camera to allow me to change aperture in the water, on this version I just wanted control over aperture, not ISO, so I made it a bit simpler and as […]
Following up from the last link to Tim Nunn’s blog, on telephoto lenses, this time around it’s fisheye’s being compared, as before he’s talking from experience on Canon and Nikon so there’s something there to learn whatever you shoot with: http://timnunnsurfandadventurephotography.com/2013/11/07/choosing-the-best-fisheye-lens-for-surf-photography/ Canon’s 8-15mm L lens gets the top slot for Canon shooters, but it’s mega […]
You’ve probably heard of Aquabumps, I follow on facebook and regularly see photo’s on magicseaweed, well here’s an inspirational video featuring Eugene Tan, the photographer behind Aquabumps, which focuses on his surfing and wave shooting and especially the Canon gear he uses in that process. The bit I like the most is the shot of […]
I’ve put up a couple of posts about the follow cam angle, Laurent Pujol and Seth Stafford being the two main proponents of it that I’ve seen recently. This is just a quick update after I saw Laurent post a photo of the land angle of him shooting photo’s on Instagram, they are both jet-ski […]
I started out looking for a second prime that would fit in my Aquatech housing with the LP-5 flat port, I have the Canon 50mm f1.8, which is a great lens for the price, and works well with the port too, but many surf photographers like to shoot with even longer primes, the 85mm f […]
I shot this sequence ages ago during a very gloomy Bantham Dawny session, it features Matz Ginman-Trout doing an alley oop. This is my first go blending a surf sequence into a single image in Photoshop, it’s pretty tricky, I chose this bunch of images to try it out on because there’s a lot of […]
I’ve posted before about the excellent galleries and photographer interviews in 18 seconds magazine, well Issue number 19, titled Dark Chambers, is a full photographer special, featuring an introduction by Lee Pegus, and interviews with Jon Frank, Ted Grambeau, Peter “Joli” Wilson, Sean Davey, Nate Smith, Andrew Shield, Andrew “Shorty” Buckley, Chris Burkard and Bill […]
I’m going to have to do a full post on my latest toy over the next couple of days, right now I’m just starting to get to grips with the new settings, hopefully I’ll have some more sample photos and footage to show you soon, so far I’ve just had one session with the camera […]
I’ve had this book under my coffee table for a while now and have flicked through it quite a few times after the initial cover to cover read through, so it’s about time I did a proper review of it. The California Surf Project by Eric Soderquist & Chris Burkard The first read through left […]
The latest issue of on line surf magazine 18 seconds is out, read it here: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/a174b03c#/a174b03c/1 I’ve had a quick browse, my favourite bits include a snippet from page 35/36 featuring surf photographer Ed Sloane writing about shooting photo’s in the Australian state of Victoria, it sounds quite a lot like the UK for variety […]
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 […]
Here are a couple of time killing end of year features that you will find interesting if you’re learning surf photography like me, it’s always nice to get some inspiration for the new year, personally I’m going to try something a little bit new for tomorrows dawny session. Surfer Magazine’s best photo’s of 2012 There […]
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 […]
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 […]
I’ve used water housings for years now, a lot of home made contraptions and plenty of other variations too (look out for the forthcoming post on all the housings I’ve had), I’ve used Canon point and shoot housings, Ikelite dive housings for SLR’s and obviously the whole range of GoPro housings too. These tips have […]
If you’re after some feedback on your own surf photo’s, or just some inspiration, these are my top 5 sites for trainee surf photographers. 1: Flickr I sense quite a lot of snobbery around peoples view of Flickr, it’s definitely got a lot of average photo’s on it, I pretty much use it as an […]
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I've been shooting photos and video of surfing for over 20 years.
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Contact me: ben@learningsurfphotography.com