Getting started with surf photography may seem daunting, but the rewards are well worth it.
These are the steps you should follow as you’re getting started with in-water surf photography:
- Choose the right camera for the job.
- Find the right lens.
- Choose a waterproof housing for your camera.
- Get your camera set up before you get into the water.
- Know the movement of the ocean.
- Know surfing etiquette.
- Know your angles.
- Connect with people.
- Study surf photos from other photographers.
This article will guide you through the process of getting started with surf photography. Before you know it, you’ll be capturing waves and action shots like a pro!
1. Choose the Right Camera for the Job
Surf photography requires a camera with a fast frame per second rate that can pick up the details of the fast-paced maneuvers in the sport. Ideally, this figure should be 12 or higher, but you can make do with a camera with a 5-7 frame per second rate.
A camera with full-frame sensors is best, as opposed to one with cropped sensors. This allows you to pull in a more dynamic image with a broader range of colors, and it works better for wide-angle photos.
You can find simple beginner cameras if you just want to learn, or you can invest in a better camera if you’re looking to do surf photography long-term.
You can even get special housing for an iPhone if you want to get started without investing in a new camera at all. Here are some recommendations on Amazon.com:
- AquaTech AxisGo Water Housing for iPhone
.This tool waterproofs your iPhone so that you can make the most of the powerful camera that comes built-in to these phones. - Sony A6000. This is a good choice if you’re looking for a high-quality camera to get started but aren’t ready to invest in professional-grade equipment. This camera has all the basics that you need, and it’s very user-friendly. It has a high FPS rate, making it a great choice for action shots like surf photography sessions.
- Nikon D500. This is a more powerful choice than the Sony A600 but remains compact and easy to use. It shoots at ten frames per second, which is high enough for above-average surf photography, and it has a very long battery life, which is great for long sessions in the surf where you aren’t able to charge or switch out batteries mid-shoot.
- Canon 1DX Mark II/III. Finally, one of the best cameras on the market for surf photography. This camera is recommended by surf photography experts Brent Bielmann, Todd Glaser, and Zak Noyle for its incredibly fast FPS, full-frame sensor, and excellence at shooting in all light conditions. You can take this camera out at sunrise, sunset, and everything in between.
2. Find the Right Lens
The right lens to use for surf photography depends on the perspective you plan to take with your shots. These are the camera lens available on Amazon.com that are recommended for you:
- Samyang 8mm Fisheye Lens. If you want to shoot from the inside of the barrel, with the surfer, you’ll need a fisheye lens with a dome port and a range of 8-15mm. This lens is uniquely capable of capturing this kind of shot inside the wave.
- Sony 55-210mm Lens. If you want to shoot from the channel, a telephoto lens is best, with a flat port and a 70-200mm lens that you can use to zoom in. The zoom level on this camera is great for distance shots where you want to capture both the surfer and the extent of the wave. If you’re shooting from in front of the wave, you’ll need a lens with a 16-70mm range, somewhere between what you need inside the wave and what you need in-channel. For this kind of shot, a lens with a flat port is best.
- Sony 18-105mm. Finally, underwater shots require a 16-24mm lens with a flat port or a fisheye with an 8-15mm range and a dome port. The Sony 18-105mm is a great lens for underwater shots.
3. Choose a Waterproof Housing for Your Camera
Even if your camera manufacturer claims that the equipment is waterproof, you should buy a waterproof housing for your camera. Simply taking the camera into the water or using a cheap plastic bag to cover it’ll expose your equipment to a high risk of damage.
Waterproof housings can get very expensive, especially if they’re specialized enough to give you access to all of your buttons. But you can easily find high-quality waterproof housing for less if you know where to look. Here are two recommendations for your waterproof housing available on Amazon.com:
- Outex Waterproof Camera Housing. This is one of the most cost-effective options you’ll find. This housing has a glass port for optimal clarity, and it’s extra lightweight for ease of use. It has a soft silicone body that allows you access to your buttons; however, this soft body also leaves your camera more vulnerable to damages than a hard casing.
- AquaTech EVO III Water Housing. Try this for more heavy-duty waterproof housing. This top-of-the-line waterproof case is the only one you’ll ever need. It is extremely rugged and waterproof, resistant to damages, and offers clear photography through a glass window. It is compatible with Canon 1DX Series cameras.
4. Get Your Camera Set Up Before You Get into the Water
When you do any kind of in-water photography, you can expect that you’ll need an enclosed case for your camera that makes it difficult or impossible to change settings. For this reason, you’ll need to know what the optimal settings for the environment are before you even get started, and you’ll need to be comfortable shooting without being able to make changes.
Canon recommends a setup with the following specifications for surf photography:
- Shutter speed: high, 1/1,000 seconds
- Aperture: f/5.6 – f/8
- ISO Speed: 400
- White balance: custom, according to surroundings
Understanding Camera Settings
Each element of your camera’s settings is important when shooting in water, but the four most important are the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and white balance.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is the rate at which the camera’s light sensor opens and closes upon taking a picture. A longer shutter speed is used to capture long-term, blurred motion, like the flow of a waterfall. A faster shutter speed, like the 1/1,000 second rate used for surf photography, will capture extremely quick motions in great detail.
Aperture
Aperture refers to the size of the area light passes through via your camera lens. You can measure aperture in f-stop values.
An f-stop value of f/22 allows a very small amount of light in and is known as narrow aperture, where an f-stop value of f/1.4 will let in a lot more and is called wide aperture. The f-stop values recommended for surf photography, between f/5.6 and f/8, allow in a moderate amount of light.
Wide aperture is good for close-up photography with a shallow depth of field, where narrow aperture is better for a sweeping landscape with large depth. Surf photography lies somewhere between these extremes.
ISO
ISO speed can be thought of as light sensitivity. A higher ISO speed typically introduces noise in a photograph, so lower ISO speeds are desirable in most cases. These values range from 50 to 800 in most cameras, landing the recommended speed for surf photography, 400, right in the middle of what’s normal.
White Balance
White balance is a tool the camera has to correct for color tones that are too warm or too cool. The goal of white balancing is to take dominantly orange or blue colors and return them to neutral.
There’s no prescriptive white balance figure for surf photography, but you should check the color temperature your camera is picking up and balance it before heading into the water.
5. Know the Movement of the Ocean
Knowing how the waves move and how ocean currents develop is important for understanding how to take a good shot and for staying safe in the water.
Waves are forces of energy moving through the water as the wind moves through the air. They can be measured by the height of the wave, the distance between waves, and the direction the waves are moving. These pieces are important for understanding what to expect from a wave in terms of force and impact.
For surfing, the most important things to predict about a wave are how far away from the beach it’ll break, what shape it’ll make when it does, and how fast the wave sections will break along its line. Knowing these things about how a wave will behave tells you where to be (and where not to be) in the water at any given time.
A wave will break at the point when it becomes too high, and gravity pulls it downward. This happens when the ground becomes more shallow, pushing the water higher up in the air.
If your surf spot has sandbars, reefs, or other irregular features, it becomes difficult to predict where and when the waves will crash unless you know the landscape in-depth.
Waves are generally categorized based on how quickly they grow and break. Waves that grow and break slowly are called “mushy,” and they’re good for beginners to practice on. Other waves are more powerful and concave and can be dangerous for beginners because they break quickly from top to bottom.
6. Know Surfing Etiquette
If you want to photograph surfers and waves, you need to make sure that you understand surfing etiquette before you get started. The last thing you want is to be intrusive or cause a surfer to crash because you were in the way.
The most important rule for surf photographers is to get permission before shooting anybody. The more you know the surfer, the more you can earn trust and take up-close photos.
Next is to always give the surfers enough space to safely maneuver themselves. Surfers observe rights of way, just like you do in a car in traffic, and knowing these rules can help you anticipate the action and avoid cutting them off.
Right of way rules for surfing include:
- The surfer who’s been waiting for the longest has the right of way.
- The closest surfer to the peak of the wave has the right of way.
- The first one on the wave has the right of way.
- In the event of a conflict, yell out the position you’re going to take: “Right” or “Left.”
If you do get in the way of a surfer by accident, make sure you apologize and avoid doing the same thing again.
Another important rule of etiquette is to check in on surfers who have accidents and make sure that everyone is okay. You don’t want to be there, photographing the wave while someone is in distress and needs help.
As you spend more time in the waves, you’ll naturally pick up on social standards and common practices for surfing, so give yourself time to get accustomed to the environment before you dive in too deep.
7. Know Your Angles
Like in any form of photography, you need to know which angles will work for you and which will not. For example, you need to make sure that you keep the horizon level in your photos, even if you’re trying to fit in an interesting or complex maneuver. Failing to do this can be disorienting for the viewer and create bad photos.
Part of knowing your angles is also about studying the light. The light reflects off the water in unique ways, especially while it’s moving, so make sure that you understand where it’s coming from and how it’ll play with the water before you get started. Light varies greatly with the time of day, so remember that what worked in the morning may not work in the afternoon.
When you understand how the light plays with the water, you can capture it to make for great photos.
Your angle should also be poised for the best possible photo composition, obeying the same rules of photography that apply elsewhere.
Rules of Composition
The following are the most important rules to follow when you’re framing a photo and choosing your angle:
- Choose your subject; what part of the photo do you want to be in focus, and what do you want to blur?
- Follow the rule of thirds, where your subject fills just a third of the frame.
- Avoid unused space.
- Use diagonal lines, but not for the horizon.
- Review other photographers’ work, think about how they would have gotten those angles, and consider how you could do the same.
8. Connect with People
Finally, good surf photography relies upon connecting with people. You need to know surfers to get great shots, and you need to get to know surf magazine editors to get your work published.
To find surfers to get in touch with, try using Meetup. There are countless beginner surfing groups across the globe that you can use to get started.
There are many surfing magazines out there, but perhaps the most well-known is Surfer Magazine. Others include Surfing Magazine, Transworld Surf, Surfer’s Path, and Carve Surfing Magazine.
Do some research into these and other surfing and sport-related publications to see who might be interested in your photography, and then don’t be shy about reaching out.
9. Study Surf Photos from Other Photographers
Studying other people’s work is a big part of learning and growing as a photographer. By following the photographers for surfing magazines and the big names in the industry, you can get a sense of what’s possible in the field.
Some of the best surf photographers in the industry are LeRoy Grannis, Clark Little, and Don James.
LeRoy Grannis started his career in the 1960s and is considered the prominent historian of surfing. You can purchase a book of LeRoy Grannis’s surf photography of the 1960s and 1970s on Amazon.com. This book includes color photos from California and Hawaii surfers, covering surfing contests and surfer stomps, as well as the overall surf lifestyle.
Clark Little was raised by a surf photographer, and he became a prolific surf photographer himself when he took on the family trade. His work is shown in several world galleries for photography.
Don James was one of the first surf photographers in California, publishing the book Prewar Surfing, which holds great historical significance in the field.
Each of these photographers contributed something of significance to our understanding of surfing, so studying their work is a great way to develop your own understanding of the sport while learning about good camera angles, strategies, and techniques.
Conclusion
To get started with surf photography, you need to purchase a camera, lens, and waterproof housing, then optimize your settings and get into the water. From there, you just need to make sure that you work well with the surfers and stay safe in the waves, obeying rules of etiquette and reading the water as you shoot.
