Surf Photography Tips

1. Capture Good Action (peak action). Shoot surfers that know what they are doing, and have style. Capture a mood or an expression. Shoot on the better days if possible with the best surfers in the area.

2. The subjects must be in sharp focus. A photo that's not in focus has no chance of publication or selling itself. Have your exposure right. Not underexposed (dark) or too light (overexposed). Shoot in good lighting. Late afternoon or early morning is best depending on your location. The subjects need to be front lit most times, unless you are going for something artistic such as backlighting. Use a gray card. Meter off the surfers, not the sky or water.

3. Have good composition in the frame. This means get as tight as possible (300-600mm telephoto lenses). Fill the frame with action.

4. Shoot the surfers in good waves of 3ft or bigger. The smaller the wave, the better the action needs to be to compensate. Try not to shoot in choppy waves, ugly or dirty looking water if possible. Having big, clean waves, with offshore or calm winds in good lighting are surf photographers dream conditions.

5. Have good color and contrast in your photos. For most publication purposes, you need either slide film or high resolution digital photos in uncompressed formats of RAW or JPG, or TIFF. Use High quality film or ISO's of 100-200 in your digital camera's. Good quality film, like Fuji Velvia, Provia or Kodak Elite or for black and white TMax 100 at speeds of 100 speed or less. If using Velvia 50, push 1 stop to 64-100. Pushing velvia takes some practice and experience of what works best. Try to get to know your lab's processing results. Some labs might process it too dark or too light. You can test for yourself what works best. Rate the film 64-100 in your camera when shooting, and tell the lab to push it a stop. I have had good and very bad experiences pushing velvia. Experiment and see what works best.

6. Use a good sturdy tripod when shooting. When hand holding the shot, make sure you are shooting at least 1/500^th of a second. Preferably 1/1000 in good light. That doesn't mean you can't be creative and experiment with slower shutter speeds for controlled blurs to show motion.

7. Shoot at 2 to 7 frames per sec for action sequences (camera dependant). Single shot is okay for waiting for that special shot. Also use the highest shutter speeds. Usually 1/500^th or more.

8. Use different angles. Shoot from jetties, piers and other outcroppings to get closer to the action. Water shots are great if you got the gear to do it with.

9. Shoot all kinds of photos. Action, lineups, sunrises and sunsets, beach scenes, lifestyle photos of surfers.

10. Always do your best to protect your camera from the elements (sand, dirt, dust and water).

Final Tip:
HIT THE BEACH AND SHOOT LOTS OF FILM! You won't get better unless you get some shooting time beneath your belt. GOOD LUCK and HAPPY SHOOTING!!