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 of the subject and the surrounding elements. This means get as tight as possible (200-600mm telephoto lenses for land shots). Fill the frame with action. If your a water photog, then wide angle lenses to short telephotos can give some great dynamic shots if done right.

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 high resolution digital photos in uncompressed formats of RAW or JPG, or TIFF or high quality shots on film (Yes I said it, film, slides). Use High quality film or ISO's of 100-200 in your digital camera's. but with the latest cameras you can go higher with clean results.

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 least 3 frames per sec for action sequences (camera dependant). Single shot is okay for waiting for that special shot. Also use the highest shutter speeds possible to capture the action. Usually 1/500^th or more for action but slower speeds can also show motion in a dramatic fashion and can add moodiness to a shot.

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:

These are only some tips and if you wanna learn more, there are a ton of books and websites out there to help you out. HIT THE BEACH AND START SHOOTING! You won't get better unless you get some shooting time beneath your belt. GOOD LUCK and HAPPY SHOOTING!!