Living in the Caribbean with clear, blue water and waves for days, I knew it was only a matter of time before getting into surf photography. Rolling mountains underneath the surface have always mesmerized me. As an underwater photographer, I want to challenge myself to push my limits and learn new things in a different environment.

I didn’t know exactly how to get into surf photography. I kept making excuses that the water didn’t look clear enough, the waves were too big, or that I was waiting for someone to hold my hand and swim out there with me. So I waited and waited, months had past, and I never tried. Until one day, some of the local girls asked if I wanted to go surfing. I hopped on the opportunity, and instead of surfing, I tried exactly what I had been day dreaming about for so long.

Ruby, Alexis, and Ariel invited me to go swim out with them on a smaller day. The swell was dying and it was the perfect time to get in the water for good visibility. On the beach, we planned out a safe spot to swim from and land marks to look for when coming back to shore. I donned my mask, fins, and snorkel, with my underwater camera housing in my hand, and started the journey of getting out past the surf. Ariel stayed by my side the whole time, making sure I was okay diving under the waves. Swimming out past the line up was more of a workout than an actual workout… Everybody made it out safely to the line up and we sat a little further away from the crowd to have fun by ourselves.

I started with some still shots of Ariel sitting on her board, editing my settings, and getting familiar with the feeling of waves on the head. Waves started to grow in size and we were having to duck dive a lot more often, which led to my favorite part of the day. My favorite shots were of the girls duck diving underneath the sets. I set up in front of the girls and shot them slowly sinking below the surface with their boards, watching the waves peel back on top of their bodies, and ascending back to the surface.

At the end of our session, the girls got off their boards and we played around under the surface. It’s important to not just focus on getting “the shot,” but to have fun and mess around. Ariel and Alexis tried positioning themselves in a wheel underwater, but couldn’t get the right positioning down. We all came up laughing and out of breath every time.

Bloopers below…

Some of my intro tips to surf photography~

Make friends with locals who know their way around and who will stick by your side getting in and out of the water
The first few times out, don’t set up where it’s crowded. Learn your way around surfers first
Find water that is clear
Plan out safe entry and exit points
Have fun!

Although I didn’t really catch any photos of the girls riding the waves, we had a ton of fun and I hope to progress to that in the near future.