Peter Crawford – Surf Photograher

View Peter Crawford’s Surf Photography Gallery Online at www.boardersplace.com

Peter Simons – Surf Photographer

Peter Simons Surf Photography Gallery view online at www.boardersplace.com

Russell Ord – Surf Photographer

Russell Ord is based in Margaret River WA with wife Catherine, the two boys Kalani and Tavian and the new edition Ayla Joy and life is pretty dam good at the ripe young age of 33. I Have been taking photos for some time now which like most started out as a hobby but for the last five years or so the word professional would more suit the photo work I do considering how much time and money goes into it. The recent focus for me has centred on capturing extreme surfing and finding new waves in some of the most remote areas on the Western Australian coastline and with a few more spots on the hit list and when the weather conditions permit it will be very interesting what the next headland offers (stay tuned).

View Russell Ord’s Surf Photography Gallery online at www.boardersplace.com

Scott Bauer – Surf Photographer

Scott Bauer Surf Photography Gallery – view online at www.boardersplace.com

Sean Davey – Surf Photographer

Hawaii is the adopted home of Sean Davey, widely respected as one of the world’s top surf photographers. He has a love for the sport that goes back to his school days in his native Australia. “I spent my teens in and around the surf scene of Sydney’s city beaches through the late 70’s and early 80’s and got into photography when I was 16. I was a typical “surf grommet”, straight out into the surf after school every day. Then there was this one day where the surf was tiny, only about 4-6 inches in height, but perfectly shaped. I was sitting there, wishing I could shrink down to the size of a cockroach, so that I could surf. Then I remembered the old battered Kodak Instamatic (126 film) camera that had been sitting in the back of the wardrobe for the past four years, so I ran up to the house and grabbed it. Once back at the beach, I squeezed off just one frame, which turned out to be a real gem of a shot (at least, I thought so at the time). It was then that I was hooked. I moved back to my homeland of Tasmania, where my passion for photography was fuelled by the abundant natural beauty and great surf there. Chasing the dream of making this my profession, I spent several more years back in Sydney, this time on the northern beaches, shooting a hot-bed of world champions and local pro surfers.”

Sean is a surf specialist but his unique photographic style is applied to all the subjects he likes to shoot, and is driven by a profound artistic sensitivity. His award winning work has been widely exhibited and his book ‘Oceans’ is a superb collection of beautiful images that are a testament to his creative vision. “My main interest has always been not only to document but also to capture artistically what I see, regardless of whether it is surf, portraits, or sunrises. Often it’s simple stuff like the way the morning sun might hit a certain tree. Technique plays a large part in my work. For example, most photographers when shooting surf on a big lens will freeze the action with a high shutter speed such as 1/1000th of a second. I do this from time to time myself, but I’m way more stoked to shoot at a slower shutter speed, sometimes as slow as 1/10th of a second and the results can be really stunning. The slower shutter speed records more movement so it captures velocity (the angle of trajectory) which is eliminated at higher shutter speeds”.

Sean uses pretty much the whole range of kit available in a 35mm camera system. Surfing is a sport where a photographer will at some point need to use focal lengths ranging from fisheye to long telephoto and everything in between. Add in the development of digital equipment and the choice of kit begins to get even wider, and very expensive. “I use the Canon EOS system and have a pretty wide array of gear including both film and digital cameras, 15mm, 17-35mm zoom, 28-70mm zoom, 70-200mm zoom, 300mm f2.8, 600mm f4, 1.4 x and 2 x converters, along with 2 custom water housings from Aquatech for the water shots. I also have a couple of medium format cameras as well.

Travel is also a major theme running through Seans’s work, and he has had assignments in a wide range of locations all over the Pacific region, as well as in Europe. “I really enjoy the travel aspect of my work too, not so much the travelling itself, but shooting new locations is always of great interest, especially rugged out of the way locations with expansive mountain backdrops. To me, the backdrops are often more important than the wave itself, as they ultimately determine the individuality of the image, way more than any wave can on it’s own.

With his wide ranging interests in the world around him, as well as a passion for surfing, Sean continues to have the fresh enthusiasm and creative ideas that are the mark of all great photographers, who recognise that their work is like an ongoing journey, with no final destination. “I’ve always said that photography truly is an endless canvas. There are always many different ways with which to translate an idea into an image on film. Photography is just as alive, vibrant and refreshing as it’s ever been. It’s good to see. There are so many ideas in my head that I’m yet to go after. It’s really a matter of thinking of something and applying it physically, which isn’t always so easy, but then that’s beauty of it”.

Sean Davey Surf Photography – view online at www.boardersplace.com

Simon Williams – Surf Photographer

Swilly grew up in his parents pub in St Agnes, Cornwell. A mad keen grommet, he was a member of the English surf team and took his first overseas trip to Sri Lanka when he was sixteen. It was around this time he first picked up a camera – and kicked off a lifelong obsession. Fast forward twenty years and he’s living on the Gold Coast with his wife Jenny and thier 3 kids and is now one of the most published shooters on the planet. Check out any issue of Pacific Longboarder, Tracks, Waves or various US, UK or japanese mags and he’s in there. Simon is vesitle – the comsumate craftsmen: he always delivers be it an artful water angles or crisp land shots or interesting product shots.

View Simon Williams’ Surf Photography Gallery online at www.boardersplace.com

Steve Ryan – Surf Photographer

Steve Ryan found his future as a leading surf photographer when he and wife Michele owned and ran the Bird Rock Café in Jan Juc. Steve travelled the Surf Coast to surf and search for shots to feature on the brag wall of the café. It was a great way to keep the diners entertained while Michele cooked up a gourmet delight.

Little did he know one of his trips down the Great Ocean Road would catapult him into the world of a top surf photographer. It was when a “considerable” swell hit the coast of Victoria in 1985, Steve was waiting on the battlelines and got a shot that would leave his customers in awe and give him that feeling of fulfilment he needed.

From that epic day of surf an opportunity came knocking that gradually built his profile as a surf photographer for the acclaimed ‘Tracks’ magazine, highly regarded by Steve and much of the surfing community.

He took more surfing photos and, as he became better known, other magazines wanted to share in his work — ‘waves’, ‘Australian Surfing Life’, ‘Freesurf Magazine’, ‘Surfing world’, ‘Deep’, ‘Chick magazine’, ‘Back Door’ and ‘underground Surf’. Later, in the early nineties he was approached by international publishers and gained overseas coverage in international surf magazine’s as ‘Surfer (USA)’, ‘Surfer’s Journal (USA). ‘Surfer’s Path (UK)’, ‘Japanese Surfing Life’, ‘Surf Session (France), ‘Surf Saga (France)’, ‘Surfaholic (Japan)’, ‘Inside Now (Brazil)’, ‘Surfer Rule’ (Spain)’ and ‘Fine Magazine (Japan)’.

Steve was now known to the readers of more than 20 magazines and he was slowly filling up his address book with contacts all over the globe. He now launched his career into the high profile world of the contests that are part of ASP World Tour. Steve soon discovered the world stage was a very different ball game compared to the not so big town of Jan Juc, and faced the competitiveness and pressure of getting the ‘perfect shot’ on a regular basis.

He started building up his frequent flyers. Steve’s first overseas trip to Bali with the ‘Quiksilver Pro’ was a stop-go venture. He was booked to cover the Pro in Java, but the ASP cancelled it due to unrest in Java. But, some surfers were already there and more were flying in. A satellite phone call from Java gave Steve the news: “It’s pumping; get over here!”

Steve went and came back with THE money shot which was used extensively in the US by his new friends at Surfer magazine. The photo paid for his trip!

Next stop was Teahupoo in Tahiti home of the world’s heaviest wave going. Sweating it out all day in hot competition with other surf photographers, it was everything Steve dreamt it would be: “The Greatest Show on Earth”. More photos, and more of a commitment to travel to selected events with the ASP Tour.

Combining a family holiday with coverage of the Quiksilver Pro in Fiji, Steve was delighted when Quiksilver bought a photo and exploited it in their worldwide ad campaign for next year’s contest. Steve also was chuffed when The Bulletin, in one of its rare surfing moments, ran as a cover shot one of Steve’s Fiji pics.

Steve’s most memorable recent assignment was to Mexico in 2006 for the Rip Curl Pro Search Contest “somewhere in Mexico”, held at a secret location well east of Ballarat. (and bit north, too…)

Four days of uninterrupted perfect conditions with an incredible swell produced the best waves ever seen at this secret location. Competitors, judges, photographers and the small crowd lucky enough to be there all said it was the best they had ever surfed/seen in their lives. A photo from this trip to Mexico made it to the front cover of “Surfer” magazine.

Since then, Steve has broadened his photographic style to incorporate the tourist market but his major love is still surfing photography of all forms. From major events to special one-off assignments for individual surfers who want to built up a personal portfolio.

Steve continues with the bread and butter work supplying advertising material to the bigger surf companies like Rip Curl, Quiksilver, Billabong etc.

Steve Ryan Surf Photography Gallery view online at www.boardersplace.com

Steve Sherman Surf Photographer

Steve Sherman began his photographic career at Transworld Skateboarding Magazine, under the guidance of legendary skateboard photographer J. Grant Brittain, and later went on to help found the groundbreaking Transworld Surf Magazine as a photo editor. He is currently the photo editor of Surfing Magazine.

Since the late ’80s, Sherman’s trademark moody black and white photos have broken new ground in a field where bright, front-lit color was the standard. Drawing on the influences of portrait photographer Mark Seliger (Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair) and the unrestrained, creative grit of the skateboard world, Sherman’s surf star portraits and lifestyle photography explore uncharted realms of behind-the-scenes intimacy and journalistic presence, bringing fans closer to their surfing heroes than they ever thought possible. “I shoot the images I do because I’m a surfer for life and a big fan of pro surfing,” says Sherm.

Steve lives in Cardiff, CA with his wife Pamela, and two boys, Taj and Ethan.

Steve Sherman Surf Photography Gallery – view online at www.boardersplace.com

Stuart Gibson – Surf Photographer

Stuart Gibson is a photographer from Tasmania, Australia. That’s one way to describe him at least. Stu’s introduction to photography was one of accident, quite literally. A car smash saw him hobbling on cruches and plastered up to a dangerously itchy level, but this forced shore leave proved to be a blessing in disguise as soon as he picked up the camera. Shooting from the beach on a pre-loved Canon film rig, Stu realised that he had stumbled onto a good thing, judging not only by the powerful images that he was capturing, but also by his outspoken, eager mates that were mildly excited to see some shots of themselves. It was then possibly that Stu realised he had found his passion and his true life calling. Today, a few short years later, his images are published and reknown the world over both in print and pixel. His ability to maintain timing and composition in heavy situations is awe-inspiring to say the least, yet his humble attitude (when sober) earns him respect amongst his peers and the industry. Stay tuned for more stunning images in the many years to come from Stuart Gibson.

Stuart Gibson Surf Photography available online at www.boardersplace.com

Tim McKenna – Surf Photographer

Born in Sydney in 1968, Tim McKenna is a leading figure in action sport photography. He has inspired his generation by revealing the sheer beauty of the element through some of the most spectacular scenes and performances.

Tim McKenna is a nomad at heart that has been travelling the globe for the last 20 years, creating countless covers and stories for over 40 specialized sport publications, mainstream magazines or book collections.

With the rise of the riding sports phenomenon Tim became one of the first cross over photographers to excel in many different terrains. From all the various ocean watersports to pioneering new heli – snowboard and ski destinations like Caucasus, Ouzbekistan or Mongolia, to the inland tracks or deserts for Motocross shoots.

He has also produced many catalogues and advertising campaigns for prestigeuous names like Le Meridien or Intercontinental Hotels, Algothermes, Oxbow, Billabong, Air Tahiti Nui or American Express. His best images can be found in a fine art poster collections and his website is visited by thousands daily.

Although now based on the Island of Tahiti with his family, he still tours the world but has also assigned himself the task to capture the magic of Polynesian Life.

View Tim McKenna’s Surf Photography Gallery online at www.boardersplace.com