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"This is a very similar angle and set up to a photo I shot a few years ago that was awarded Photo of the Year by SURFER. This was actually taken two years later and it really depicts just how varied nature can be. You have the heaving tube with Kalani Chapman, the double rainbow, the mountains, and the rain. They're all lined up and working together." Photo: Noyle




"I took this photo of Slater and Reef McIntosh during the Eddie. The people behind the event asked me if I wanted to swim Waimea during the event and, being young and naive, I said yes. Turned out two other people declined it before me. It was pretty nuts. I was terrified, but to be given a front-row seat to such a special event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Photo: Noyle


WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ZAK NOYLE
"I love this angle. You have Jamie O'Brien going switch at Pipe and you can make out the other photographers on the shoulder. For this shot, I was actually swimming back out and just turned around really quickly as the wave broke and Jamie flew by. I actually didn't even know he was going switch until I looked at the images later that night."


"This is Makua Rothman at Pipe. I love the color of this image. When I took it, I was actually caught inside from the wave before and was trying not to get pounded. So as I was swimming back out, I saw Makua on this gem. I guess getting caught inside for this moment was both a blessing and a curse." Photo: Noyle


"This is Danny Fuller at Teahupoo shot with an over-under rig. We flew down to Tahiti thinking it was going to be big, but the swell never really materialized when we got there. So we decided to get a little weird and played around with this over-under rig and got some amazing results that wound up being used as a feature in SURFER." Photo: Noyle


"This image of Zeke Lau was taken in Honolulu and is a really different perspective than I normally shoot. I wanted to really put the viewer in the water, so I was going for angles that were similar to what you would see if you were paddling out to the lineup." Photo: Noyle


"Randall Paulson, who is pictured here on a huge wave at Pipe, was the first person to show me the ropes at Pipe. I think I was 20 or 21 and he taught me where to swim, where to sit, and what to look for when you're shooting Pipe. So to be able to get a shot like this of a guy that helped me so much feels really good. Thanks again, Randall." Photo: Noyle


"What a lot of people don't realize is just how close we, as water photographers, get to our subjects. This photo of Billy Kemper was shot this past winter and Billy actually hit my housing with his rail as he flew by. He was apologizing after and I told him, 'Don't apologize! I think we just got a really good one.'" Photo: Noyle


"What I love about this photo is just how green the water is. It's a photo of Dane Gudauskas on a really solid one at Pipe. I think it'd been raining for about a week straight, which gave the water at Pipe this odd green tinge. It contrasted really well with the blue sky overhead." Photo: Noyle


"I shot this photo of Stephen Koehne at Off The Wall during the Volcom Pipe Pro a few years back. A lot of the waves were closing out, but there were a few that were absolutely perfect. I was the only photographer shooting this session and it's one of the most memorable days of my life. At one point during this session, I actually lost my housing and camera with all of my photos. Thank God I found it." Photo: Noyle


"Early mornings and late afternoons are my favorite time to shoot Pipe. Typically, Pipe gets a little bit of morning sickness so it's not always good at first light. But this particular day, I had a feeling we would score so Danny Fuller and I paddled out at dark, hoping to get a few by ourselves. It was firing and the early morning light made the photo really unique." Photo: Noyle

They say a picture paints a thousand words, which means by my reckoning that a post including 10 surfing pictures must conjure up a least 10,000 words, feelings and emotions.

Whether it’s the calm image of a deserted beach at the crack of dawn flooding back memories of cold sand between your toes as you make your way towards the surf, or an action shot of a pro surfer charging
down the barrel of a wave, making your heart race with adrenalin, surfing pictures have the ability to range from peaceful and magical to just plain cool.

Surfing Picture Gallery

We’ve scoured some of our favourite photogaphy sources to bring you our top pick all in one place. We hope you love our selection of surfing pictures as much as we do…

#1 – Underwater Surfer

It is an indisputable fact that when paddling for a wave, whether it be two foot Malibu or 20 foot Mavericks, you pull a stupid face. Just prior to the moment of ecstasy, each facial feature contorts to form the hideous grimace of a constipated goblin. Here are a few of our GoPro favourites.

Choosing a camera comes down to two things, how serious are you about what shots you want to get and how much cash you have got to spend. With a little thought and planning though you can end up with a camera within budget that will nail shots of you and your mates which will look like you’ve been on a mag trip.

So where to start? We’ve split them into four categories just to make it nice and easy, by budget, so you can find the camera that suits you.

The Action Cams

GoPro and the like seem like seem the obvious choice here, and if all you’re interested in is getting wide angle shots of you surfing and the scenary then they are great. Trouble is they are not that versatile.
You’re stuck on just one or two modes when it comes to perspective, and for shooting the day to day ins and outs of a surf trip they are actually not that great, especially when it comes to getting those killer lineup shots which are going to adorn you Facebook pages. So we’ll move on from these into real cameras.

Budget – Sub £300

Point and shoot cameras have come a long way in the last few years both in quality, zoom length and durability. First thing to decide is do you want to take one of these in the water with you and shoot from there. If you do it could be worth combining one of these with owning a GoPro, or go for one of the many all weather cameras on the market. These are great options for the travelling surfer, they are tough, give really good image quality for a compact camera, all have sports modes so you can freeze fast action, and can be taken out in the surf. The cream of the crop here are the Olympus Tough TG-820 (RRP£199), the Panasonic Lumix DMC – FT5 (RRP £289), The Canon powers hot D20, The Nikon Coolpix Aw110 (RRP£199). All of these cameras from the major manufacturers do it all, take great lineup shots, great lifestyle and are all pretty good in the water. They are rugged, don’t mind being thrown in a sandy bag or being stuffed up the sleeve of a wetsuit. Where they aren’t amazing is for shooting action shots of you’re mates from the beach, they just do not have the length of zoom, but it’s not really what they are all about.


If you don’t want a waterproof camera, then there are a mass of point and shoots, and basically you pay for what you get. They range from £60-£300 and essentially the more you pay the better the lens, and especially the zoom you get and the better the image quality. Good to combine with a GoPro for the water angle.
One thing that is worth considering is just using your phone, it’s not ideal, as whilst the cameras are excellent in top of the range smart phones, they don’t really have great zooms and in anything but great light the sensors tend to be pretty sub optimal. You can shove one in a housing though and get OK results as you can see here.

Mid range £300-£600

This is probably where the keen surfer traveller who wants to get serious surf shots will invest their hard earned cash. It’s a tough one though, as you start to move into much bulkier systems, but we’ll start small and move up.

First are the serious compacts, these deliver almost pro camera quality images, but fit into your bag easily and even a jacket pocket. The leaders here by far are the Canon G series compacts, The G1x with it’s large sensor size and the G12- G16 with a slightly smaller sensor size but no less capable. Sensor size makes a difference, as generally the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality. These are still fixed lens cameras, but are very versatile, and are good for shooting lineups, lifestyle and action if it is quite close to the beach. Unlike those rugged compacts they are not waterproof, but you can buy housings for all these for a few hundred pounds more. Nikon and Sony both do an equivalent camera but it’s hard to ignore the pedigree of this Canon range.

The next option is to step up into the interchangeable lens cameras, there is a mine field of choices here from mirror less to traditional DSLR’s but here is three that sit top of the pile.

Sony NEX

The range of NEX cameras from Sony, are smaller than regular DSLRs but lose nothing on performance, they are jacket pocketable and come with a wide range of lenses. Plus with a simple adapter you can put Nikon or Canon lenses on them and have a really versatile and relatively compact camera system. Image quality is at a pro level, and the frames per second rate is fast enough to capture action. You can get water housings for these as well, but they are pricey, so it is probably better to combine these with a GoPro. These are good cameras to get though if you want to get a little more serious, and by adding lenses over time, you can end up with a semi pro set up. Price wise they range from as low as £300 up to £600 plus for a top of the range model, but you get what you pay for.

Canon Rebel Series and Nikon D3/5000 series

These are Canon’s and Nikon’s low end DSLR cameras, but despite their price tag of under £600 with lenses their performance levels are excellent. Image and video quality are very good, and with the benefit of the whole Canon and Nikon lens range behind them they are a great way of getting into photography and then building up to more professional cameras if thats the way you want to go. They are bigger and bulkier than the Sony system and the compacts, but you get years of R and D in there and if you’re going to take a lot of shots, they are ergonomically a lot easier to use than the smaller cameras. Like the Sony’s you can get water housings, but you have to double your budget to get decent one. If you plan on becoming a more serious photographer down the line, then this is a great place to start though.

Other camera to consider are the Micro Four Thirds Group, with the Panasonic GH series being the best.

Top End £600+

This is where camera choice enters the realm of pro and semi pro cameras. It comes down to how serious you want to get. At the top of the pile are the full on pro setups of the Canon 1DX and Nikon 4d, but you’re not going to get much change out of £4K and then you have to buy lenses, and you’ve got a lot of gear to lug about as well.

A good compromise if you’re looking for a good pro camera but at a slightly more reasonable price is the Canon 7D or the 5d mark 2 or 3 cameras. Both are very capable, deliver pro level images and video and come in at £700-£2000 price tag, still not cheap. But if you’re moving up from a cheaper Canon DSLR and already have the lenses, then it’s not such a bad option. All of these cameras will do everything with the correct lenses, action and lifestyle, but come at a price of not only money but also bulk to carry around with you, so you have to weigh up the advantages of having a pro setup against the convenience of compact system. If you want to shoot in the water, there is then the issue of buying a water housing, which doubles your expense.

There is however another way in this price bracket and that comes in the form of the Nikon AW1. Coming in at just under £1k with two lenses, this compact, smaller sensor camera is 100% waterproof. It means you can use it anywhere and get stunning images with no worries what so ever.


To summarise if you are thinking of taking photography almost as seriously as your surfing, get an interchangeable lens set up from those mid range choices, they are not too big to travel with and are versatile and will allow you to grow into a pro system if you end up going that way.

If you’re not so bothered, then go for either the Canon G series for great all round performance, or get one of the rugged all round compacts.


The next big question on any budding surf photograher’s lips is, how do I get the best out of my camera, and if I have an interchangeable lens camera, what’s the best long lens for getting shots of action from the beach. Stay tuned to the Errant Surf blog because Tim is going to tell you. 

Words by Elliot Struck | Photos by Alan van Gysen 

At 4pm on Saturday afternoon, Jordy Smith married his sweetheart, Lyndall Jarvis, in Cape Town.
After an on-wave proposal back in July during the US Open, it only took six months until Lyndall was breezing down the isle and into her man’s very powerful arms, presumably to Jagged Edge’s Let’s Get Married.

The 200-ish guest list read like a who’s who of South Africa’s upper echelons; famous models, SA surfing’s creme, plus folk from all of Jordy’s sponsorship camps. The venue was The Grand Beach Cafe in Cape Town, right on the waterfront and close enough to Cape Town Stadium to hear cheers from tens of thousands of soccer fans watching an African cup of Nationals.

Jordy was dapper in a classic charcoal two-button suit with white shirt and white Cons (surfers are allergic to dress shoes). The groom’s party, dressed in light grey two-pieces and white Cons, included (best man) Damien Fahrenfort, Jarrad Howse, Chad du Toit, Warwick Wright, Travis Logie and Garth Tarlow. All the suits were legit Hugo Boss, purchased in the US, a fact Dooma even made note of in his speech. As if you needed any further evidence of Jords’ well-known and very endearing generosity.

The bridal party, led by maid-of-honour Che John, and all of whom it can be assumed Wok later made a play for, glowed in turquoise. Lyndall Jarvis came to the wedding as her flawless self, and wore an ivory dress to rule them all.

By all reports, Jords straight-up nailed his speech, with not a dry eye in the outdoor, white sail-topped space (including his own).

The (now officially) best pals for life and their awesome gang then swooped to the reception where everybody cut sick on the d-floor to Cape Town’s Goldfish (homeboys’ live set includes double bass, Roland synths, IRL saxophone and is thoroughly on that uplifting tip).


Big love from Stab to the happy couple. Now go get suitably weird on your honeymoon