The biggest problem with shooting surf pictures is that most people are totally unaware that I’ve taken their picture.
Like me, most folks probably assume that surf photographer on the beach is taking shots of someone else and not them!
So, I thought I’d grab cameos from my latest surf photography session at south Curly on Sat 3 Sept 2011 and post them here in the off-chance people will see themselves or a friend – and then go check out the complete gallery by clicking here!
Here’s a little highlights slideshow from Saturday morning…
A small SSE swell of around 1.5-2 metres coincided nicely with an incoming tide at South Curly on Saturday morning and I was there with the camera.
I shot for about an hour between 0900 and 1000 from a spot about 100 m north of the South Curl Curl SLSC.
It was sunny, glassy and pretty busy in the water, but there were some fun chest to shoulder high set waves to be caught. Below is a slideshow of some of the better ones. You can jump to the complete gallery by clicking here.
Saturday morning delivered a small SE swell to Sydney’s Curl Curl beach and I was on hand to shoot it from around 1015 to 1115. Waves were on the soft side it has to be said, but there were definitely a few fun little sections along with the very occasional head high plus bomb set. I set up at a position roughly 1/3 the way up the beach from South Curl Curl SLSC and focused mainly on the complex of rideable peaks to the south of me. If you were in the water and caught a wave in that time, there’s an excellent chance that I got a shot of you.
Click the pic below to jump to the complete gallery of pictures from the 1015-1115 session of 13 August 2011.
Yep, the tide was way too high, but after more than a week of wavelessness even a fat but head high south swell looked good. I wanted to get some shooting practice, so I spent half an hour pinging away as people did what they could with the glassy conditions. As always any picture in the gallery can be purchased. Just click on it to make it bigger then look top left for the price options…
0920: tough to catch the little weak ones at south Narrabeen
Went for a little wander to check out the conditions. The dominant feature at 0900 was the chop. The SSE wind was chewing up pretty much everywhere I looked. Far South Narra was probably the least affected, but the waves were weak and around waist high at best. Dee Why was lumpy and junky looking, so I didn’t even bother grabbing a snap.
Around 0900 there were a few fat sets rolling into the north end of the beach.
Over the hill at Curly, the swell was much more evident, but frustratingly for the very few people in the water, it was just as weak, slow and junky as everywhere else. The north end seemed to be a touch smaller than the south. But we aren’t talking a huge variation in size. Figure on waist high with the odd shoulder high set, and you’d be about right.
About the biggest waves seemed to be at Sth Curl Curl, but junk city too.
Next tide is a low around 1:16 this afternoon and by then, the wind could be around to the E-NE at 10-15kts and that might be a good thing for the northern ends.
Typical. Just as the section stands up, you have to kick out.
A summery scene at south Curly
south Curl Curl
Heya, roving Don here. Stopped by Curly for a look and discovered it’s quite a bit busier than this time yesterday. The reason is plain to see; the waves are actually (in some cases) sort of catchable. You wouldn’t rave about the quality, but a couple blokes I talked to who were just getting out of the water said that it was lovely and warm, so one didn’t mind too much if the quality was objectively so-so. The wind’ll chew it up pretty quickly and there wasn’t much of anything showing up at the north end.
Curly’s not curling too spectacularly. Hardly anyone in the water up the north end and just two mad bodyboarders trying to dash themselves to death on the rocks south of the pool at south Curly. Sets at North Curly were struggling to get to waist high at around 0740. The only catchable ones were breaking pretty much on the sand. Surface conditions were similar to those at Freshy, ie lightly chopped but nothing to put you off if you’re keen.
Here are the bodyboarders…
Bodyboarders hang in the impact zone in front of the rocks at South Curl Curl
When the waves bounce off the rocks at South Curly, you can catch them out to sea and into the oncoming swell - assuming you're crazy!
