Surfing cameraman

HI Guys

Im looking for some guides to filming surfing , im a surfer for 14 years and a cameraman 5 years but im only starting to film surfing now , im using a canon xm2/ gl2 and an oceanimages,florida, housing . IM LOOOKING FOR TIPS ON SWIMMING ,BEING IN THE IMPACTZONE AND USE OF POLES ETC , any advice would be greatly appreciated,

I don't know anything about poles (what are they? :S). I didn't really learn from anything other than experience. It should be easy for you if you've surfed for such a long time(I dunno how to do that either haha). As a general rule I stay a bit infront of the surfers at the angle they'll be coming towards me.

Kind of like

/////// < wave

x < surfer

x <me

Resulting in

///////////////// <wave

surfer > x x< me

And

.............me

..............v

////////////x///// <wave

surfer > x

I'm not sure if it's the best way since I'm still learning; but it's worked for me so far. It allows for easy exit into the wave too. It's also easier to get shots from the edge of a wave break so you're not constantly duck diving. I haven't bought any boogie fins yet but I think they're pretty popular amongst photographers.

uisceman and Hani Amir,

I own a Woman's Surf Camp in Costa Rica, and we have been shooting surfing pictures of clients for almost 10 years. We shoot almost exclusively from the beach with a telephoto. We have recently purchased a couple of Go Pro HD 2 cameras and have been having fun shooting surfers from the boards.

Are either of you (or anyone else reading this please) familiar with these little cameras and can they be used to shoot surfers from the water? I would think that the photographer would have to be EXTREMELY close to get a usable shot since the wide angle of the fish eye lens may require a close proximity. Is this a viable option? Are there settings I should consider using on this camera to get the most out of this use? I would appreciate any useful input or suggestions.

Thanks!

-Tierza

Owner of Pura Vida Adventures