Surfterra is an app that makes it even easier for photogs and surfers to connect. Like Tinder, but also nothing like Tinder. Photo: Surfterra
It’s funny. Catching a good wave is such a fleeting moment, who doesn’t want it captured, frozen in time? And yet, every surfer, no matter who they are, is a legend in their own mind. I don’t mean intentionally. It’s just, waves feel so much bigger, tubes feel so much deeper, airs seem so much higher from a first person point of view. And then, when you look at the photos or the video, invariably there’s some bit of psych taken out of what was just done.
Yet, photos are gold after an incredibly memorable session. And until now, unless a surfer knew a photographer who they could link up with at the beach, documenting a pumping swell required going with a handful of buddies and trading turns manning the camera.
Surfterra is a crazy app that changes all of that by taking all of the work out of pairing surfers with photogs, and operates as a marketplace for surfers to purchase photos of themselves after a session. Think of it like the Tinder of surf photography, except instead of swiping, the app just tells you who might have snapped a photo of you.
It’s also beneficial to photographers, making the task of organizing images for surfers even easier. Not to mention, photographers can register surf sessions by time and location 48 hours in advance to let local surfers know where they’ll be in order to get the shot.
It operates fairly simply for both photographers and surfers. Once the app is installed it will pick up on moments when your phone is inactive for over an hour and located near a surf spot. It will deduce, with high probability, that you are surfing at that spot. Then, if any photographers were documenting the session at the same time you were in the water, the app will alert you to check out their photo sessions to see if they captured any of your waves. Photographers can upload 50 shots per session up to two sessions per day and price photos how they wish. If someone finds a photo of them they want to buy, they just purchase it through the site. Super easy. Or, if photographers know the surfers they capture, they can also tag surfers, which automatically sends the surfer an alert.
In an era of GoPros and camera rewinds, it’s incredible, really, that it took this long for something like Surfterra to exist. But it does now, making getting the shot (and purchasing it) that much easier.
If the moment of you getting tubed isn’t well documented, did it even happen? Photo: Surfterra
To learn more, check out Surfterra’s Facebook or download the app here for iPhone.
