As a surfer, I love to ogle the eye-candy produced by professional surf photographers as much as anyone. I also like to take pictures and video myself, of course at an amateur, just-for-fun level. When I’m on the water, I major in surfing and minor in photography/videography. Usually I like to ride at least three waves before my camera comes out, and sometimes it stays sheathed until the end of the session, because I’m there to surf, first and foremost.
I visually record my sessions, as well as blogging them in my wave journal, to remember the day and to share with desk-bound surf buddies and land-lubber family. If I didn’t have a camera with me on the water, I wouldn’t be able to capture a sunset like this:
or unusual sights like this:
After experimenting over several years with various cameras and different means for carrying them, my current setup is a waterproof Pentax Optio W90 in Golden Hour’s Wrist Pod case. The camera requires vigilance in post-surf rinsing and sand removal from the seals, lest I lose some functionality to corrosion (the computer connector port failed soon after purchase) or the entire camera to flooding (like its predecessor, an Optio W80). The Wrist Pod keeps the camera securely fastened to my arm and protected even in overhead waves, but frees it fast for a shot and then re-wraps quickly if I need to stop playing photographer and turn to catch a wave. It’s not a perfect system, but it lets me surf and still take pictures when the whim hits.
