If you were to see Jack Bober’s photos in one of the many places he’s been featured, such as Surfline, Magicseaweed, SURFER magazine’s Instagram (RIP), or here on The Inertia, I doubt you’d be able to guess it was a teenager who took the picture. A high school senior from Marin County, California, Jack has been shooting waves and surfers from the water since his early teens. Recently, he’s become a regular at Ocean Beach, getting out there whenever the waves are good, which has been a lot this winter. His Instagram is filled with a plethora of incredible shots of waves at OB, Maverick’s, and other Bay Area breaks. Curious to learn more about this teenager who paddles out at OB with nothing more than a camera and a set of fins, I gave Jack a ring:
How old are you, Jack? You’re still in school, right? How long have you been shooting?
Yup, I’m 17 and a senior in high school. I’ve been shooting since I was around 13 or 14. I actually used to bodyboard a lot, and my dad is a surfer so that’s kind of how I got into the ocean. On a family trip to Newport Beach a few years ago my mom gave me this really old camera which must have been like eight or nine years old at the time and hardly worked. But I just brought it down, and I started to take some pictures. Once I got home, I looked at the pictures, and I was like wow, these are actually pretty cool. So that’s how I got into photography in general, and my freshman year of high school I got a GoPro and was obsessed with trying to capture cool water shots. And I mean they didn’t really turn out that well, but that’s how I started to get into water photography.
I bought my first nice camera sophomore year, but I didn’t get an actual water housing, and went for some cheap option. It didn’t work very well and actually broke, ruining my first camera, so I didn’t have a good camera for a bit there. but then I got this super good deal from a friend for a camera and a pretty nice waterproof housing together, And that’s when I really started to take good water shots, and since then I’ve been shooting whenever I can.
And since then, your shots have helped you build quite a following in the Bay Area surf scene. What are you hoping to do next?
My main goal whenever I go out and take pictures is to get a shot that’s worthy of a magazine, and some of my best shots I actually haven’t posted yet because I’m waiting to see if any magazines will take them first. Getting into anything print is pretty tough right now because there aren’t that many print magazines and everyone’s sending in their shots. So that’s my main goal right now. And I’m also making this little book, “A California Winter,” and it’s like 40 or 50 pages of shots from last winter [2019-2020]. I’m currently trying to get shots for a second version this winter, obviously, because it’s been such a good season.
What about your photography in general? Is it more of a hobby or side project for you, or is it something you’re hoping to take further?
Yeah, I mean, if I could do water photography as a job, that’d be awesome. But for now, it’s just a hobby, something I do when I’m not doing schoolwork. I am planning on going to college somewhere near the ocean, hopefully up here so I can stay around the Northern California surf scene, but we’ll see! If I can make it a career one day, that’d definitely be ideal.
What’s your favorite method of shooting photos? I’ve seen a lot of your shots are drone shots, you’ve got some from land, a bunch from the water, What do you prefer?
I would say shooting from the water is my favorite. I like how hard it is to get two shots that are the same. It’s just a very different activity than shooting from land or a drone. And especially up here, there aren’t that many people who swim, so that angle can be a bit more unique.
What’s your favorite spot to take photos?
Probably Ocean Beach, it’s just the most consistent wave around here. And then whenever it does get very good, it’s one of the best waves that I’ve ever seen. This winter especially it’s been non stop, and so much fun. I’ve been going a lot, every time there are good waves, even missing some class. It’s just been hard to focus on school, especially when I’m trying to advance my photography.
How big of waves are you going out in? What’s your upper limit?
Max is like, 10 feet for me. Anything bigger than that, especially at Ocean Beach, I just don’t think I can do it. I’ve tried to go out in bigger surf and just been sent in. At Ocean Beach it’s just wave after wave and it can take like 45 minutes to make it out there if I’m not lucky. I had a time during that big swell the beginning of December when Surfline put out the ‘epic’ rating, the day after that it was still pretty big, I think like eight to 12 or something like that. And it took me forever to make it out and then once I finally made it out this huge set landed right on my head. It was awful, like one of the most terrible experiences I have had in or out of the water. But if you can make it out there on days when it’s big and firing, it’s really cool to see.
Where else have you been been shooting other than Ocean Beach? I saw some photos from Maverick’s up on your Instagram a few weeks ago.
Yeah, I’ve been going down to Maverick’s, I mean it’s pretty rarely that it goes off, so it’s been pretty fun to see it do its thing a bunch this winter but this year that’s about it. Pretty much Maverick’s and Ocean Beach. I was gonna go to Hawaii but the trip was canceled, which kind of sucks but I am hoping to get out there at one point during this winter or next and shoot Pipeline.
Do you feel like surfers notice you when you’re out there taking pictures? Especially at OB, where it’s a lot of older guys who can be pretty serious about their surfing on a good day. Do people ask you for the photos you take or anything like that?
They definitely notice me. It’s hard not to notice the guy without a surfboard, but I know most of them and they are generally all friendly and actually quite stoked that they are getting photos! I always give them the photos if they ask.
