Category Finalist 2010: Spirit

Brian Bielmann

Another photographer and I were shooting with Andy and Bruce irons in Tahiti. The waves were really bad at the usual Teahupoo break so we searched up and down the coast and came across a wave three times bigger than anywhere else. The other photographer shot above the surface and I reluctantly decided to shoot below. You could be giving up on a lot of really good photos if you choose to go under the wave and sometimes it is not the right call. That day I really felt like I blew it because the other photographer got some insane shots.

Andy took off on a big wave. I swam underwater as close to the breaking wave as possible and waited to see Andy's image going by. Instead, the wave closed out and Andy's body came exploding through it as he attempted to keep from getting sucked over on to the reef. For a while after I felt like I had made the wrong choice, but the photos I got that day ended up being run in all different magazines and helped separate me from the rest of the pack as having helped to create a new progressive look – that can't be bad.

PHOTO INFO

Photographer: Brian Bielmann
Athlete: Andy Irons
Location: Teahupoo, French Polynesia

TECHNICAL INFO

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: 10-17mm
ISO: 100
F-Stop: f 3,5
Shutter Speed: 1/800