Chasing waves with Ben Thouard

When you shoot in the ocean, you always need to remain open to what's coming at you because it's always going to be different. There's never the same moment again. That being said I always try to remain ready for anything. But it's true that many times I was swimming in the waves, maybe even surfing, and then I see something and I was like, oh, that’s amazing – that moment because of the light or the shape of the wave or whatever. And then I try to shoot it. Most of the time you would miss it because you’re not ready! So I do jump in the water with my equipment, with a photo in mind that I want to capture. It could take weeks, months, even years. So that's why you really need to remain open and ready for anything.

Probably because I've been a surfer since a young age, swimming in the waves is just so amazing to me. Being part of the action, part of the elements is what excites me. There’s a lot of anticipation for that kind of photography especially when shooting with a wide angle like a fisheye in the barrel. When you see the set coming and all the surfers battling, then you try to be in the right spot. Once you get the photo and it’s what you were expecting, then it's an amazing feeling. Why surf photography is exciting – and why it’s so hard – is because it's so demanding physically. There are so many factors to be aware of, plus the technical aspect of it like that drop of water on the lens. But it's one of the greatest challenges I've experienced.

You gotta pay to play!

Listen to your gut, to your emotion. That's the most important because everybody can be a photographer these days with all the tools that we have, and the platforms to show your work. There's so many people shooting photos and I feel like the most important is first to listen to who you are and what drives you, what excites you and inspires you. That’s the basics of photography.

Yes, the short fins that are soft enough to spend hours in the water. I also wear goggles most of the time if I'm shooting underwater. Then my camera is inside an AQUATECH housing but no flotation, no weights, just a pair of fins and the camera.