For a few weeks every year the particles in the water around old Otepoti drop out completely as the ocean takes on a crystal clear azure blue more common to the waters of a tropical island in the South Pacific. You'd hardly guess that the water is only a smidgen over 14°C. Brrrr ...
These water conditions usually coincide with the height of summer and a bunch of small swells and very little rain. The visibility is pretty amazing and for me it's the time of year to try to capture the waves from beneath. The shapes they make and the patterns on the surface never fail to impress me, but they're a lot harder to capture than I first imagined they would be. It takes a pretty select set of circumstances to come together to nail a "keeper". Firstly I have to try to shoot the first wave of the set before the impact zone aerates. Secondly, I have to be able to position myself inside the wave as close to the lip as possible. Then I need the wind to be very light so the wall of the wave is smooth to reveal a little of the coastline and to give some reference to the image. Finally, it always helps to have a surfer in there somewhere to give an idea of the scale of the wave. Shooting in small waves is much easier, but I prefer a decent-sized wave – the type we'd all love to be surfing and, if we're lucky, getting barrelled in.
When it's this clear and I know I'm capturing a view that the fish and sea lions take for granted, it's a pretty nice feeling. Through Box of Light we try to always show the beauty of the ocean that surrounds our little country – usually stunning waves. So it's particularly cool to take you all beneath the surface to a world few of us get to see or appreciate – the ocean frozen in a moment of time and light. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did shooting these this week.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The surf maybe small this summer, but you'll still find plenty of overhead peaks again this week: forecast right here.
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