MASTERCLASS

Surfing, kitesurfing, a yacht sailing past in the sunset – there’s always some action to get you off your towel. ANDREAS EISELEN tells you how, using this image by surf photographer IAN THURTELL

Get focused on capturing watersport action

Ian says…

A powerful new swell was hitting Cape Town with some good offshore winds to clean up the waves. I grabbed my camera and clambered over the rocks on the opposite (south) side of Llandudno Beach, so that the evening sun was backlighting but not straight into my lens. There was strong backwash coming off the rocks and I knew it would be just a matter of time before action would line up for a good photo. The granite rocks in the background also created a dramatic sense of scale. Greg Fraser paddled into this wave on his bodyboard as it was wedging off the rocks. The wave kept forming and Greg kept paddling, until all the different forces and movements climaxed, and I was perfectly poised to capture it.

Equipment Canon 80D, Tamron SP 150-600mm, ISO 250, f/8, 1/800 sec