Shooting The Right
Photographer Russell Ord has devoted years of his life to swimming into the impact zone of one of the heaviest waves in the world in pursuit of the most dramatic surfing photo imaginable.
Words: Russell Ord
The way I look at my photography completely changed ten years ago, all from an accident, a split second of stupidity and the lack of respect for the ocean. Taking my eyes off the sea for a moment resulted in a broken leg in two places, a dislocated knee and a seven-hour drive back to my local hospital. I highly recommend not taking the so-called safety channel for granted and going over the falls on a 20-foot wave on a jetski and drinking copious amounts of alcohol as pain relief. (That's another long story).
While waiting for the surgeon I picked up a leading photography magazine."Top ten wildlife images of the year", said the primary callout on the cover. Each photographer was interviewed on the backstory behind their images and how they went about capturing their award-winning photos.
What a read–hiding in trees for days, avoiding grizzly bears, hypothermia, heat exhaustion, equipment loss, three years in the making, just some of the significant factors the photographer's had to endure.
The number one image, according to the judges, was a photo of a Bengal tiger coming out of the water shaking its head, dispersing water as it majestically left the pond. The photographer had captured it with a slow shutter (speed blur), creating a perfect ring of water around the tiger while keeping the big cat in focus. Like many of the other photos, it was breathtaking.
Interested in finding out more, I begin to read the backstory of the image and instantly felt disappointed and somewhat offended for every other photographer in that competition. How do you award first place to a wildlife photo that was captured in a zoo? How does that photo compare to all the components the other photographers endured to produce their final images?
That article changed the way I look at and contemplate my photography–99% of my work, in reality, are purely just moments in time. Right place at the right time, so to speak. They lacked a story behind the image, no other adversity or skills beyond the camera and pressing the trigger. I imagined myself as the photographer in the zoo, sipping lemonade under an umbrella waiting for that "easy" special moment. As a surf photographer, I want to experience all the elements of the ocean and push my boundaries. "How did you do that?" and "What position are you in to take the image?" are essential questions and factors far more critical than the image itself.
Photo Credit : Trent Slatter
In extreme sports such as surfing and many others, I now visualize what skills, creative process, adversity etc. the photographer had to go through, beyond pressing the camera trigger. Picture this scenario (this happened while I was judging an extreme sports photo competition): Two incredible mountain climbing photos, both captured in beautiful light and representing the true essence of the sport, however, the story behind the images were vastly different. Image number one was captured by a drone and the second image was taken by a photographer that must have had several years of climbing experience, to say the least. The photographer must have started the climb in the dark or camped out overnight to be in the position to take the photo. The drone image in comparison, well, in my opinion, there was no comparison, but in the end it won that particular competition. The backstory of the photos once again played no part what makes a fantastic image.
Having three months off with the broken leg became a blessing in disguise – plenty of thinking time. What skills beyond the camera could I implement into my work so I could have more than a moment in time? I didn't have to explore far; in the end, the solution was taking 25 years of ocean experience and implementing it into my photography work. I was not re-inventing the wheel, but rather taking a leaf out of professional big wave surfers and how they were pushing their boundaries in waves of consequence.
I started by googling “Breath-holding courses and techniques”, and one of the first items to catch my attention was Hanli Prinsloo, a freediver from South Africa, and a photo of her freediving with a Great White shark. That was my first port of call, a direct message to Hanli ended up with a recommendation - One Ocean International, based in Byron Bay at the time. The founder Joe Knight was organising a course for some crazy surfers in Victoria. A month later, I found myself at the bottom of the sea in cold Victorian waters with goggles, hoodie and 4/5mm wetsuit, learning new breathe hold skills. The five P's are one, of Joe's favourite one-liners and no doubt a product of his Navy days- Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performances.
The course certainly gives you the wisdom and required skills, however to become proficient and comfortable in waves of consequence was a combination of training (underwater) and pushing the surfing boundaries over the next year before attempting swimming at my first goal, "The Right". From the outside, people think you’re a touch crazy without knowing the backstory and the effort that goes in behind the scenes. Like an ultra-marathon runner, it’s a build-up over time, not someone that has crept off the couch on a McDonald's diet and whose shoes have never seen more than 500 metres of pavement.
Breath-hold training, ocean awareness (respect), knowing my limitations, and when to push them, safety gear and preparation are now all essential tools of my photography work. The backstory to my images slowly started to change over time; I began to feel like I was having my own "mountain climbing moments", by facing adversity before hitting the trigger.
