Having moved to Oahu at a young age, photographer Clark Little has been a surfer nearly all of his life. In the 80’s and 90’s, Little made a name for himself surfing the Waimea Bay shorebreak- waves that break dangerously close to the shore – and coming out of it in one piece. In 2007, his wife asked him to take a picture of the ocean for their wall and since then, his photographs of waves have garnered worldwide recognition.
Describing his photographic vision as trying to capture waves, “inside out,” Little hurtles himself into massive waves and expects to be pummeled by the water. He ties his Nikon D300 and fisheye lens, encased in waterproof housing to his ankle and even brings strobes to capture the perfect shot. The waves are so intense some days that he has to tuck his camera under his arm or curl around it in a fetal position to protect it from being sucked away. But, he loves every moment of it, and the waves he captures are well worth the effort.
[REWIND: ‘LAVA SURF PHOTOGRAPHY’ IS BOTH EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND EXTRAORDINARILY BEAUTIFUL]
Little has made appearances on national TV shows such as Good Morning America and the Today Show as well as been exhibited in the Smithsonian and published in major magazines. Little has also released a 160 page coffee table book titled, Shorebreak, in which ESPN called him “one of the most visible and respected water photographers in the world.”
Recently, he was the subject of this feature that has almost 2.5 million views:
To see more of Clark Little’s work, visit his website and Facebook.
CREDITS: All photographs shared by Clark Little are copyrighted and have been used with permission for SLR Lounge. Do not copy, modify or re-post this article or images without express permission from SLR Lounge and the artist
[Video via The Inertia/Additional Info: Daily Mail]
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Stunning images.
Beautiful shots!
That man produces some of the Most Awesome photographs I have ever seen! I need to share the video with my friends and family!
One word… Awesome!
Amazing photos ! This guy is a genius !
When I grew up I want to be like Clark Little, fearless and innovative. Respect for “The Wave Man”.
Amazing and incredible photos!
It’s amazing how much he goes through to get one photo. Having lived on a beach all my life, it’s brutal especially Pipeline!
Amazing images. Looks like molten glass…
I remember following this guy on instagram years ago. Great photos!
Awesome pictures.
These are some amazing pictures. I wish I could find some waves like that here in Kansas. :)
I think if you find waves like that in Kansas you will have something more serious to photograph. lol
“The waves are so intense some days that he has to tuck his camera under his arm or curl around it in a fetal position to protect it from being sucked away.”
I’m surprised/impressed this is the only method he uses, without some sort of attached line or something I think with a single wave my camera would be history haha.
Actually, he ties the camera to his ankle as well! I wonder how he attaches his strobe though. But either way, I’m still impressed!
He attaches his housing to his wrist, not his ankle. Strobe is attached to his housing in it’s own housing. Clark used to get his housings custom made but now uses aquatech housings which produce a flash housing which fits onto their camera housings.
https://aquatech.net/sport-housings/flash-pocket-wizard-housing/
Also the reason to try and hold onto the camera for dear life is once it gets ripped from your hands it’s still attached to your wrist by a leash so when you’re getting thrown around by a wave underwater it’s highly likely the housing will contact your body. That’s the most dangerous part of shooting in surf. My housing got ripped from my grip recently and hit me on the chin giving me a decent gash.