From Shaping to Surfing: Crafting Waves, Riding Dreams - a documentary photography project with the Fujifilm X100VI
Welcome to my documentary project! With a month in Cornwall on the horizon, I felt the need for a challenge, a need for a project while I was there… so enter my mission: One camera, one lens, one project - From Shaping to Surfing: Crafting Waves, Riding Dreams in collaboration with Ollie of Cooper Surfboards - with the fixed lens Fujfilm X100VI. It certainly was a challenge, and I’m excited to share the journey of this project with you!
I reached out to Ollie online, through a friend of a friend who said he’s a cool guy and that he’d probably be up for this project. Luckily for me Ollie replied to my instagram DM with - ‘Absolutely, that's sounds really fun!’ I am super grateful that Ollie was open to it and trusted my vision for the project as without him it wouldn’t have been possible! I carefully selected this particular project to pour my focus into because I am deeply drawn by my feelings and emotions into the tools that define my work and artistic process. I’m not very technically minded and therefore everything I use must simply work as an extension of me to capture my creative vision. The tools with which I capture images must not only establish a profound connection and evoke genuine emotion with me but also through my images to share with my viewers, clients or subjects. Just as a surfboard is an essential extension of a surfer, from the way it feels to how it performs in the waves, really mirroring how I feel about the camera seamlessly merge with my being. Also I love photographing surfers! So I have been super keen to find out more about the shaping process and get some cool shots like this for a long time.
Part 1 – Documenting the Surfboard Shaping
So first up - Ollie and I made plans to meet at his shaping unit!
He took me through the overall process and showed me the different places in the unit for shaping, spraying and applying resin then grabbed a foam blank and made a start! The process definitely felt similar to sculpting, a piece of art, bringing a surf board to life from a blank foam board! It was a fascinating process and one I could see doing this by hand was essential, as Ollie could feel when the process was complete and when to stop. Some boards are cut by computers these days but I can totally see where this looses the personal touch and every board becomes the same. It was all about getting it the right size and symmetrical then really bringing it to shape. It was a joy to document.
As for first impressions of the X100VI, I was captivated by the camera's timeless and retro design, as well as its beautiful attention to detail. Less is definitely more when it comes to these designs. I absolutely love the look of the cameras and how it feels in my hand. Its small, lightweight and discreet. I am always seeking out interesting angles and perspectives in anything I am photographing so my approach to this was no different. I am used to shooting with full manual controls but I decided to make the most of this camera and took some time to look through all the setting functions available. So going into the shoot, I had configured custom settings to establish the ideal combination of shutter speed, aperture, and auto ISO (but I capped at 800), all while maximizing the camera's eye-tracking feature. I capped the ISO at 800 because there was some beautiful side lighting and I didn’t want the camera pushing the exposure up. I wanted the light and dark areas maintained and felt this was a good level to work with. The quick autofocus and advanced features made it easy for me to focus on being creative instead of focusing on the camera. We worked in a small space and I wanted a unique angle and this camera made that super easy. With its tilting screen and tracking, I could get close to the board and Ollie and try out some fun angles. I love to work with as much creativity as I can and I pushed it down to a slow shutter, something I love to experiment with! My general settings for the shoot were mostly around F2.0 1/500th second and ISO 800 however, I pushed the aperture up to f11 and the shutter speed to around ¼ pushing the camera creatively to see what I could create with the movement of Ollie sanding the boards. This truly put a part of me into the images captured, and had me feeling excited for the results! The tracking worked pretty well in some cases where I’d kept the camera still but Ollie was moving, and in some cases I was panning with the movement, sometimes tracking working and sometimes not, but either way didn’t really affect the outcome I was looking for here. The whole process of board shaping takes much longer from the shaping to the colour to the resin however, we spent a few hours working together and I felt I’d not only gained a great insight into how a surfer creates their tool for surfing but I’d created a set of images to encompass this and I have to say the X100VI excelled in this area of the shoot. I was sold on the hype here, what a beautiful camera! But we had another part of the shoot to come and I knew it would be a very different approach…..
Part 2 – Surfing
After checking the forecast, the following weekend we decided to meet in Newquay for an afternoon out in the waves. Well not me; with no housing for this camera I had no choice but to stay on the shoreline. We were met with breath taking views and the X100VI captured the scene beautifully; the camera excelled when capturing portraits, landscapes, and scenes unfolding around me by allowing me to immerse myself in the surroundings: observing the waves, connecting with the moment, and feeling the essence of the environment. All of the reasons I love photography! I got some really nice portraits of Ollie at the shoreline along with some great lifestyle images of all the surfers coming and going from the water. However, the bit where I knew this camera would be the biggest challenge in the entire project, when focusing on shooting the surf itself, the fixed focal length of 23mm (35mm equivalent) on the X100VI posed a huge problem. Despite the convenience of the crop modes accessible through a simple turn of the focus ring, I found myself massively limited by the lack of zoom reach. While the 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm settings provided some flexibility, they proved insufficient in keeping up with Ollie's movements within the surf, highlighting this as the most challenging aspect of the entire project. I barely managed anything while he was out in the water and was feeling really disappointed in being unable to photograph the surf as I’d wanted. However at this point I needed to remind myself that I knew this would be an issue, I wasn’t stupid, I was completely aware the fixed focal length wouldn’t work here and I had to work as best I could with the camera. I had chosen to approach things in this way to test the camera for all its glory and flaws along the way. With a change of mindset, I began using the camera for all its advantages, documenting the scene and the lifestyle of the surf becoming apparent all around me. Again, being able to discreetly use this unobtrusive camera in the way it was meant to be used, documenting moments as they unfolded. Once again this is where the camera excelled and I got some fantastic portraits of Ollie with his board, as well as the moments of the scene along the way.
Conclusion
I sure set myself a huge challenge here, mainly with the view of even attempting to shoot surf with a single fixed lens of 23mm! But, that was the point - it wasn’t meant to be easy! This camera has been an absolute pleasure to use. Fixed focal length lenses offer both advantages and limitations – while they require more movement to find the right shot, they encourage closer engagement with subjects and surroundings. I can fully see why this characteristic appeals to travel, street, and documentary photographers seeking authentic and unobtrusive interactions with their environments. However, the focal length presented huge challenges for me during the surf photography where reach is essential; although crop modes can partially alleviate this issue but not quite being enough.
I thoroughly enjoyed embracing this project and had a blast with Ollie at the same time. We captured some really cool moments and channeled our creativity together in this collaboration and I even came away with a bit of merch too - thanks for the tee Ollie! :)
Where you can find Ollie - on the web here / socials here / or in person at Unit 5, Lanteague, Scotland Road, Zellah, Cornwall. Ollie creates custom boards and all are handmade with his skills and precision to the craft that he loves. On top of all that, such a nice guy!
Whether you are here for the surf or for the Fujifilm X100VI; thanks for reading!