STORY BEHIND THE SHOT - 'F I J I B L U E S'

If you haven't read my BIO (long story short) I make a living making wedding films, and have been fortunate enough to shoot a few over in tropical Fiji - which is where I fell in love with ocean photography.

In saying that, the urge to shoot the ocean goes back a few years when I purchased my first proper video camera (Canon XL2 for anyone that cares) and started filming surfing around the Hawkes Bay. [Check out one of my very first video's below - '25 FRAMES PER SECOND'] Its quite a trip to think about that because (without knowing it at the time) my heart was guiding me to the place I wanted to take my life - the beach.

Fast forward a few years and I've established a really cool relationship with American couple, Stuart and Malia Johnson who emigrated to Fiji roughly 5 years ago. Wedding photography is their bread & butter, but, they specialise in EPIC trash the dress shoots and Stu is Fiji Surfs' (local surf charter company) resident photographer. So, when they upgraded their water housing (water proof camera case) and had one for sale I took the plunge and purchased it off them.

F I J I B L U E S was taken during one of the first swims I had with my new housing and the conditions at Cloud-break were nothing short of amazing. Actually it was just another day in tropical Fiji, hot with no wind and perfect sized waves for a rookie like me. A few instructions from Stu regarding every surf photographers worst nightmare (water droplets on your port) and we were off, or in I should say.

From the get go I had my mind set on a shot like this, the view that every surfer dreams of and a position on the wave where every surfer aspires to be - in the barrel. Without even realising (too busy swimming and getting in position etc to check my shots) I got lucky and captured this moment soon after swimming out. I know its not perfect (surfer ruins it for me) but, when I look back at my work this is a pivotal moment - it was a shot that stopped me in my tracks and inspired me to give surf photography a crack.

Reuben James