What Makes a Great Surf Photograph
People ask me what separates a good surf photograph from a great one. I do not think there is a formula, but after years of shooting outdoors and surfing since I was eight, I have a few ideas. Here are the elements I look for, with examples from The Stairwell, a photograph I made from land in Santa Cruz, California, in early summer 2026.
This print comes from Santa Cruz, CA during the string of summer swells in 2026. I noticed the wave aligning with the stairwell while scouting a place to surf. At the time, nobody was surfing the wave, but I decided to head back to my van for the camera.
I waited for almost an hour in the stairwell for a surfer and wave to align.
Thankfully, I stuck out the wait as I love this image.
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The first element is light. Surfing is a sport of water and sky, and the quality of light changes everything. A flat gray day makes a wave look flat and gray. Clean, directional light can turn the same water into glass. In The Stairwell, late morning sun lit a brick wall gold while the wave behind it stayed green. That contrast between warm and cool is a big part of why the image feels alive.
The second element is composition. Many surf photographs put the rider in the center and fill the frame with action. Those can be exciting, but the ones that stay with me usually have structure. I look for lines, shapes, and layers that lead the eye. In this photograph, two concrete walls make a frame, and a few blurred dark leaves sit in the top corner. Your eye moves through the gap to the wave, then settles on the surfer. The structure does the work.
The third element is scale. A small figure against a big ocean tells you something about how it feels to be out there. In The Stairwell, the surfer is a long way off, about 100 to 200 yards from where I stood. That distance makes the wave feel larger and the moment more quiet.
The fourth is timing. This is the part people think is luck, but it is mostly patience. When I found the frame, no surfer was on the wave and the tide was not right. I had to run back to the van for my camera, then stand in the stairwell for roughly an hour. Eventually the tide changed, the wave picked up, and a surfer dropped in. If I had left after twenty minutes, I would not have the picture.
The fifth is restraint. It is tempting to chase every wave and every rider. I find that the best frames come from picking a spot and committing to it. The stairwell gave me a natural border, and I did not need to make the frame more complicated.
The sixth is feeling. A great surf photograph makes you want to be there, even if you have never surfed. It gives you a sense of cool air, salt, and quiet. I cannot reduce that to a technique, and I do not think I should try.
If you are making your own surf photographs, my advice is to study images you love and ask why they work. Is it the light, the setting, the moment, or the mood? Then go out and look for those same ingredients in your local waters. You do not need a famous break or a huge swell. You need curiosity, a decent camera, and the willingness to stand still longer than feels comfortable. Be kind to yourself along the way, because the best frames usually follow many forgettable ones.
If you want to see how these ideas come together, The Stairwell is available as a print. It is an open edition, starts at $26.95, and I try to sign each one, though I cannot guarantee it.
Go check out all the prints by Dalton Johnson.
About the Author
Dalton Johnson is a photographer, writer, and filmmaker who tells stories about real people pushing themselves in the outdoors, from the High Sierra to the far reaches of every continent. He has shot and written for brands, tourism boards, and editorial outlets, including Nike, Patagonia, Four Seasons, PBS, GoPro, and Ford, with more than 160 campaigns and hundreds of published articles to his name. Off assignment, he bikepacks, trail runs, swims open water, chases big waves, and rock climbs.
