Years shooting surf: 3
I have an ever-growing obsession with photography. I grew up in a small town called Bewdley, in the middle of the country side somewhere in the West Midlands, at least three hours drive from any coastline. At the age of 15, I started using my dad’s simple point-and-shoot camera to document my friends skateboarding. A year later, I brought my first DSLR and spent the next three years taking pictures of skateboarding. When I was 19, I moved to the coastal city of Plymouth to study at university. It was there where my interests in surfing and the ocean began. Two years later, and I find the ocean, surfing, and the adventures they present to me are where my true passions lie. I take pictures for the simple reason that I love doing it. I forever aspire to better my own work and strive to bring my own unique view on the world of surfing and the ocean to the over-saturated industry of surf photography.
The Interview
What makes me tick:
For me photography is all about trying to capture a moment in a way that is going to interest someone even if they have no relation to the subject of the photograph. If I capture just one shot out of a whole day shooting that I believe does that…then I’m stoked.
Best shoot:
Summer 2013 – Moliets, France.
This particular shoot I was working at Star Surf Camps and me and some of the team had woken up early to catch the morning glass. When we hit the beach we certainly weren’t disappointed and were greeted with 3-4ft glassy beach break barrels. It was the first time I swam a proper session with my water housing. Having grown up in land no where near waves and not doing much swimming, I was far from a waterman so was a little outside of my comfort zone but this helped me keep focused. I swam for 4 hours in total and got a whole bunch of shots I was stoked with including one shot of Ben Howard, him of musical fame, which is still one of my favorite water shots to this day.
Worst Shoot:
Winter 2012 – North Cornwall, UK.
To be honest I haven’t had that many ‘bad’ shoots. I mean I have had shoots where I have come away with no shots worth keeping but I still enjoy shooting them and watching the surf. However this shoot was in particular a complete fail. Semi secret spot along the rugged cliffs of Kernow, reasonably far walk from car to wave and plenty of rain clouds in the sky. Got to the wave and it was pumping, fired off two shots and got a memory card error. I had decided to leave my camera bag in the car for some reason, not sure why but this is where my spare memory cards were. Got back to the car to find it locked and I had no idea where the driver had hidden the key due to my eagerness of rushing down to the waves. Fail. After a bit of messing around I got my memory card to work again. Heading back to the waves, fired off around five shots and got a memory card fail again. Cue rainstorms. Long story short, memory card died, spent two hours in the cold and pouring rain watching pumping waves without being able to take a single photo. Lesson learnt.
For me photography is all about trying to capture a moment in a way that is going to interest someone even if they have no relation to the subject of the photograph. If I capture just one shot out of a whole day shooting that I believe does that…then I’m stoked.
Best shoot:
Summer 2013 – Moliets, France.
This particular shoot I was working at Star Surf Camps and me and some of the team had woken up early to catch the morning glass. When we hit the beach we certainly weren’t disappointed and were greeted with 3-4ft glassy beach break barrels. It was the first time I swam a proper session with my water housing. Having grown up in land no where near waves and not doing much swimming, I was far from a waterman so was a little outside of my comfort zone but this helped me keep focused. I swam for 4 hours in total and got a whole bunch of shots I was stoked with including one shot of Ben Howard, him of musical fame, which is still one of my favorite water shots to this day.
Worst Shoot:
Winter 2012 – North Cornwall, UK.
To be honest I haven’t had that many ‘bad’ shoots. I mean I have had shoots where I have come away with no shots worth keeping but I still enjoy shooting them and watching the surf. However this shoot was in particular a complete fail. Semi secret spot along the rugged cliffs of Kernow, reasonably far walk from car to wave and plenty of rain clouds in the sky. Got to the wave and it was pumping, fired off two shots and got a memory card error. I had decided to leave my camera bag in the car for some reason, not sure why but this is where my spare memory cards were. Got back to the car to find it locked and I had no idea where the driver had hidden the key due to my eagerness of rushing down to the waves. Fail. After a bit of messing around I got my memory card to work again. Heading back to the waves, fired off around five shots and got a memory card fail again. Cue rainstorms. Long story short, memory card died, spent two hours in the cold and pouring rain watching pumping waves without being able to take a single photo. Lesson learnt.
I currently live and work in Fuerteventura for a pretty epic surf travel company called Star Surf Camps. Its super fun and an awesome place to be situated however the work is office based and with the dream to take pictures for a living, sooner or later I’m going to have to take a leap of faith and get out there and try and make it a reality. I plan on spending a good amount of time traveling with the likes of Harry Timson, Miles Lee-Hargreaves and other up and coming surfers of Britain. Helping them get the media attention and recognition they really deserve within Europe and the wider surfing world. Great Britain is taken for granted in the surfing world, almost forgotten about and it’s my mission to change that.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/timborrowphotography
Instagram: @tborrowphoto
Big thanks to:
Gul Wetsuits for keeping me warm.
Dafin for keeping me swimming.
SurfersSkin for stopping me getting sun burnt.
Star Surf Camps for giving me a home in numerous locations around the world."