Water Cinematographer · San Clemente, Orange County · Surf & Ocean DP

§ 01 · The Practice

Owner-operator since 2008.

San Clemente based water cinematographer. Trestles is the home break. Custom housing for the RED V-Raptor. Aerial unit with Shotover gimbal on a helicopter. DJI Mavic 4 Pro and a Part 107 license. Wireless transmission so the director sees what the lens sees, on the cliff or in the boat. And the part most water DPs skip: building and briefing the water-safety team that keeps the day shootable when the swell stops behaving. Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, Tribeca 2018. Kelly Slater × Slater Designs, Telly 2023. The Wild, REDirect Surf Film Festival Grand Prize 2015.

§ 01.5 · Where I Shoot

Local lineup. Worldwide reach.

I'm based in San Clemente, California, between Los Angeles and San Diego. The lineup at Trestles is fifteen minutes from the front door. The breaks I shoot most often are the ones I know in every tide, swell, and light. The breaks I travel for are the ones the campaign requires.

Orange County

Lower Trestles · San Onofre State Beach
Upper Trestles · San Onofre State Beach
T-Street · San Clemente
San Onofre · Old Man's, Dogpatch
Salt Creek · Dana Point
Doheny · Dana Point
Brooks Street · Laguna Beach
Huntington Pier · Huntington Beach

Southern California

Malibu · First Point, Second Point
El Porto · Manhattan Beach
Rincon · Santa Barbara County
Blacks · La Jolla
Cardiff Reef · Encinitas
Swami's · Encinitas
Mavericks · Half Moon Bay
Channel Islands · offshore

International

Pipeline · North Shore, Oahu
Jaws (Pe'ahi) · Maui
Teahupo'o · Tahiti
Cloudbreak · Fiji
Mentawai Islands · Indonesia
Puerto Escondido · Mexico
Salina Cruz · Mexico
Anywhere the brief goes

§ 02 · How it Works

Four phases. One ocean.

001 · Read the Window

Forecast + scout.

Swell models, tide windows, light, wind. The shoot day starts a week before the camera turns over. Locations scouted from water, air, and shore.

002 · Build the Team

Safety + redundancy.

Water-safety lead and ski-driver brief. Multiple operators. Camera redundancy. Comms plan for in-water, helicopter, and shore. The plan that keeps the day shootable when the ocean changes its mind.

003 · Production

In water. In air. On shore.

Custom-housed RED in the lineup. Shotover on the helicopter. Long lens on the cliff. Drone overhead. Multiple operators, single creative voice, one director-cinematographer running it.

004 · Post

Edit + finish.

Hero film for the campaign or feature. Vertical cuts for social. Stills for press. Color and finish that holds up on theatrical and streaming, not just the feed.

§ 03 · Receipts

The work that lives in the water.

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable · 2018

The Jaws shot.

Six-week shoot that became a six-year feature documentary. Bethany surfed Jaws. We built a water-safety team, coordinated multiple operators, and put a Shotover gimbal on a helicopter. Conceived and shot the helicopter sequence — one of the best single-shot sequences ever captured on the wave. Tribeca premiere, theatrical, and now streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV.

Director · DPTribeca 201897 min · feature

Kelly Slater × Slater Designs · 2023

Telly Award winner.

Studio brand campaign with the 11-time world champion. In-water cinematography, board launches, refraction work that required actually being in the lineup. Telly Award 2023.

Telly · 202311x world championSlater Designs

The Wild · 2015

REDirect Grand Prize.

Surf short shot in remote water. REDirect Surf Film Festival Grand Prize 2015. Judged by Taylor Steele, RED CEO Jarred Land, and Surfer Magazine. The kind of work that earned the trust to direct Bethany's feature three years later.

Grand PrizeREDirect 2015Director · DP

Brand + Athlete Campaigns · Ongoing

Surf, ocean, big-wave.

In-water, aerial, and shore work for Reef, Puma, G-Shock, WSL, Surfrider Foundation, LifeProof, and others. Athlete films with Kanoa Igarashi, Noah Beschen, and the next generation of surfers entering the brand pipeline.

Multi-brandMulti-formatOngoing

§ 04 · Who it's For

Three kinds of buyer.

Brand teams

You're running a surf, ocean, swim, or water-led campaign. You need a director-cinematographer who can shoot the talent in the lineup, not just from the boat, and who can deliver hero film, social cuts, and stills from the same days.

Documentary directors + EPs

You're staffing a feature or series with water sequences that have to hold up on theatrical and streaming. You need a water-unit DP who has built the team and shot the standard.

Athletes + sponsors

You need someone who can actually swim out, who knows the lineup, and who shows up with the rig and the relationships already built. Surfers, swimmers, divers, big-wave athletes.

§ 05 · Common Questions

Frequently asked.

Where are you based as a water cinematographer?

San Clemente, California. Orange County, between Los Angeles and San Diego. Home break is Trestles. I shoot up and down the California coast and travel worldwide for the right project.

Do you travel for water cinematography shoots?

Yes. Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable was shot across Hawaii, Mexico, Tahiti, Indonesia, and California over six years. I travel anywhere the swell, the brief, and the budget agree.

What surf breaks do you shoot regularly?

Locally: Lower Trestles, Upper Trestles, T-Street, San Onofre, Salt Creek, Doheny, Huntington Pier. Internationally: Pipeline and the North Shore, Jaws (Pe'ahi), Teahupo'o, Indonesia. The lineup I know best is the one in front of my house. The lineup I know next-best is the one the campaign requires.

Do you own water housing for the RED V-Raptor?

Yes. Custom housing for the RED V-Raptor. Wireless monitoring so the director sees the frame from the boat, the shore, or the cliff. The rig is owned, maintained, and travels with me.

Can you coordinate the water-safety team and aerial unit?

Yes. I build and brief the water-safety team, the ski drivers, and the aerial unit (Shotover gimbal on a helicopter, or DJI Mavic 4 Pro under Part 107). One creative voice running water, air, and shore. The plan keeps the day shootable when the swell changes its mind.

What kind of brands and productions hire you for water work?

Brand teams running surf, ocean, swim, or water-led campaigns. Documentary directors and EPs who need water-unit DPs for features and series. Athletes and sponsors who need someone who can actually swim out and shoot. Past clients include Bethany Hamilton, Kelly Slater × Slater Designs, Reef, Puma, G-Shock, WSL, Surfrider Foundation, LifeProof, Eero, NFLPA.

How far in advance do I need to book a water shoot?

For brand work: four to eight weeks lets us scout properly, build the water-safety team, and align the shoot window with the forecast. For chase scenarios (big-wave swells, athlete sessions, news-driven moments), a phone call. I can mobilize in 24 to 72 hours if the rig and the team are local.

Where most rigs can't go.