I've been meaning to track Luc down for an interview ever since he koggeled me about shooting in "blonde mode" on my camera (i.e. automatic). Luc's been one of the websites loyal supporters since we first started out, and for that we're eternally grateful. Since then I've got to know the man behind the beard, and can tell you not only does he take awesome photographs, he's a general all-round nice ou with a flipping wicked sense of humour. Read on.... 

Q: Luc, you’re the elder statesman of the PE surf photography scene – are we allowed to ask how long you’ve been shooting?

Started in about 1974 when the world was still mostly black and white.

Q: What you shooting with?

Several cameras a various lenses ranging from 17mm to 600mm (also have an old 800mm manual lens). Camera make and lens make is obviously unimportant. The add-ons are a pain and a financial drain and range from extension rings, converters, filters, tripods, flash, filters, bags to reflectors.  Equipment helps but obsessing about what you don’t have does not help anything either.

Q: What got you into photography to start with?

Must have been genetic – both grandfathers and about 5 cousins and brothers were keen amateurs. My Mother taught me to print when I was still at school!

Q: It’s a tough gig to have to earn your crust – assuming that surf photo’s don’t exactly pay too well, what other kinda stuff do you end up having to shoot?

My writing helps - Surf photos do not pay at all and I earn more from random seascapes while photographing surf! An eclectic blend of cacti, wind turbines, VIPs, architecture, factories, models, food, bodies, paintings, platannas (Ed - a type of frog), bicycles, Christmas decorations etc. I am commissioned by ad agencies to photograph whatever they require and the local varsity often uses me for brochures or functions ranging from sport to prize-givings.  The latest commission is to photograph a new type of security fence protecting a wind turbine – a pleasing green task for a change.

Q: You dabble with writing a bit as well, do you do that commercially at all?

Yes I advertise myself as a feature writer and photographer and try to split my time on a 50/50 basis. Editors like receiving pics and an article which means they get everything in one and don’t have to find either a photographer or writer (both tend to be prima-donnas). I write a lot for Pix, the only specialist photo magazine published in South Africa and have had articles in many other mags.

Q: What are the weirdest things you've had to take pictures of?

A self portrait for a magazine was very taxing and Platannas to write about how they were exported in their thousands all over the world to do duty as pregnancy tests. I believe the Platannas have escaped and invaded the Americas and are known there as Clawed Frogs. The stupidest job was being hired by a tannery that polluted the Swartkops River near Uitenhage to photograph all the others polluting or degrading the river. A certain quarry that mines cobbles in the river-bed threatened me and I gave up the whole job in disgust. Now days I would not photograph something that so directly messes with the environment unless it was an expose.

Q: Any interesting encounters with wild animals (or people) whilst out on a shoot?

I have been bitten by animals most have never heard of like Long Tailed Climbing Mice and Marsh Owls. When photographing surfing many people come up and tell me that I have a big one, often adding that it is much bigger than their husband’s one. I have had less pleasing things said to me too – I remember one guy in the Cape Town Harbour telling me “I am going to kill you now!” I used drive a bike then and took off in a hurry. Incidentally the worse breath in the world belongs to a Cape Fur Seal living in the Cape Town harbour. The lens was never the same either.

Q: What’s your favourite theme/topic/subject to shoot?

Anything nature or sea is the greatest. The sea covers 71% of the earth’s surface and the interface between the sea and land has always fascinated me. I have also been documenting man’s impact on the environment for years and now finally it is being seen as relevant and is starting to get published. While standing on the beach I shoot lots of stock images and seascapes apart from the occasional passing surfer.

Q: When and how did you get into shooting surfing?

Started long ago in the 1970s and 1980s shooting friends surfing. Photographed less surfing when I was working full time and started investing serious time when I left formal employment about 6 years ago.  It is a great excuse to spend quality time on the beach.

Q: Any interesting/funny/scary encounters/tales/stories from a surf shoot?

The weirdest was probably looking for Richard von Wildemann on his ski from a helicopter a few kilometers off Cape Recife during a storm. We eventually found him and his friends and got the pics. I was seasick/helicoptersick for about 3 days afterwards. I never knew a helicopter could be flown by a pilot holding a cell and looking for a phone number in a notebook in a gale. The stupidest thing I ever did was swim out to a reef at Schoenies to photograph massive waves breaking over it. What goes up must come down and I was flattened - lost a flipper, goggles and the Nikonos and I had to go for repairs. It probably pisses the surfers off that I follow dolphins or otters but I have to take advantage of opportunities.

Q: What sort of response do you get from the surf mags when you submit shots from the backwater of PE?

I don’t submit much to surf mags anymore probably because of the state of the surf in PE (and I am not a surf photographer by the way). It is complicated and everyone is guilty of confusing matters to a certain extent. The magazines have a definite Durban/Cape bias. Currently we only have ZigZag appearing regularly in SA and they seem to have a specific target of the younger competitive surfer and it also seems important that the surfers are sponsored. Where do you send pictures of longboarders, sups, ballie surfers and bodyboarders? 

When the waves in PE are good, the waves in J Bay and St Francis are mind blowing and all the good surfers tend to hit the road and this lessens the chances of getting a good PE surf pic in a magazine. The surf photography in PE has always been slack and it is only now that you are getting a serious group of photographers investing time (and money) and trying to get good pictures of surfing. 

Watch photographers like Ang, Stan, Dirk, Cody (who has a great advantage in that his camera does not leak and he can swim) and the rest of the Millerslocal crew in the future. They (and I) need to get more serious and try different angles and approaches. The current practice of when there are waves going to Pipe or Avalanche does not work either. We need to team up with a few good surfers, go to where the waves are amazing and concentrate on getting 1 or 3 excellent images in good light, not the 15 or so goodish images you get from shooting a stew of random surfers in slop at Pipe.  

Q: What are you looking for in a surf shot? What advice would you give to guys that want to get more shots taken by the photags? What should they be looking to be doing that’ll catch your eye?

If they really would like to see a pic of themselves they must ask! They should of course not teeter on a board in a straight line and fall off after a few meters. Air, barrels, speed and spray automatically cause camera lenses to gyrate towards the action. What would be really cool is if you are going surfing somewhere and the conditions are great you let a photographer know – he/she would appreciate it and you might see a pic of yourself in a magazine or Millerslocal.

Q: What would be your perfect surf shoot, in terms of location, conditions, surfers etc?

Good waves, good light from the right angle (the Bay sucks in the morning) and good surfers are the prime requirements. Good surfers are paramount; it gets very frustrating tracking someone who falls off after a few meters and one tends to ignore the wobblers after a while. 

Q: Any advice for aspiring surf photags?

Get the basics right: exposure, focus etc. Don’t blow your highlights but then don’t underexpose either. Learn when to underexpose or overexpose. Shoot a lot. Find good waves and good surfers and good light (don’t forget to call me if you do) and shoot a lot. Remember the best light is early in the morning or late in the arvie. Shoot lots, it is not like film where every time you press the shutter your bank balance diminishes. Shoot a lot and then get serious – discard the dross. 

Don’t ask your boyfriend or girlfriend or mommie for help to choose the good ones – find someone who knows something about photography and surfing (make sure there are no pics of him or her) and let them help you discard. I don’t mind looking at a few boring or bad pics but a selection of many hundreds really irritates me. Shot Bru is a great way to see if you are getting things right. Learn about photography if you are serious – there are clubs, courses and degrees that can help with the knowledge acquisition. Read about photography and look at images critically too, it helps if you know what a good picture should look like – it is called becoming visually literate. 

ZigZag and all the international magazines have one thing in common; great pictures and you can learn by looking at the images. If you see a photographer’s name google it, they invariably have websites and show off their best pics. Shoot a lot too. The other option is to learn to swim and buy a housing and apply what you learnt shooting on land in the water. It is however seriously difficult to shoot in-water and you really have to know what you are doing to achieve any success and drowning might upset your family/friends or ruin someone’s surf. The main thing is to shoot a lot, be critical, discard the rubbish and show the good ones. If they are really good you could even earn some money (but don’t give up your day job).

As far as magazines go you need patience. Find out who to send the pics to – the lead that Milerslocal gave a few days ago was very good. Don’t send your pics to some backroom coffee maker. Don’t send everything you have, send the best and make sure your ID of the rider is correct as magazines do not like apologising for your mistakes. The other thing is that the mags are not really interested in Koos Branderplank’s ride and prefer known and sponsored surfers (yes it sucks). Remember that they get 1000s of pics every month and have lots to choose from. Also the picture has to be outstanding and catch the viewers attention. Some arb guy standing on a board is not going to get in. Remember that there are people who make a living from this and they try very hard to get different or outstanding images.

If you don’t succeed at first don’t go and splab on Facebook that the editors suck and they don’t appreciate your great artistic genius. Be patient and send again. Being negative and spreading sour stuff about mags does not help and if they hear of it your chances of getting published are even less – it is actually quite weird how much time photographers and writers moan about magazines instead of actually sending something worth publishing.

Oh yes, photographers must also wear lots of sunscreen and sun protective clothes. Having bits cut out of your face is not nice (growing a beard helps prevent this).

If you need photographic advice just ask – it sometimes gets very boring when the waves are pap and the wind is pumping. 

Q: Your beard’s your trademark – what’s the story behind that? Just wake up one day and go “I want serious facial hair?”

I spent 2 years in the army and had to watch my face in a mirror while shaving every single day for the whole 2 boring years. It was also expensive and a waste of time as it always grew back. It was also my contribution to saving water during the drought. I also like to think it encourages tannies and ooms at tills in shops and caretakers at camp sites to give me pensioner’s discount (I would like to give thanks to the Oom at the Kabeljous camp-site for this year’s Billabong discount). You will notice that the beard gets longer in winter for warmth and shorter in summer for coolness (but still long enough to prevent chronic sunburn).

Q: Last words?

Hopefully that will come much later and the last word will probably be the f-word.

Check out some of Luc's non-surfing shots below. He doesn't believe in "favourites" - which is what I'd asked him for - as he reckons a favourite photo today might not be one of his favourite's tomorrow....so let's just call these some of his "lekker" shots then!