Michael Curran, Waiting Game (September theme: Water)

This image was captured during a huge easterly swell off the East Coast of Australia. The waves were massive and this surfer waited patiently for over 20 minutes to make sure he wasn't swept back against the rocks. I composed the shot and waited for a large wave to crash into the rocks on the left of the image before taking the shot. I also wanted to capture the birds in the foreground and so set the tripod up low and used a 3 Stop ND Grad to help balance the exposure.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.