ZAK NOYLE SURF photographer
ZAK NOYLE: AN ADVENTURE AMONG WAVES
Zak Noyle is widely regarded as one of the world's top adventure photographers. Based on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii, Zak specializes in marine and surf photography, bringing a fresh, impactful, avid, original and highly professional perspective to the field after spending countless hours on the water doing what he loves most in the world.
In every photograph he shoots, Zak leaves his mark, his style and his drive, with the confidence that being one with the sea and a complete lover of photography, he can achieve the best results, and create something truly extraordinary, and better every time he ventures into the waves.
Originally from Hawaii, Zak got into photography at a young age because he simply loves the sea, and he felt the desire to capture the beauties it hides and also the most talented surfers taming the force of its waves.
From a young age, he was very much in contact with water and water sports, such as swimming and water polo. All of this was a training that would later be incredibly useful in his career, although a young Zak at the time did not know it.
His father is commercial photographer Ric Noyle, who is well-known in his field, and it was he who introduced Zak to the world of photography. However, Zak never felt obliged to take part in it. In fact, the enchantment was not immediate simply by having him around. In time, Zak fell in love with the idea, because he became truly passionate about it, and about photographing what he really likes.
“I’ve been surrounded by photography my whole life. My dad is a commercial photographer here in Hawaii, and he shoots food, fashion, hotels, and it was never something that I loved or wanted to be a part of, you know what I mean? He let me just go my own way and find what I liked and what I loved to do. And when I found a love for photography, he was there to help me, push me, and give me any guidance I needed,” Zak said in a recent interview.
His first camera was the one on his mobile phone, because he believed that “the best camera is the one you have with you at this moment.” He also found a local company that was dedicated especially to marine photography and with them he was able to learn the testing and development process, to achieve an excellent result that would satisfy his passion for the sea and the capture of extraordinary moments that can only happen there, in action.
“I got into photography because of the love of the ocean, being in the ocean with my friends surfing, swimming and just seeing the beauty that Hawaii has to offer,” the photographer says.
He ultimately turned out to have his own unique and very talented style that led him to be published in renowned media such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Transworld Surf and many more, from a very young age even while still a student at Punahou School.
It is understood that action and adventure photography requires a level of planning and care, and involves hard professional work, in addition to the adrenaline and excitement of being right there where the action is happening.
Zak himself has commented that being in the current for 20 seconds can feel like 10 minutes, and that it is a dangerous experience, but it is also a very fun experience.
Part of his preparation includes monitoring the tides and winds throughout the week, looking for patterns and/or inconsistencies. But when it comes to action, Zak really goes out to shoot with minimal equipment: "I just wear fins and take my camera," he says.At the moment he sets out to do it without thinking too much, following his passion and with one goal in mind: to photograph and have fun.
However, Zak is very grateful for all the contact he had with the ocean and water from a very young age, when he practiced water sports at school.
"I feel like that helped me a lot to be so comfortable in the ocean, spending many hours in the pool to increase my endurance, strength and confidence."
In addition, Zak of course keeps fit these days to be able to deal with the sea, the waves, the weather, and the degree of risk and effort that all this entails.
"What I do is that I practice swimming as pool training, I do hot yoga, I exercise on a bicycle, and I also do a lot rock running "You're going underwater, and that teaches you the experience of sinking and diving, holding your breath and running with it (the rock) while you're underwater. But the truth is that nothing will prepare you better than being right there in the water."
Zak is a professional who travels around the world taking surf and sea photographs, from Tahiti and Indonesia to Puerto Rico and Western Australia (and many places in between), but always comes back to Hawaii, where he is currently based, where it all began. Zak loves this island deeply, because it is there that he feels truly at home, with its people, its landscapes, the ocean and the waves.
His talent has been recognized both nationally and internationally and has won numerous awards. In 2010, at the age of 25, Zak was named Surfer Magazine's Top Photographer. His images have also garnered awards over the years, including Surfer Magazine's "Best Photo of the Year" in 2011.
His work has appeared in numerous internationally recognized media and magazines such as ESPN, Surfer Magazine, National Geographic, and the London Times. He has also participated in successful campaigns for brands such as Chanel, Stussy, RVCA, Billabong, Mastercard and Desillusion Magazine, Red Bull, Hurley, Da Kine, Quiksilver, and many more. He is also a photographer who offers limited edition prints to art collectors.
Being an adventure photographer is no easy feat, but Zak Noyle's passion, talent and effort have taken him far in his quest to capture impressive and never-before-seen ocean waves, capturing the essence of each spot he visits and each surfer he photographs.
The whole process of capturing the images is incredibly challenging and exciting for Zak, but so is the whole post-production process. He looks forward to coming home, downloading the images to his computer, color correcting them, and sending them off.
The entire process - before, during and after - follows a logic that he handles impeccably in his quest to obtain the best result, an image of his own that he can be proud of:
“It’s just something I just created myself, something I did and I’m enjoying at the moment,” he says.
It is also a passion that Zak does not keep to himself, but rather wants to share with the world. In his bid to help young people explore their talents in photography, he created the Aquatography Workshops by Zak Noyle, with which he had the opportunity to give back a little to the world and teach people about underwater and surf photography for free, since he himself says that “he did not get into photography for money but for love” and that is why he is excited that others can also find a path in this world.
For Zak, photography is his way of life, his career, his passion and what motivates him, because he has fun doing what he likes to do most. He is a photographer who travels the world and returns home excited to start over, to find new opportunities to photograph great moments of adventure and capture them in a unique way in his photographs.
And he doesn't stop there, he always goes for more. A single photograph is never his favorite, his favorite is the best one that is yet to come:
"My favorite shot is constantly changing. Every day on the water is a new day and a new challenge, a new condition, a new wave. You're never going to get the same wave twice. So to be able to create something that becomes your new favorite image, or your next best shot, it's always a challenge and that's what drives me," says Zak.
One of his maxims:
"Have fun! Go out and have fun with whatever you do in life, and it will reflect in your images or the outcome of whatever you're doing."
@zaknoyle
