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Ocean Wave Photography Wall Art: A Buying Guide
Most of what's written about buying ocean wave art online is written by people who've never stood in the water with a camera waiting for a set. I have, for years, off the Gold Coast, and the thing people get wrong when they're buying wave art online is thinking the wave's shape is what matters most. It isn't, not on its own. There are actually a few genuinely different ways I shoot a wave, and knowing which one you're looking at changes what you should expect from it and where it belongs in your home. The different ways I shoot a wave Ocean wave photography isn't one thing. A long exposure shot and a shorebreak shot are almost different disciplines, different risk, different gear, different moment. Here's how I actually break it down. Long exposure and slow shutter Time Warp is the clearest example of this one. I shot it with a slow shutter speed as the sun was setting, so the water softens into brushed, dreamlike motion and the wave itself glows warm gold. The technique trades a sharp, frozen moment for something calmer and more painterly, which is why it tends to suit a room you want to feel relaxed rather than energised. Barrel and tube shots Completely different discipline again. Eye Of Poseidon was shot in the barrel on the Gold Coast, looking through the wave's eye as it curls, light and water forming the shape that earned it the name. You're inside or right alongside the wave for this one, not standing back from it, and the reward is seeing something most people never get close enough to see, the wave from its own point of view. Shorebreak This is the one people underestimate. A shorebreak wave folds and closes out on sand, not along a point or a reef, so you're shooting right in the impact zone, close enough to get hit if you time it wrong. It's a completely different physical discipline to a barrel shot from open water or a lined-up wave from the air, there's no safe distance to retreat to, you're committed the moment you're in position. Kingscliff shorey is one of mine from just south of the Gold Coast, the wave folding gold and green over the sand, close enough to feel the spray. I'll be honest, this is a newer part of my catalogue and I've only got the one piece properly shot for it right now, more shorebreak work is coming. Abstract and macro water texture Not every wave photograph is trying to show you a recognisable wave. Detonate came from an early morning swim, before sunrise, shadows still lurking in the water, then the sun finally breaking through a wave about to explode just metres in front of me. Shots like this are less about the wave's shape and more about light, energy and texture, closer to abstract art than a seascape, and they suit a room where you want a bold, graphic statement rather than a literal ocean scene. Colour or black and white, the same wave two ways Whichever type above you're drawn to, you'll still have to decide on colour. The clearest way to see what colour actually changes is Wish Wash Colour next to Wish Wash B&W, the same wave, colliding with another off the rocks at Snapper Rocks, same crop, same moment. In colour it's vibrant blue and white, energetic, suits a bright coastal room. Strip the colour out and it goes graphic and moody, more contrast, more shadow, suits a modern, monochrome space. Neither is the right version, it depends entirely on the room. Which way it's breaking, and how the room reads Something people don't think about: which direction the wave is breaking, left to right or right to left, and how that sits with the room. I think about which way you naturally look when you walk into a space, or which side the room opens up toward, and try to hang the wave breaking into that open space rather than off toward a wall or a doorway. It's the same logic as hanging a portrait so the subject faces into the room instead of out of it. Offshore Blue, with its soft pastel water, is a good one to think about this with, it's a calmer piece, so getting the direction right matters even more since there's nothing dramatic to distract from it if it feels off. Sizing and orientation Most wave shots read best horizontal, since the motion runs left to right rather than up and down. For above a sofa or bed, the usual two thirds of the furniture width rule applies. For a dramatic storm wave like Chaotic Allure, going larger actually helps, scale adds to the sense of power rather than overwhelming the room. Framed, canvas or acrylic Same logic I use everywhere else: acrylic gives the most depth and detail but is reflective, so it needs a wall without direct glare. Canvas suits brighter rooms since it absorbs more light. Framed is the traditional pick, and pairs with non-reflective glass if glare's a concern. I've gone through this in more detail in my Framed, Canvas or Acrylic guide if you want the full breakdown. Where to start The full range is in my Waves collection, everything from clean peeling walls to heavy barrels to the quiet moment before a set.
Learn moreAerial Photography Wall Art: A Buying Guide
I've spent the better part of a decade shooting doors-off from helicopters and light aircraft up and down the Gold Coast, across Brisbane and out over the Whitsundays. It's a different way of seeing a place you think you already know, and it photographs differently to anything shot from the ground, which is why I get asked more questions about buying aerial prints than almost any other style in the shop. Here's what I'd tell you if you asked in person.Why aerial works so well as wall artFrom directly above, familiar places turn into pattern and colour. A wave becomes a line. A stretch of sand becomes texture. A city becomes geometry. Skyline Panorama, one of my recent Surfers Paradise shots, is a good example, the same coastline everyone's seen from the beach, but shot straight down it reads as an abstract composition first and a place second. That's the appeal: aerial prints tend to work as a genuine piece of art in a room, not just a photo of a nice view.Choosing a subjectCoastline shots, Burleigh Heads, Snapper Rocks, Currumbin Alley, read as recognisable, grounded pieces, good if you want the location itself to mean something. City shots, the Story Bridge, the Brisbane river bends, lean architectural and suit a study or office. Then there's the genuinely abstract end of the range, patterns in the sand at Whitehaven Beach like Shark Impression and Snake Skin, along with the Western Australia salt lake and shark bay series, which read as pure shape and colour and suit a space where you want art first, location second.Orientation and sizeAerial shots are often shot square or in a wide panorama rather than the usual landscape crop, which changes where they work in a room. A panorama like Skyline Panorama wants a long, uninterrupted run of wall, above a sofa or a dining table. Square crops sit well in tighter spaces or as part of a pair. As a general rule, aim for artwork to fill 60-75% of the available wall space, and if it's going above furniture, two-thirds the width of the piece below it.Framed, canvas or acrylicThis one comes down to the room more than the image. Acrylic gives you the most detail and a real depth to the colour, but it's reflective, so it wants a wall that isn't fighting glare from a window or a light directly opposite it. Canvas absorbs more of the light hitting it, which makes it the better pick for a bright room or a wall that catches direct sun. Framed is the traditional, timeless option, and if you're worried about reflection but still want a frame, pairing it with our non-reflective glass cuts the glare right down. Have a look at the room itself before the image, that's what decides which one's right.Where to startThe full range is in the aerial photography collection, the more graphic, pattern-led work is in Abstract Aerial Art, and the Gold Coast and Brisbane sets are broken out separately if you know the area you want on your wall.
Learn moreGold Coast Art, New Aerial Prints from Surfers Paradise
The last version of this page was from 2012, a diary entry about a pelican I spotted fishing near Surfers Paradise. That old gallery in Broadbeach closed years ago, the original site is long gone, and most of what was written back then hasn't aged well. Surfers Paradise itself hasn't lost anything for me though, so it felt like the right time to start this page over. I got the drone up over the beach on a clear morning in the middle of July this year, one of those mornings where the light, the water and the timing all line up at once. The swimmers were out early, Q1 was catching the first sun, and the shallows had that turquoise glow that only shows up a handful of times a year. Worth the early start, and worth flying the drone back and forth over the same stretch of sand about a dozen more times than was strictly necessary. A few of the shots from that morning, now available as prints. Skyline Panorama, a wide sweep of the Surfers Paradise skyline meeting the Pacific. A statement piece for a living room or an office wall. Summer Shoreline, sunbathers and swimmers scattered along the sand, shot straight down from above. Turquoise Shallows, a bird's eye view of the shallows fading from pale turquoise to white water. Calm enough for a bedroom or bathroom. Coastal Heights, Q1 rising above the high rise line, sand and water stretching out below it. All four are printed here in Australia on the same premium materials as the rest of the range, framed and ready to hang, canvas, acrylic face mount, or print only. You can see the full set alongside the rest of my aerial work in the aerial photography collection.
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