Craig Anderson dances for the overhead lights, South Coast NSW

Surfing is a highly saturated endeavour. Angle upon angle upon angle have been shot and wrung dry on the close line of publishing. But it makes these moments glow with extra vaults. And, creativity (and the investment in it) needs to be given credit where it’s due. For that reason, we tap our brims to you, John Respondek. “Shooting from the steel bird is my favourite thing in surf photography,” he says. “I’ve done it probably 15 times now, it’s the most unique thing you can tackle with your lens.”

“It doesn’t come cheap though. You’re looking at around $1000 to $1200 an hour. It’s far more challenging than people realise. The chopper is moving, and the surfer is moving, usually in opposite directions, so it makes it hard to find the subject, focus and get your exposure right. And then there’s the motion sickness that kicks in after a while. As for the surfers, I think it’s awfully distracting to have that noisy thing buzzing over their heads.” But with frames like this being the result, we guess it’s kind of worth it.