Derek Dunfee, self portrait in San Diego, CA

Derek Dunfee captures modernist self portraits! Here’s a recent one from south San Diego, the day after a storm, in an offshore sunrise session. In case the GoPro 3 on timelapse setting doesn’t reveal it for you, it’s a little over head high and peaky beachbreak tubes. But, let us extract, from the photographer, some wisdom around the art of creating such a photo:

“I’ve been using this same mount for about eight years,” says Mr Dunfee. “I was working as a boatman in Tavarua around the time Warren Bolster was doing his tail camera project with Jon Roseman. The photos Warren was getting with Jon and his crew were incredible and inspiring. Warren wouldn’t let me ride the camera board, so I came home and contacted Erik Hjermstead from Del Mar Waterhousings.

“Erik told me I couldn’t buy one from him, but I was welcome to come to his shop and build one with him. The mount was built to hold a Canon rebel in a water housing. I had a pocket wizard in a waterhousing with a trigger, which I taped down my arm. The whole setup was very heavy and dangerous. The weight would cause the board to flex and bend in weird ways.

“This is the fourth board I’ve had shaped specifically for the tailcamera.

“I don’t use the board very often because it’s dangerous and I don’t wanna get hurt. I usually wont ride the board unless the conditions are perfect.”