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TEAHUPOO POKERCAM

Inside the worlds best wave with the Teahupoo Pokercam.

Every year Billabong asks Manoa Drollet and myself to try and create a stryking image for the Teahupoo Pro event poster. For 2007 we went to the trouble of mounting a camera on the back of Manoa’s board . I could trigger the camera with a remote control system from a boat in the channel. Looking back I thought we could possibly improve that image if we could get a more side on angle in order to see more of the surfers face. I decided to give it a go.



To create the shot I first layed down a surf board in my garden and while holding my water housing in one hand I toke a full compact card of pictures in every possible angle as if I was actually surfing.

After editing the images I picked 2 or 3 angles that would work the best in a real situation and decided to put them to the test on the next big swell at Teahupoo.



We where in August and a few weeks later Manoa was scheduled to leave for France for 2 month trip and I also had to go to Germany. The conditions had been very average at Teahupoo for most of the season and we had nothing no images to submit to Billabong. We where kind of stressing when finally a 10 to 12’ swell was predicted a few days before our departure.



Dylan Longbottom, Manoa’s tow in partner was sent over from Australia to assist us with the jetski driving.

We started off in the morning with a few rides. However I could tell by the positioning of the housing that the angle was wrong. Manoa was holding the housing to far in front of him. We checked the pictures and although a few looked really nice none showed the surfer in full frame. Dylan finally manged to get a nice one after picking up on Manoa’s first angles.



During our lunch break we went through all the images and analysed all the different angles .

Manoa and Dylan could finally understand the importance of having the housing as far back as possible but still pointed towards them at a certain angle. After that on every wave we where improving on the angle. Manoa was getting more and more compfortable. At one stage he had a water housing in one hand and he was holding on to his cap in the other ! As the afternoon unfolded we where pretty blown away with the results.

As soon as we had a good sequence I would take the card out and replace it with a new one just in case the housing got damaged and we lost the images.



The angles we where getting had never really been seen before. A full inside view of a glorious teahupoo tube with the master himself poised and relaxed deep inside. When we had a good variety I decided to call it a day as I was risking $ 7000 of equipment on every ride. Manoa and Dylan where holding the housing with the pistol grip with no leach just in case they suffered a bad wipe out and the housing knocked them out. If they had let go of the housing I would have had a 70 % chance that it would crack open on the reef while going into the lagoon. Luckely Manoa and Dylan didn’t wipe out once and we finished the day with quiet a few killer photos. Not many surfers would be able to do what Manoa and Dylan did that day at Teahupoo. It was a bit of a Poker session for everybody but it turned out good for everyone. Thanks guys. You did all the hard work.