HOW TO STOP WATER DROPS!!! Improve Your Surf & Water Photography/Videos With These Quick Tips!

The fastest way to improve your surf photography and videography is by taking high-quality photos. One of the best ways to do that is by capturing sharp images in the water and not having water drops or spots all over your footage. After spending the past 8 years refining my method to take the highest quality water/surf photos and videos, I'm pulling the curtain back and giving you all of the tricks of the trade.

This video covers all you need to know, full of quick tips on how to stop water drops from being on your camera and how to avoid water spots on:
1. A flat port surf housing
2. Dome or Curved port surf + dive housing
3. No water spots on your GoPro
4. No water spots on your 360 camera in the water
5. How to avoid water sports shooting in freezing temperatures with mittens on

All of this from someone who actually shoots and works in the surf industry with a lot of good vs. bad footage for easy education. Learn from my hard lessons and go crush your net water shoot!

Filmed and edited by Connor Trimble

✅ My Gear

Small Camera Bag:
Big Camera Bag:
Carry On Hard Pelican Case:

📷 Cameras

📸 Lenses

💧 Underwater/Surf Housing is the EVO III

💦 DISCOUNT ON AQUATECH PRODUCTS 💦
AF-CONNORTRIMBLE-AT = 10% off all AquaTech Water Housing and accessory products
AF-CONNORTRIMBLE-AG = 10% off all AxisGO products

•My Go-to surf setup is 24-70 with zoom port
•My go-to dive set up is 15-35 with an 8inch dome port

🎧Audio

📺 External Monitor

🚁 Drones

⚡️Extras:

[Mcgeee]

Dude this is amazing! Can really tell all the hard work you put into it. Less is definitely more.

[brandondax]

Best tutorial on YouTube hands down for ports!

[briandaniel]

I like the small squeegee method idea. Nice work.

[saltynat]

Thank you so much for these videos! Super helpful

[puresounds]

Thx for your effort and the amazing video ❤

[dianeserra]

Hopping back on here to confirm that all your tips worked for me! Thanks so much. I enjoyed shooting a local surf school recently and came home with a ton of great photos to edit without waterdrops, yay! I'm feeling more confident now. :)

[gman]

Great vid man!

I think the reason candle wax is suggested is to ensure you don’t pick up a bar of wax you’ve been rubbing on a sandy board. Nobody is waxing their boards with candles so it eliminates the chances of scratching your lens.

[megantuckerr]

This is so helpful thank you! Keen to get back in the water and test the wax method out 😊

[hel]

Just starting surf photography and I wanted to thank you, I will try asap :D

[fortalecimento]

Nice . Subscrived. Aloha from Rio de Janeiro

[hawaiifreespeechnews]

Excellent video Connor, I would love to see a video on your camera settings when shooting with water housing 🤙🏾

[InventiveImagery]

Just finished watching the whole thing. Great video. Just to clarify, never use surf wax on domes..only on flat ports?

[Auroralover]

Thank you Connor. There's so many helpful things in the video. I have so many questions. I am not a surfer and just started water photography, so I get knocked down a lot and don't go out too far. Is a dome port better for that situation? I have a flat port right now and use the spit method. I still get weird streaks and drops. Appreciate any advice. 🙏

[gordonschuecker]

Amazing thx! So GoPro only licking, surf wax or oil doesn't work that well there? I'm filming a lot of kitesurfing and I have not been super convinced by the licking method... Will test your other tips!

[PrivateTourHawaii]

Hi! I have a question for you: is it correct to ask photographers on which camera they shoot from the water and why? I sold my camera and aqua box. Now I think it was a spontaneous decision and I'm thinking about which camera is better for shooting.

[Dropsofgod]

Hola Conor, I believe you mentioned in this video the fact that it's optimal for the lens glass to be as close as possible to the port lens. is image affected in any way using your 24-105 zoom vs say a prime lens ?. Cheers.

[bisbbisb]

Hey Connor, great vids! I just picked up an Aquatech Edge housing to shoot surf/waves. I've been an u/w photog on the Big Island for about 20 year and have used "Lemon Pledge" on my acrylic domes for water drops, trust me it works lol. Spray on a layer and buff with a paper towel, it won't scratch the port. ;-)

What I'm looking for is the vid you shot for setting you use for shooting sunset or sunrise??? Can you direct me to it??? Thx Aloha!

[charlesnetzler]

Any tips for removing a lens port from a housing when its super stuck?