Cold-Surf Photographer Braves Huge Waves to Capture Water Sculptures, Daredevil Surfers

As Marcus Paladino points his camera seaward from a cliff—supposedly safe from the behemoth waves crashing ferociously below—the rocky shore suddenly erupts with salt spray that rises and hits him like rain. It is winter on the west coast of Vancouver Island, B.C.

“Here’s a little too close,” Paladino told The Epoch Times with a laugh.

The 34-year-old surf photographer, who first moved to the small but hip town of Tofino to work at a resort 13 years ago, went full-time with his camera in 2015 and has since carved out a niche capturing cold-water surfers in neoprene suits battling the elements on the waves.

Popular culture usually portrays surfing at warm water destinations like Hawaii’s famous (and infamous) North Shore. For Paladino, that’s a reason to stand out from the crowd and become “the cold water surf guy.” He says he finds his colder, more rugged venues “way more gratifying” to capture.

Paladino, originally from Nanaimo on the island’s east coast, found himself among kindred spirits in Tofino. Famous international surfer Pete Devries lives just up the road. They worked and surfed together and spent a year and a half waiting for one special wave to break at a hidden spot between Tofino and the more northerly Ucluelet.

“I can’t really say where, because we’re sort of sworn to secrecy,” Paladino said.

He means to protect daredevil surfers from themselves and from the heaviest wave the island has to offer.

“It’s probably the best wave in Canada, in my opinion.”

The mystery wave breaks only a few times a year. All conditions must line up perfectly for it to appear while he and Devries scramble to be in the right place at the right time. Watching weather forecasts and waiting hours for swells, Paladino received a life lesson from the sea—one he still hasn’t mastered: patience.

“I’m sacrificing other shots by being patient and trying to wait for this one,” he said.

“A lot of times when I’m surfing, I get so antsy. I’m like, ‘I’m just gonna go on the next wave,’ and I go, and then the one behind it ends up being, like, way bigger, better, interesting.”

Their patience paid off. Devries caught the wave, and Paladino with his camera caught him barrelling down a golden backlit pipe.

Paladino received more life lessons at sea over the years.

On gaining a confident foothold in his niche and being featured in Canadian Geographic, Surfer Magazine, and all the big surfer publications, he started being invited to shoot competitive surfers at warmer-water destinations, including Seven Mile Miracle along Hawaii’s North Shore in December 2017.

One experience on the trip was a close call for Paladino and left him with a profound lesson in gratitude.

He was among photographers diving in unison to avoid being hammered and potentially killed by waves near the break point of Pipeline, the world’s largest wave. Razor sharp reefs waited below for victims tossed down by the heavy walls of water. Paladino says he didn’t want to become “a statistic,” like “a tourist who comes here for the first time.”

So, he followed the friendly tips of locals and eyed the photographers, diving when they dived.

But once, as a particularly swollen wave roared in, he was late.

Limbs flailing, camera knocked from his hands, Paladino felt the immense pressure of the wave grab his neck and drive him down, where he was fortunate to find abundant sand padding the reef. Feeling the bottom of the ocean with his butt and flippers, pushing up but getting nowhere, he says he followed the first rule of surfing: Don’t panic.

“OK, relax, relax, relax,” he told himself.

“I open my eyes. It’s pitch black and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m really deep.’”

Panic now setting in, a terrible thought crossed his mind before a sudden and strange calmness: “Wait, am I gonna die?”

At that moment, he felt the ocean’s grip release, and he floated to the surface before washing up near the shore.

“My takeaway from that experience is just how grateful I am to be in Hawaii and be able to shoot those waves and how beautiful it was,“ Paladino said. ”How lucky I am to do this for a living and have people in my life who love me.”

The hazards come with the territory. “I did everything right as far as my skill sets,” he said. “It’s not as if I was out of my element or anything. It’s just kind of like, sometimes you just get smoked by a wave.”

Paladino has changed his habits since then. Now he wears a helmet to mitigate risks when photographing.

But has his adventurism slowed? Never.

Instead, Paladino flew around the globe to another warm destination to witness “some of the craziest waves” he’s seen in his life.

An invitation led him to Tahiti to photograph Olympic Canadian surfer Sanoa Dempfle-Olin where, once again, patience paid off.

“The first six days there were no waves. It was pretty flat,” he said. “The last two days of our trip were pumping surf.”

Together with a friend, Paladino hired a guide, a huge shirtless Tahitian surfer, and expected a big elaborate boat. They were shocked when “a tin bucket” with barely room enough for the three of them arrived. The motor died three times en route, but the guide had full confidence.

They found a line of boats, surfers, and photographers on the shoulder of the surf where the reef drops off into the wine-dark sea.

“It’s a photographer’s dream,” Paladino said, adding that he dove in with little hesitation, though his friend was jittery.

“It was a big day,” he said. “But I mean, the waves are firing, so it never really feels like work.”

In capturing the biggest waves of his life, and being offered paid trips, brand sponsorships, and coverage by magazines, Paladino has advice for budding photographers.

He shares lessons from the sea that spring to his mind.

One, be present.

“Take advantage of moments that are fleeting, interesting, because when I’m shooting in the water, every moment is fleeting,” he said. “I’ve seen more amazing [potential] photos shooting from the water than I’ve [actually] taken because it’s so quick.”

Two, have patience.

“People are always looking for this instant gratification,” he said of the new generation. “You have to put in the work, and you have to just do it because you love it, and then everything will kind of come together.”

High-quality prints of Marcus Paladino’s surf photography are available here.