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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
Name:
Les Morales
Residence:
Santa Barbara, CA / Lucca, Italy
Website URL:
www.lesmophoto.com
Instagram;
@lesmophoto
What is your current set-up/gear that you use?
I shoot with Canon cameras and SPL water housings.
Any favorite lens? Why?
Unlike most photographers, I don’t have a favorite lens. Some lenses re more useful than others but photography is art which means that it is subjective. It depends on what I’m working with.
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
When you’re on travel, what do you commonly bring along?
These days when I travel, I try not to bring any gear with me unless it is a photo specific trip. It’s hard to enjoy a trip when you are too focused on taking photos—so for that reason I leave it at home. (Shooting a bike race in Italy I’ll bring the stuff I’ll need)
Tell us when your interest of surf photography first began.
In 2011 I had an $800 tax refund and I had no real desire to get into it. I simply wanted a camera since I had never owned one before. I had a good amount of free time and so I just got into it that way.
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
Outside of surf photos, what other forms of photography do you enjoy?
I absolutely love shooting long exposure and landscape stuff. I just love being out away from everything with a friend or two taking photos of the stars at night and having a good time.
What are your thoughts on the current state of surf photography?
It’s a great scene and I’m stoked to see so many people getting into it but unfortunately digital is making it very competitive. I see a lot of kids out there with nice equipment that get good really fast. There are still a lot of professionals that set themselves above the rest but it’s crazy how much the industry has progressed—especially with the rise of social media. I work with Surfer Magazine and the amount of submissions the editor gets is obscene now.
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
Whose work has influenced you the most?
There are a few guys. Morgan Maassen is a friend of mine and his creative perspective on surfing is so unique and dramatic. I really also admire Chris Burkard and the great lengths he’ll go to capture beautiful images and lastly Zak Noyle. He has been really supportive and he provides great advice to me all the time when I need it not to mention he was the guy who got me connected with Surfer Magazine so big thanks to Zak!
I love surfing and skimboarding. I always have a hard time deciding if I want to charge or take photos! I like surfing because there truly is nothing better than riding water and just doing long and hard carves on the face of a wave. I love shorebreak and heavy barrels which is why I also like to skimboard.
What are your go-to board’s (Surf, Bodyboard, Skim, SUP, Paipo, Handplane, etc.) size and shape for certain conditions?
In the wintertime I’ll usually stick to one of my J7 boards. I just got a 5’8 J7 Whatever. Pretty thick and not too wide. It’s perfect for point breaks around in Santa Barbara. In the summer time when the surf is smaller, I usually head south to Malibu and Orange County to skim. My friends founded Exile Skimboards and they are literally the best skimboards in the world—so I’ll usually bring one of my Medium Small Exile Paulo Prietto Pro model for fast barreling waves right on the sand. On the bigger sets I’ll paddle out on my catch surf and just mess around on some closeouts
Favorite Breaks or Surf Spots to shoot and surf (You canan choose not to disclose/reveal these breaks, but just be general, ex. Mexico, Portugal...)?
There are a couple spots in SB that you can find some really fun lefts so I like to surf those but I do like a good point break like Rincon and Little Rincon. As for shooting, I will shoot anywhere in SB and Ventura County!
Words of advice for up-and-coming photographers? Things that you wish you knew when you first started taking photos, how would you educate yourself to take better pictures, etc.
Don’t just stick to surfing. Find something else to shoot that you also enjoy and you will bring over some new skills and techniques!
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
Any projects that you have coming up that we should keep up an eye out for?
I’m working with Backcountry.com on a pretty cool production project that is coming out next month! I’m also traveling to Germany next month to shoot the GoreTex TransAlpine run.
Any shout-outs to friends, family, sponsors?
Shoutout to Urban Barrels, Letspartytraction, and Backcountry—they have all been supportive of my photography career!
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |
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| Photo: www.lesmophoto.com |