Surf’s up, lenses out

@lifeonthesurfcoast was founded by Alex Newbould, a wedding and surf photographer who moved to the region from Essex about four years ago. 

Alex said he’d been wanting to set up a “photography meet” for quite some time but it wasn’t until his bookings were hit by coronavirus cancellations that time presented itself in the form of a networking opportunity. 

“I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of photographers out there like amateurs and professionals in the area, but there’s also some people who aren’t as well known, and there are people who are just starting out and wanting to get better,” he said. 

“Because I’m at home I’ve been going through all of my old photos and spending time doing some edits and clearing out space and I thought to myself ‘There’s a lot of other people like myself who are probably a bit frustrated who can’t get out there and take the photos they want to take’.

“Sometimes I think people forget about all the photos they’ve taken in the past. I myself have thousands of photos that I’ve taken over the last four years and at the time, I kind of thought they were nothing photos because I wasn’t as good, and now as I’ve gone back, my editing skills are better and I’ve been able to edit them. 

“I was hoping other people might, in this time, be able to go through some photos, bring back some memories or even start to edit photos that perhaps they’d forgotten about and have just been kept on their computer.”

Alex, who trades as @alexander_shore_photography and runs a surfing blog @surfing.matters, said by activating the page he hoped he would remind people of the Surf Coast’s picturesque landscapes.

He also said @lifeonthesurfcoast would promote other photographers by sharing their work. 

“The feedback’s been pretty good, actually. People have been quite excited and even over excited and sending a bunch of photos through to me. 

“I want it to be place where you can get to know people and introduce other photographers, or amateur photographers or just photo takers, really. 

“I’ve noticed that in the wedding industry and also in photography around here, photographers especially, I thought there’d be a lot of competition there but I’ve found that it’s a lot better when people work together and that’s what I noticed and quite liked about our community is that photographers seem to be able to work alongside each other, recommend each other and so on, and I quite like it functioning like that rather than everyone’s in it for themselves.

“I like the idea of promoting professional photographers in the area as well, because like me, their businesses would have taken a hit.”

Avid photographers who would like to have their snaps posted on @lifeonthesurfcoast can send their images directly to Alex via the Instagram handle or hashtag #lifeonthesurfcoast on their own posts. 

Alex said the content would be handpicked to ensure it best reflected the community. 

“All the shots on there will be handpicked and will be local shots of the coast, local shots of nature and people in nature enjoying life.”