Surf’s up for Sydney photo firms

A band of surf photographers have carved a niche along Sydney’s shores, taking early morning surf shots and emailing them to large numbers of subscribers.

The talented photographers have transformed a hobby into several thriving business, allowing most to quit their day jobs.

In August, the first of these enterprises, the Bondi-based Aquabumps, launched a collaboration with swimsuit company Speedo, with its early morning shots featured on Speedo’s latest range.

Aquabumps founder Eugene Tan became inspired to start his business after emailing Bondi beach shots to his mates. The small group email morphed into a 40,000-strong subscription list.

In 2009, Tan opened his third gallery in Bondi, after founding his first gallery there in 2004 and his second one in Bali. He’s also working on his second coffee table book.

Over on the northern beaches, there are two other early morning surf photo businesses – Saltmotion and Sprout Daily – which are also attracting plenty of interest.

If you have a passion for photography, particularly shots taken in an unusual setting at an obscure time, why not take this idea and apply it to your own work?