As UK surfers we all wait and anticipate the coming of the winter swells. But no-one more so than the surf mags and surf sites which are literally smothered with epic images of places we dare not go, during conditions we could hardly imagine and a lone rider sat deep in the pocket of a monstrous tunnel exploding in the cold winter seas.

What we think of though, when we see such images tends to be; Who is that? Where is that? How big is that? What we don’t normally do is think about the guy taking the photograph. The man who is patiently waiting for the next surfer to catch the perfect wave at the perfect angle, with the right light to capture the image that encapsulates us viewers staring at the magazine cover.

The video below is a short film on one man’s inspirations and motivations for being in that perfect place at the perfect time with his camera. Surf photographer Mickey Smith, kitted out in his winter wetsuit, hood and fins, flirts with the risks of getting hypothermia, pneumonia or physical injury on every winter swell; just so that us less devoted surf minded mortals can share the magic of the images he sees.