Surf's up! The photographer making a splash with his perfect shots of the perfect wave... even if it does mean swimming with sharks

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

The perfect wave: Lee captures one surfer braving the sea on his board


Here's a photographer who is making a real splash as he captures surfers trying to catch the perfect wave.

Surfing photographer Lee Kelly goes the extra mile to snap the swell shots of man and board.

Risking life and limb on jagged corals and swimming among great white sharks Lee has perfected a technique which gives an up close and personal view of people trying to tame the waves.

Lee uses two cameras set at the same shutter speed which take the picture simultaneously and brings them together to create a panoramic effect.


Catch a wave: The stunning panoramic shots capture surfers like never before


Making a splash: One surfer is caught managing to stay upright despite the powerful wave


His day at the office takes him to exotic locations including Hawaii, Tahiti, Bondi Beach... and Devon.

But spending up to seven hours in the water and swimming the equivalent of 1,500 metres at a time Lee proves he is no beach bum.

The 33-year-old, from Sydney, Australia, says his girlfriend understands that his passion means he has to jet off to tropical locations on a regular basis.

He said: 'I'm very lucky, my girlfriend Holly understands that when I have to go away to these places I'm not just lying on the beach all day.'


Up close and personal: Lee travels the world in search of the perfect wave so he can take the perfect shot


The photographer has had to sacrifice safety for his art, including being thrown against coral by a stormy sea and unwittingly swimming alongside huge sharks.

'I have had a few close shaves. In Tahiti there is a particularly big wave which the surfers go for which breaks on the coral in the shallows,' he said.

'I was waiting for the wave one time and I think I had got a bit cocky, suddenly it came in and the whole horizon seemed to be filled with it.

'It broke on top of me and actually threw me into the air before sending me against the coral, I was underwater for a long time and it was hit and miss whether I would make it.

source: dailymail