We were willing guinea pigs at Nick Corkill’s first camera club presentation.

Nick told us about his past life, from serving in the Royal Navy to scuba diving instructor, to crewing on a Russian’s super yacht, to commercial diver and voice-over artist. He also spoke candidly of his struggle with alcohol dependency and how the wonderful trips he does now are life-affirming and a reminder to him that he is now on the right path.

He is a keen surfer and specialises in photographing surfers in places that don’t usually spring to mind when surfing is mentioned, including Scotland and the Lofoten Islands. He seemed surprised that he and his friends were the only ones surfing in 4–5 ? water in the fjords of Norway – most of us weren’t surprised at all! We were surprised at how close he gets to his subjects, shooting surfers slicing past him at 30 mph with a wide-angle lens. He says it helps that he understands the waves and trusts his friends. I suspect it helps to be a little bit bonkers. The temperature in the lecture theatre really helped to set the scene as well. We felt like we were right there!

We were also treated to some shots from warmer climes, including some wonderful ‘over and under’ shots in the clear water of the Bahamas – and with a swimming pig as guest star!

Examples of Nick’s work are regularly published in various surfing magazines – testament to the quality of his photography and how it has helped to turn his life around.