Surf exploration through the eyes of Ted Grambeau

Ted Grambeau is recognised by his peers as one of the leading surf photographers worldwide. We have been lucky to have Ted accompany needessentials on some of our journeys to the far corners of the earth to test wetsuits and record our adventures.

We connected with Ted last week and he shared a collection of images from his trips with needessentials, detailing what he had captured in each one. To explore more of Ted's remarkable work, visit www.tedgrambeauphotography.com

'A treat for all was to witness first hand the "Aurora Borealis" or Northern Lights where energised particles from the sun collide with the earth's ionosphere to create a visual wind of colour in the sky. It's a phenomenon that occurs in the extreme latitudes on both northern and southern hemispheres'.

'Torren carves a beautiful arc in a remote frozen location in Iceland. Surfing extreme locations is not just about isolated waves with no-one for hundreds of kilometres - the journey itself becomes the hero!'

'Like living in a postcard. A view from inside the car as we approach the coast with lines indicating some real surfing potential. This day Laurie had lost it uncharacteristically, the usually mild-mannered polite person vented his frustration and berated the filmers and me for taking too long when we stopped to document wild horses galloping across the snow fields. Regardless of how majestic the images may be, literally wild horses were not going to delay Laurie on his surf mission! Not in the least offended I interpreted this as a froth level like no other that I'd seen before. Despite the minus 10°C temperature outside, Laurie could not wait to get in the near-freezing water and destroy some waves'

'Laurie is a frothing grommet who has a technical surfing skill set equal to anyone on the tour, combined with an unhinged approach to surfing big waves. This swell was one biggest period swells in Indonesia I had ever experienced in over four decades of going to Indo. The result was Hawaii- like power and size on perfect reefs. Nias was the wave of choice not just for Laurie but a host of nomadic big-wave surfers. Laurie was out pre-sunrise and was greeted by the most powerful swell to ever hit the Archipelago. By the time I and other filmers were able to make our way out by boat, a precarious operation in itself, Laurie was returning to shore with a broken board and suspected cracked ribs. Undeterred he returns to the lineup with another board to waves that were punishing some of the best surfers in the world. Laurie continues to charge relentlessly, this man is a machine!'

'Torren and Ishka survey their reward for driving day and night for five days to rendezvous with an epic North Atlantic swell'. 

'North Africa has perfect points with long grinding barrels. I scan swells all over the globe constantly in pursuit of perfect waves. I saw a perfect chart that would light up much of the northern Atlantic including Europe and North Africa, I was in Australia and knew Torren and Ishka (Torren's filmer ) were mobile in Scotland. I contacted them and suggested a rendezvous at a perfect sand/reef point in North Africa. For them, it was a race against time to drive from Scotland down through England, ferry to France, drive to Spain and furthermore intermittent ferries across to the North of Africa. Then on a few more hundred kilometres to the break. Well, over four thousand kilometres in a few days in a van let's just say not designed for the high-speed freeways. Meanwhile, I would journey from Australia and arrive two days before them. A huge roll of the dice for all concerned...'

Laurie Towner - Fiji with friends. A quick trip to Cloudbreak to surf what would turn out to be one of the biggest swells ever ridden. This was the day after the peak of the swell as the conditions improved with a groomed offshore and a gathering of some of the world's best big wave surfers. Laurie's laconic nature belies his much more aggressive approach when it comes to big waves. He is a surfer's surfer, shining when the waves are of consequence, and has a flawless technical ability in the most intense situations. He absolutely dominated the day with the latest of drops and perfect barrels.

'Journeys to the edge of the Arctic in the North Atlantic to explore waves in some of the most stunning landscapes on the planet'.

'Laurie Towner launches into the latest of drops on a megs Cloudbreak swell in Fiji. Laurie was on fire that day along with a host of the world's best big wave surfers all in the lineup. Taking the biggest, latest and deepest drops I witnessed something I'd never seen before. On this particular bomb, seemingly unmakable, Laurie drops very late for a paddle wave and disappears inside the beast only to emerge way down the reef. On his paddle back out there is an ovation of applause from the whole lineup as his peers, the world's best big wave surfers, acknowledged his feats. Laurie indeed has the respect of the best surfers in the world'.

'Temperature is somewhat challenging in a photograph, but with the addition of ice, a whole new understanding of the extremity of a location is revealed. The purpose of this surf expedition was to test the functionality of needessentials wetsuits in the most challenging conditions. We were familiar with this spot from trips previously, a beach now referred to as Diamond Beach due to lumps of ice on shore and in the surf. Here Torren pauses momentarily to make for a beautiful environmental portrait having just survived surfing amongst icebergs in six-foot shore breaks'.

The silhouette of this back-lit Fijian barrel seems to be artificially illuminated, but the reality is just the water clarity combined with a late afternoon light that glows an electric blue as Laurie Towner takes a perfect high line into the glow.