We first met with Jay Haysay four years ago during an EFPT event. Jay is a former windsurf instructor who got into professional photography and created “Globalshots” with the objective of capturing the best in extreme sports photography internationally. During the years of hard work since, GlobalShots have achieved their place on the front line of sports images, having also built an excellent reputation in portrait and event photography as well as party planning, social media marketing and the ever growing Global clothing range. We asked Jay for some answers and some photos.

Dear followers, set your camera into “manual mode” and read on!

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and Globalshots and how did you get into this vein of photography?

Photography has always been a passion of mine and while I’d been teaching windsurfing for the past 8/9 years it seemed the natural progression to start as a windsurf photographer. The hardest part of the changeover was having to put down the windsurfer and pick up the camera every time it was windy. Then my idea to create GlobalShots came when I wanted to be able to give people professional images and great memories of themselves doing what they love. It is great photographing professional athletes, obviously, but they see pictures of themselves everyday. I get a lot of satisfaction delivering a picture to someone who isn’t a professional but just loves doing the sport and has never had the opportunity to have a nice professional image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are some elements by which you judge a good photo? When do you look at an image and say, “That’s an amazing photograph?”

Well the obvious parts like light, action, composition but most importantly it’s got to have style; every photographer has their own style and a great photo will let that style shine through.

 

 

 

How do you keep yourself motivated and your photography fresh?

It’s not hard for me to stay motivated when I am doing something I love. I am more motivated now than ever before and I hope it shows in my pictures. I try to keep things fresh by never photographing from the same angles for too long, it’s too easy to stay in one place and shoot loads of shots but it’s boring. You’re going to get nothing different from what anyone else can get. You have to move around, get closer to the action, get higher up, lie on the ground, even getting further away from the action and using a smaller lens can get you one of your best pictures. It’s not always about getting a huge lens and close to the action. If you need to get closer get in the water! Checking other photographers work and maybe taking a few of their ideas while also using your style can create something incredible.

 

 

 

 

What type of cameras and which lenses do you shoot with?

For now I am mostly using the canon 1d mk4 and the lenses I use are 15mm fish eye – 24 70mm and 70-200mm. A water housing for the canon 30d and couple of flashes and a 2x converter.

 

What is the best time of day for photographing stunning windsurfing images?

I guess it depends where you are, if you’re in England it can be grey from sunrise to sunset so any time of the day will have to be OK. I have spent a lot of time in Vassiliki, Greece and there is 10 mins in the late afternoon when the sun shines between 2 mountains and it is epic, but that is only 10 minutes of the day.  Then in Maui the light is always awesome, it’s nice and soft in the mornings and afternoon but again it depends on what sort of pictures you want, do you just want to shoot in the morning and the afternoon because that’s when every other photographer says it’s good?? It depends if you want to be fresh and shoot when you want to shoot.

Assuming that you’re usually setting your camera on manual mode, give us some typical aperture and shutter values.

Settings… I’ll keep this brief but I’m really enjoying 2.8 and between 1000/1600 on the shutter & I’ve found my perfect setting for some real action speed blurs.

 

If you were on a low budget what equipment would you choose in order to capture some decent windsurfing photos?

Low budget: if it was for myself then it’s got to be a GoPro, you can’t beat the versatility. Or if you were looking at an D-SLR something like the Canon 600d or 60d would do a great job.

What is your favourite photography accessory, other than your camera?

Probably my storm jacket that goes round the camera and lens when I’m in a boat to protect it from splashes. Without that I would probably definitely be on my 4th or 5th camera by now!

What piece of equipment would you most like to get but don’t have yet?

I would like to get the canon 50mm 1.2. That’s going to open a whole new world for GlobalShots photography

State who are the photographers that have raised the bar in windsurfing photography to a next level?

Good question, first on my mind is Ben Thouard. Some of his shots coming out of Tahiti are awesome, angles we have never seen much of, as he shoots from inside the wave out towards a windsurfer doing a top turn or bottom turn. There are lots of great photographers at the top of their game at the moment, but also when brands and companies use the same photographer every year at the same beach, shooting the same moves and the same equipment they don’t have time to raise the bar, they have to shoot the standard shots they need which are the ones we see all the time.

How does it feel to be swimming with your camera at Ho’okipa’s line up, eating some bombs on the head  and having to fight the current and some sets of quad fins that pass next to you?

Haha! I still remember the first time I swam with my camera, and it was probably not the best beach or best conditions to learn in, it was in fact Ho’okipa, I’d been in Maui I think for 1 week, all I wanted to do when I arrived was windsurf, but then I also knew I had to take the camera into the water at some point. I was having breakfast one morning and I had already psyched myself up the night before, today was going to be the day. I hadn’t even checked the waves or wind but today was the day I would swim with my camera, for the first time, in the Pacific Ocean and at Ho’okipa beach, I arrived at the beach put a wetsuit on, had a quick chat with KP who I still think thought I was mental going out when I told him I hadn’t done it before, plus I only had a fish eye lens on so I would have to get close in the pocket of the wave to even consider getting a half decent shot. But that wasn’t the first thing on my mind, all I wanted to do was get back safely (laughs).
Anyway it was far too big waves to be swimming in for my first time but I had already decided I was going, so after trying to delay it a bit I finally swam out, getting a few tips from a friend I hit the rip and it dragged me past the rocks out into the channel. I shot away for a while and swam closer into the wave. This is when the sheer power of the waves hit you and you get a real feel for how powerful they are, I managed to get a couple of shots off, then had that moment when you realise “go in now or this is going to get messy…” So after a twenty minute swim that felt like 2 hours I made it back to the beach shattered, happy I went out, and hoping it would only get easier, the thing for me was that I pretty much made my life as hard as possible by making every mistake possible, so I learnt quick. The second time was perfect, a couple of hours out there, picking your spot picking your waves, composing your camera and getting some cool shots, and just enjoying been out there finger tips from the action it’s incredible.

 

Which are your best ever photos?

It is very hard to chose… just picked a few ones here…

Sunset session at Ho’okipa beach in Maui. The beach i first swam at with my camera, this session was a little more relaxing because i knew what I was doing, well i thought i did anyway.  The sun is going down, some great action from the pros and hanging out with fellow UK photographer Si Crowther.

I thought this shot was really nice, Levi Siver, one of the best windsurfers in the world. Just look at his face! This pictures tells many stories.

Finally found a nice setting that works for me when I try natural speed blurs, I mean natural because nothing on this pictures is done using photoshop and it makes it so much more rewarding.

A different kind of shot, but the memories it has for me is why i like it, all the centers in Vassiliki Greece came together to create the longest ever line of windsurfers, and to raise money for Cancer research. I forgot the total amount but they broke the world record! Epic effort from everyone.

A night tow in shot from the recent EFPT event in the UK.  Its not the best action shot but you don’t see this very often at night, with some cool colours in the background.

Finally what’s the best and worst part of being a photographer?

The best part of been a photographer… Well, my camera has taken me around the world, and put smiles on lots of people’s faces. That’s the best part. The worst part of been a photographer, swimming out at Ho’okipa and then realising you don’t have a memory card in your camera.

Thanks Jay!

 

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