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This is what surfing looks like at 1,000 frames per second

This is what surfing looks like at 1,000 frames per second

This is what surfing looks like at 1,000 frames per second
Danielle de Wolfe
28 October 2014

Your wetsuit is riding up your crotch something horrible. You haven't been able to feel your toes for 40 minutes and you've ingested more sea water than the average tuna. You are thoroughly underwhelmed by tedious experience of surfing - until it happens.

By fluke, you've found yourself the perfect distance from a promising swell. You begin to kick, pinwheeling your arms as the wave begins to crest. You propel yourself up on shaking, freezing legs with the grace of a bag of wet cement. As the surf starts to break around you, you emit a bellow of triumph - you are surfing, and it is the greatest feeling in the world.

The following short film by camera technician and surf-obsessive Chris Bryan is just about as close an experience you can have of surfing without stepping into chilly water. Filmed on immensely impressive Phantom cameras - capturing footage at a resolution of 2.5K pixels (a lot) at 1,000 frames per second - Bryan follows a number of surfers on their exploits in vast ocean waves in astonishing slow motion. You can practically feel the water drops.

Backed by Hans Zimmer's Time from the Inception soundtrack, prepare yourself for an experience that borders (boarders?) on the spiritual.