Aquabumps.com - where the waves live

FAQ

Many of you email us with a broad spread of questions from all over the globe. We do our very best to answer each one – but sometimes we fall way behind. This page is a list of the most commonly asked questions to save a bit of time.

Q. Who takes all these pictures? and why?

A. A guy called Eugene Tan (better known as ::uge, pronounced Yooj for short). He founded Aquabumps and has been shooting every single dawn down the beach since 1999. The first time ::uge picked up a camera was when he was 9. He is self taught, but grew up in the days of darkrooms and film. Sunrise is the best time of day to shoot photos with great, warm light. Pics are then packaged up into a website update and emailed to over 40,000 people. If you don’t subscribe – you should – it’s free and fun. Just put your email address in the box on the top right of this webpage.

Q. I take photos and just bought a new camera, I want to be involved?

A. Sorry, Aquabumps is all about one photographer’s pursuit to capture all facets of beach/surfing life. See FAQ No.1 above. We suggest starting a Facebook page or sumpin’ like that to host your pics.

Q. What type of camera do you use?

A. I am lucky enough to use many cameras these days. I am pretty much all digital these days. My main workhorse is the latest EOS Canon 1d Mark 4 (which came out in March 2010), 16 Megapixels. I have a few Canon 5d MKii’s and just got a 7D which I really like. Lenses – everything from 14mm to 600mm L series lenses – I pretty much have most of the L Series Canon lenses (sorry, sounds like I am braggin’ – I am lucky and have been collecting gear for 11 years – never sell my old ones). I also use Hasslblads Xpans, Fuji gx617s, Phases…but mainly Canon Digital SLRs. I am also a ambassador for Canon – but don’t let that fool you, I’ve been using Canon cameras well before we got together.

Q.  Are your photos computer enhanced or manipulated?

A. I shoot with both digital and film cameras. Everything that is shot on digital has to be processed by a computer at some stage – it’s the new darkroom minus all the stinky chemicals. I do small adjustments to my photos on the computer like contrast, levels etc. I do not fudge in skies, make waves look bigger etc. I don’t even like to crop my images and rather go re-shoot (if possible). The colours in the sunrises around Bondi are amazing. A lot of people think they’re fake – they are not. Try getting up every morning for 1 month and tell me what you see. I bet you will agree.

Q.  Can you ship overseas or interstate (Australia)?

A. Yes, do it all the time – you name it, Poland, England, America, Asia – we’ve sent artworks everywhere. Contact us for a quote. We can send it framed or unframed. Unframed is cheaper to send and framed can be quite expensive and heavy (due to our custom made wooden crates). Email us for a quote. Please note that local tax/duties may have to be paid on the receivers end.

Q. How do you get images from the water?

A. I use a water housing to hold my camera whilst swimming – easy!  Inside the housing is a standard Canon DSLR.

Q.  How often do you shoot?

A.  Pretty much every day.  I am hooked.  My homepage is updated daily (Monday to Friday) with fresh images shot that morning.  Aquabumps has been shooting at sunrise every morning since 1999.

Q.  Are your prints limited editions?

A.  The largest prints I do  (178cm x 118cm) are limited editions of just 15 prints.  Smaller sizes are not limited editions.

Q. Are these bubblejet prints?

A.   Absolutely not.   All our prints are printed on photographic paper using a photographic process.  They are archival quality.

Q.  Can I have access to the hi-res file?

A.  No, sorry we don’t release our high resolution files.

Q.  Can you see the prints in real life?

A.  Yes, we prefer it if you do!  Our gallery is in Bondi, 151 Curlewis Street, Bondi Beach ,Telephone +61 (0) 2 9130 7788