Join AquaTech user Lloyd Meudell on his daily routine of chasing the curve of the ocean in the early hours of the morning. Based in the small coastal town of Kiama, Australia, Lloyd stares into the rising sun as it pops over the horizon each morning making it’s daily rounds. When the light and swell combine you can be sure to find Lloyd capturing the many moods on offer. After realizing he had an eye for photography it was quick progression from riding waves to shooting them. When we asked Lloyd who influences him the answer might surprise you, “To be honest I have too many, some of the shots I see on Instagram on a daily basis are amazing and from totally unknown people. I’ve always loved the art of Surrealism, so I guess guys like Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte have shaped the way I look and capture things. The ocean itself inspires me more than any other as it’s always changing”.
Although it started as a project of passion and an creative outlet, you can now find Lloyd shooting daily if the conditions offer a chance at some new images to keep his large social media following engaged and if he is not shooting in the water, he is at his printers getting the latest round of artwork out to his customers around the world.
Lloyd, like many artists, works a “full-time” job to support his family as a painter and decorator five days a week, and has been doing this for quite a while and hopes that his passion for photography can see him painting with pixels over the traditional brush work. Social media has played a big part in showing his work to a larger audience and out of the thousands of people following, one day Lloyd got a little surprise. “Well, one day I checked my Instagram and @rondarousey (UFC star) had liked 6 or so of my shots and then she followed, I guess Ronda would be one of the most popular people following my work”, says Lloyd.
Shooting with the Elite 5D3 Water Housing for the Canon 5DMKIII and utilizing the longer zoom lens offerings like the 70-200mm f/2.8 II IS L used with the P-215 Lens Port and zoom gear, Lloyd is able to separate the moving water from it’s background and freeze time. “The biggest learning curve was knowing the sweet spots between 70mm and 200mm and the distance you need to be at from the wave to get those tack sharp images when I started to focus on using the telephoto zoom lens option” says Lloyd.
With a new year just kicking off we asked what we can except from Mr Meudell?
“Just keep shooting, building my portfolio, learning new skills, enjoying time in the ocean shooting or just relaxing, maybe a trip overseas I’m not sure yet”.
Lets hope we continue to see more great work in 2016.
Check out more of Lloyd’s work via his website and Instagram page.
WEB: www.lloydmeudell.com.au
IG: @lloydmeudell
Mornin’ Lloyd: Shot and Edit by James Kates
Email: jim@leboogiemedia.com
Music by: Catman / le Boogie Records
www.soundcloud.com/leboogierecords/c-a-t-m-a-n-joo-koon
