Rambo Estrada has been entering the annual photo competition hosted by Australian magazine Monster Children every year for over a decade without ever making the final cut — until now. In January, the Mount Maunganui-based photographer travelled to New South Wales for the Monster Children Photo Annual Launch & Exhibition event, where he was named the overall Surf Category winner for 2022.
The award is a testament to the persistence of this intrepid photographer, who loves living out of his vehicle and creating unique surf and adventure imagery while road-tripping through Aotearoa. His winning shot, a gorgeous black and white capture from the rugged South Coast, is part of his Days of Waves project, in which Rambo challenged himself to shoot a different surf spot daily for ten days.
Sony Alpha 7R IV with FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G lens.1/800 sec, f/8, ISO 800
Setting the Scene
Rambo has a belief that on any given day in New Zealand you can find good waves, you just have to be prepared to put in the legwork.
“With a ten-day window I thought I’d try out the theory, so in the middle of winter I packed up my van and hit the road heading south,” he recalls.
It didn’t take long for the photographer to strike gold; the award-winning image was shot on day two of the Days of Waves project at a beach on the South Coast, Rambo’s favourite part of the country.
“The coastline there is just so wild and raw. The conditions looked good, so even though it is 24 hours' travel from my house, I knew it was where I needed to be.”
This particular day was cold and rainy, but it wasn’t enough to deter three dedicated surfers, nor one keen photographer. Rambo followed the figures as they walked up the beach, trying to line them up with a perfect empty wave. But the weather did not make things easy.
“I had a rain cover on and would also drape a raincoat over top to keep any water drops off the front element,” he explains. “When a good set [of waves] came through, I’d pull back the raincoat and hope for the best.”
Gear and Camera Settings
Beneath his trusty rain cover, Rambo was shooting with the Sony Alpha 7R IV and Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G super-telephoto zoom lens, perched on a Sirui W-2004 waterproof tripod.
When shooting waves, he’ll usually use a shutter speed of 1/1000s to keep things crisp, but because the weather was so dreary he dropped to 1/800s to avoid having to push the ISO too high. An aperture of f/8 kept all elements of the scene in focus and ISO 800 maintained a balanced exposure. The rainy day meant colour was already minimal, so Rambo focused on pulling out rich monochrome tones by processing the image in black-and-white.
The photographer has been shooting with the Sony Alpha system since 2015 and finds it ideal for his approach, balancing adventurous mobility with exhibition quality.
“Whenever I’m shooting, I’m creating specifically for large prints — the image quality from the Sony cameras is amazing, and the G and GM lenses are always razor sharp.”
If you need proof, be sure to check out Rambo’s work in Monster Children, a magazine he’d like to thank for “fronting up actual real cash for a photo competition and for keeping print alive!”
To see more of Rambo’s work, visit www.rambo-estrada.com or follow him on Instagram at @ramboestrada.
