One Extraordinary (Olympic) Photo: Gregory Bull captures surfer battling waves in Tahiti

AP photographer Gregory Bull explains how he was looking to capture the frustration he sensed Vahine Fierro of France was feeling Friday during a heat at the Paris Olympics

Paris Olympics Day 6 Photo Gallery (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Gregory Bull takes a closer look at his AP photo of during the surfing competition in Tahiti.

Why this photo?

Vahine Fierro, who surfs for France, is a local hero in Tahiti, having grown up here. This punishing wave of Teahupo’o is her home break, and she surfs it fearlessly. She was in the middle of a tough heat against her French teammate Johanne Defay, and it was not going well for her. I was hoping to catch a bit of the frustration she seemed to be feeling as she kicked off another low-scoring wave during the heat.

HOW I MADE THIS PHOTO

I made this frame from a boat that sits on the shoulder of the wave, with a Sony a9III camera and 100-400mm lens. The light was pretty even, the sun had just gone back behind a cloud, and there was a great deal of mist from both the waves and wind.

Why this photo works

This photo gives you a sense of the frustration I sensed Fierro may have been feeling. She was struggling in the heat to find the sort of waves that would allow her to demonstrate her impressive skill level, and I feel like this photo helps capture that. The mist blowing off the wave gives the image a sort of texture that degrades the view, adding to the sense of haplessness.

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For more extraordinary AP photography, click here. For AP’s full coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, click here.