At Drift Surfing we’re keen to give exposure to up and coming talent in the world of surfing. Luke Williams is a young surf photographer based out of Ventura, California and contacted us recently with some of his latest shots. We liked what we saw.

What made you want to become a professional photographer?

I started shooting photos with the intent to be a professional photographer about 9 months ago. I started out with a 10 dollar 35mm film camera from a pawn shop because I couldn’t afford a DSLR and wanted to be artsy.

After about 3 months with that I got my first DSLR and a decent zoom, and started shooting with more focus on creating better images.

In the future I’d like to be able to support myself as a photographer and maybe live out of my truck as I kind of already do.

What are you trying to do with your photos?

I would like for them to be unique (as does everyone) but I would also like them to capture moments in time that few people get to see: places few people get to go, tiny subjects that could be glossed over easily by the passive eye.

I haven’t really achieved that goal yet but it’s what I strive for every time I grab my camera.

Who are the people in your photos?

I guess the story that goes with all the photos is that the surfers are my friends who had for the most part never had any photos shot of them before. I was welcomed into the crew about a year ago based on the fact I owned a camera. I suspected they were just stoked to have someone around who could maybe get a photo or two of them every now and then.

They all had surfed their entire lives, but had never had any real photos shot of them. My goal was to give them beautiful images that they could look at and be proud to say, “That’s me.”

That’s still my goal every session or trip I go on; make my friends look as good as I possibly can.