Damien Poullenot is a top-notch surf photographer. His work is quality. I was contacted by a friend who helps run his website asking if I could put a link up on Surfcore. When I took a look at his site I was blown away by his work. He kindly posted some shots for Wave Of The Day which you may have seen a couple of weeks ago.

I think the thought that being a fully paid up surf photographer would be the shizzle, springs into most surfers minds when we're off to work each day. Trying to save some pennies for another trip or a new board whilst doing some job that you either don't earn enough from or don't get enough holiday from. Imagine travelling to exotic locations, seeing incredible, perfect waves and even getting to surf a few of them yourself for a job. The obvious question is then "How do I get into that?". So I sent an email asking him and this is a brief snapshot of his path.

After studying for a Master's degree of Oceanography and Environment, Damien Poullenot was looking for a job. After a long search, he still hadn't found one and so decided to invest some time into his passions. He had an early attraction to bodyboarding, the surf and also for the beauty of nature. In this context photography, initially his hobby, became his job. He started out taking photos of people during surf lessons, sold these and invested his returns into high quality photographic equipment.

Gradually building up his customers one by one, he now supplies photographic reports for tourist offices, geographic magazines, the A.S.P. , and also many surf magazines and brands like Rip Curl, Billabong, Quiksilver and O'Neill.

From Portugal to Morroco, through Costa Rica and the Mentawai Islands, Damien captures unforgettable moments and landscapes. Today associated with Laurent Masurel, they created the agency "Aquashot", specialising in surf photos and water shots.

Take a look at his photos here on Surfcore and have a look at the rest of his work at www.damien-poullenot.com