How do you go about filming the surfers in such rough conditions?

You really need to be towed with a jetski to get you into these ones, so once that came along, because these waves break so quickly, that enabled us to get out and among the big waves we could see along the coastline. That all really started in Hawaii in a place called Jaws.

All we need is a boat or a jetski to sit alongside and basically document from the side of a wave. The surfers I go with rely on us to document those split-second moments, because they might get the wave of the day in the most critical part of the wave and if you’re not getting that, you’re not doing anything for the surfers. You really need to make sure you nail that shot as good as you can get it.

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What areas of surfing does The Immersion Tour cover?

Big-wave surfing is huge, but it’s not just about that. It also documents the story of modern-day surf photographers, I’ve stood next to them all my life filming, what they were capable of 30, 40 years ago is so different to now. And it’s not all about surfboards either. There are a million ways to surf the wave, I have Kelly Slater saying the purest way is to body surf, so I have interviews with the best body surfers and the best body boarders in the world. Kite boarders and kite surfers like Ben Wilson are really fantastic too. There are all these ways of riding a wave, surfing’s about a whole heap of different things that immerse you in that world.

What is the craziest thing you have ever filmed?

I’ve documented Teahupoo and that’s probably the heaviest wave on the planet. With the film festival, we knew about seven or eight days in advance there was going to be a massive swell heading to Tahiti during the Billabong Pro. It was like 25, 24ft at 19, 20 seconds which is pretty much unheard of - the real experts would call that a once in a 10-year swell - and it happened right in the middle of a professional surfing event.

I’ve never documented a swell as crazy as that one, so you’ve got to give that one the tick of approval as far as how dramatic it was. It was a bummer the Pro was on as I didn’t really need the world media there when I was there for the swells. I got some amazing footage, there was one wave with Nathan Fletcher, that wave was the heaviest wave surfed on the day and I can’t see that not winning wave of the year in the Billabong XXL Awards.

Why do you go out to shoot the big waves knowing the dangers?

Well, you know anything with that extreme factor is going to be a lot more exciting visually. I’ve been documenting surfing for 33 years now and I’ve done my time on the beach shooting competitions and it’s great seeing great surfers do what they do, but what really gets people excited and what really stands out is an amazing big wave day. There’s been three or four days I’ve documented that stand out as the most unique days of my life in what I do.

My big-wave stuff is a lot more convenient too - I see a swell, pack my bags, head off to the airport and catch a flight, stay at a friend’s house, be out first thing in the morning to document 20ft swells and be back home that night. It’s in and out, it’s dramatic and there’s a big difference between general performance surfing and big-wave surfing.

What is the biggest misconception people have about big-wave surfing culture?

Well, you don’t get paid a lot. And I think people think a lot of them get killed, that there’s a lot of deaths in the sport. These guys train like any outdoor extreme sport, I mean you don’t climb the heaviest mountain on the planet without being pretty much as good as you can be. So when these guys deal with Mother Nature at its most fierce, they know what to expect. They are a lot more prepared than they used to be, they have life vests and Shane Dorian’s developed a special air tank you can have in your pocket and the bubble is in the back of your wetsuit, so if you’re held under for too long you get a balloon of fresh air. What kills people is the panic. Anyone could die on a 5ft day at Wollongong, it’s not so much the wave that kills people, it’s the panic.

When is the best time to capture these big waves?

The biggest waves are in the southern parts of Australia - Western Australia gets plenty of that, so does South Australia and Tasmania, but on the east coast we still get pretty good big wave spots, off Wollongong, off Depot, that need the jetskis. Right now, autumn and spring are pretty much the best times to document big-wave surfing in the country. You’re coming out of summer and going into winter so you’re getting the hot conditions coming off the land and the cold air coming off the Antarctic and if it hits abruptly together, that’s when you get the big crazy swells and as it moves into the Australian area, the winds ramp up and things tend to get a lot more extreme.

The Immersion Tour is showing at the Shellharbour Club tonight. Tickets are available at the door.