A stunning photograph of a rolling wave in the South Pacific Ocean won the General – Black & White category for Australian photographer Ted Grambeau.
Clearly channeling the 'Power' theme of HIPA's fourteenth season, Ted's image was captured in Tahiti – one of his favorite haunts.
Speaking to him after the awards ceremony in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in November 2025, he told Digital Camera World that he feels humbled to have won his category – in fact, he initially thought his invitation to attend the prestigious awards was an online hoax.
A commercial photographer with 45 years' experience, Ted describes his specialty as remote adventure photography in locations ranging from Svalbard to Madagascar and Russia.
During his career, he has photographed surfing action across the world for leading brands including Quiksilver, Billabong, Rip Curl and Patagonia.
Capturing his category-winning photo saw him travel to Tahiti in the South Pacific Ocean, and Ted describes the southern end of the island as having all the elements of perfect surf.
"In the winter it has incredible swells and it's got a particular break that is as close to perfect for waves to surf as is humanly possible," he says.
"The swells come out of really deep water and abruptly hit a reef and the reaction sees the top of the wave spill over or keep traveling, and the base of the wave virtually stops dead. This is fantastic for surfers who are extremely skilled and can get inside a wave, but at the same time it makes it so much more dangerous.
"I’ve photographed waves all over the world but this reef at Tahiti Iti ['Little Tahiti'] has been the most productive for me.
"I was there to photograph people surfing, so shooting this photo was an add-on – I quite often shoot the waves without surfers as there are some places in the world that are quite spectacular and we just go there [to photograph] the empty waves.
"Ironically, it's easier to sell a photo of an empty wave breaking than a wave with a surfer on it, regardless of who the surfer is."
The story behind the shot
So let's go behind the shot with Ted – how did he capture it?
"Shooting from a boat is the most functional approach because you can change lenses and keep water off your equipment. The only problem is during really big swells because the boat will have to move out of the zone as it'll be in danger of being impacted by the wave.
"In terms of surfing conditions, this day was perfect, almost beyond perfection – probably too difficult to surf, but you can mind-surf it in your imagination."
But while the weather conditions were ideal, this photo wouldn't have been so successful without the lighting.
"It was very early in the morning because you want to get the first morning light that will hit at an angle slightly more than 45 degrees up the face of the wave, creating a tonal range that won't be there at other times of the day.
"This particular break tends to be at its most beautiful in the morning, and it was being groomed by a light offshore wind, which was holding the wave up for a longer period. I would have spent probably eight hours in the boat at least."
Most of Ted's photography is in color, so when did he take the decision to convert this photo to black and white?
"I like to see how pictures look in black and white and the tonal range of this picture – black in the shadows right through every graduation to the highlights – allowed it to go into black and white.
"What it distills down to is looking at the tones and composition and impact, and I could see that the [potential for a black and white conversion] was inherent in the image, rather than being just something to try out in post-production."
Aside from the mono conversion, all Ted did during editing was balancing the contrast and making sure the detail stood out. And he cautions rookie photographers about exaggerating the colors in their images.
"You might think you've got a great photo but all you've done is push the saturation slider; if the color wasn't there at the beginning, then it doesn't belong in the image."
Ted's winning photo was captured on a Nikon D4S – he uses Nikon for action photography and Leica cameras for his fine-art work – and Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens, a versatile optic with a focal range that can cover whatever position the surfer or the wave may be in.
"If this was the younger me swimming in the water earlier in my career, though, I would have probably used a wider-angle lens to get the exaggerated perspective of being inside the wave with someone.
"These days I'll consider what the most suitable lens will be to achieve the shot given my physical capabilities, whether I've got to get in a helicopter, on a jet ski or use a drone, whatever works."
As someone who doesn't enter many photography competitions, Ted's HIPA win is all the more sweet.
"I just thought this picture [titled 'Exploding Swell'] suited the 'Power' theme," he says. "I don't enter many competitions but HIPA has a lot of integrity and looking at the calibre of the judges gives you an indication of whether it's a serious photography competition.
"I had no expectation of winning so I am surprised and honored and flattered – this is quite a shock to me."
Website: www.tedgrambeauphotography.com
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About the competition
The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) rewards excellence in still photographs and moving images and has a prize pot of US$1,000,000 [£739,550/AU$1,490,000], with the winner of the grand prize taking home US$200,000 [£152,000/AU$307,000]. Free to enter, the theme of the 15th season is 'Family' and will open for entries early in 2026. Find out more at www.hipa.ae
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