Talking Pictures | The Icy Surf Photography of Chris Burkard

[Narrator] Surf photography tends to be shot

in the same sunny waters around the world.

There's a reason one of the best known

surfing documentaries is called Endless Summer.

But warm waves and blue skies are boring

to surf photographer Chris Burkard.

He seeks out the frigid waters of the Northern and Southern

poles to make images of water men riding icy swells

in places like Norway, Alaska, and Iceland.

Burkard frames his images for maximum impact.

Wetsuit-clad surfers paddle through slushy waters.

Ice-crusted rocks, and snow shrouded mountains

rise in the backgrounds of his photographs.

Burkard has been shooting cold water surfing

for nearly a decade, drawn by the utter

lack of crowds and stunning scenery.

(upbeat music)

On a good day he can shoot for an hour before

the cold seeps through his thick wetsuit

and his extremities begin to numb.

But it's all worth it for the photographer

who finds inspiration amid the icy extremes.

(upbeat music)