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Riding on a wave The high-tech Samsung Portable SSD T9 was the speedy solution to a beach shoot with a world champion surfer
W hen the call goes out for a filmmaker to capture speed in a truly filmic way, with few chances for retakes, Brit David Spurdens is the action man of choice. Even if the shoot is on the other side of the world. An award-winning sports photographer who has shot everything from the FA Cup final to the Ryder Cup, the Olympics to Alpine sports, Spurdens transitioned into cinematography at the advent of digital movie capture and has carved out a niche in shooting incredible slow-motion visuals. From military aircraft to multi-million-pound racehorses and more, he uses the latest high-speed cinema cameras to create art from motion – and is used to working under pressure as he usually has only one shot. So when asked to shoot the adaptive surfing world champion training before a huge contest, Spurdens made the 24-hour journey to Ocean Grove near Melbourne, Australia. He packed as light as he could, with a cine camera, lenses from ultra wide to 800mm and a trusty laptop in tow – along with the speedy
and secure memory needed to keep up: the Samsung Portable SSD T9. This pocket-sized portable drive is designed with curved diagonal lines and reverse carbon patterns to give a comfortable, luxurious feel for the user – ideal when you have thousands of miles to travel. “Laurie Phipps is a world champion, two years running. She went through a horrific time after a drunk driver hit her on a moped in France back in 2019. She lost her lower leg, just below the knee,” introduces Spurdens. “She currently uses a prosthetic leg for walking, a running blade and surfing prosthetic. She is an incredible character, full of the zest for life, always smiling and positive about the situation she found herself in. Laurie has triumphed over her disability mentally and on the world sporting stage.” Phipps is also starting a charity to help children who have lost limbs in war zones acquire modern prosthetic limbs, so this shoot was important to her and them. But she has a limit to how long her prosthetics can be worn. Since the shoot
was a couple of days before her title defence, any issues could mean a risk of not being able to compete. “The filming time was severely limited, and being able to film her surfing and running was gold dust so close to the biggest contest of her life. The pinnacle often happens one time only, with many of the other shots being second or third rate, which is not good enough,” continues Spurdens. Shooting the action on a beach, after every sprint he downloaded the clips to a Samsung Portable SSD T9 linked to his laptop to check the rushes. Resistant to drops up to 3m and guaranteed with a five-year limited warranty, the portable drive is built to keep data safe – which was a relief for Spurdens. “Using the fast and durable portable drive throughout the day meant I could say to Laurie that the shoot was securely backed up. There was no room for error. When a person is working as hard as she is in her circumstances to help others in dire situations, I absolutely have to believe in my kit 110%.”
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