Kenji Croman has broken his bones,his shoulder and elbow, and nearly drowned several times.He's also had three close encounters with sharks over the years.A 10-foot wave landed directly on top of him five years ago,bending his body to the point that he actually kicked himself in the head."I literally heard every bone in my body crack."he said. Croman has been photographing ocean waves since 2008,sometimes risking his life to get that perfect shot at the surf break.Despite the risks and certain injuries that come with wave photography, the Hawaii resident,body surfer and former competitive swimmer wouldn't do anything else.The 36-year-old photographer loves the thrill of meeting breaking waves head on,shooting waves as his interest and shooting surfers to pay the bills. The process of photographing waves requires more than just swimming out to where the surf breaks and waiting,he says.The night before a photo shoot Croman checks Surfline.com,a website and the coastal camera network that provides live and predicted ocean weather information,to see what the winds,waves and tide will be like at certain times.Croman has both a primary camera and a backup for emergencies.He goes without a wetsuit and uses heavy duty underwater housing to protect his camera.There is no great way for him to protect himself.He admits there are probably protective clothes he should be wearing,but there is little he could have done to decrease the impact of the 10-foot wave that crashed on top of him. The hardest part of Croman's job is staying calm in the face of breaking waves when his initial reaction is to panic and swim away.At most.Croman will take two to three shots of a single wave."I've shot waves for so many years now that I see the wave in slow movement,"he said. How does Kenji Croman make a living?
By taking swimming races. By teaching photography. By shooting surfers. By surfing waves.