Found this info on surfersvillage.com and thought it would be useful to some SA photographers:
26 March, 2006 : - - Launched March 20th 2006, Irish based website,
http://www.wpsurf.com, brings something totally new and exciting to the world-wide surfing community. While surfing ‘Snapper’ in Australia during 2005, the Morgan family from Bundoran in County Donegal, noticed how photographers seemed to focus exclusively on a couple of professional surfers all day.
Shots of these surfers might offer them some financial return. So many great surfers went unrecorded. Similarly, they noticed the growing number of beginners, at home and abroad, standing up or pulling off a cut-back for the first time. Until now, there has been no commercially viable way for any of this to attract the right quality of lens.
This gave rise to the concept of linking surfers and photographers in a new and exciting way through
http://www.wpsurf.com (World Photos–Surf). Registered photographers identify themselves taking shots using a flag and other means supplied by wpsurf.com.
Surfers can then go online and search for themselves at any break world wide, simply by WHERE and WHEN they surfed. If you find an image you like, purchase and download it online. The potential is huge. As the photographer network grows it means you could do a round-the-world trip and get photos of yourself surfing at every stop.
Opening a new and exciting market for the growing number of surf photographers, wpsurf.com provides the link between surfer and photographer anywhere in the world, allowing photographers who travel to earn new incomes from their equipment and skill. No exclusivity is required so wpsurf.com can immediately offer new markets to photographers.
In its first week, photographers from the UK, Ireland, USA, Israel and Australia have registered and are starting to upload pictures. These include:
Roger Sharp, Ester Spiers, Ben Selway, Stephen Raff, Gary Henderson, Adam Nolan, Lee Dann, Johathan Symons, Simon Mitchell, Brian Mc Stotts, Gal Mezin, Sam Hilton, Wayne Bowring, Dale de la Rey, and Tony Wilson.
To complete the picture,
http://www.wpsurf.com also provides:
• An Affiliate Scheme which recognizes and respects local surfing communities whilst bringing financial and other benefits to existing local surf businesses such as surf shops and board manufacturers.
• A worldwide surfing Archive of images purchased. These can be described by photographers and purchasers in ways that will allow the surfing world to search for images of individuals, locations, maneuvers and equipment.
• Opportunities for businesses to offer their services to surfers, by advertising at whatever geographical level they select, world-wide.
Log on and check it out. The next few months will be used to populate the site with photographers and photographs and then the purchasing features will be activated.
However, surfers - go ahead and register. When you find an image you like, add it to ‘My Images’ for quick access or possible later purchase. Add the spots where you surf to ‘My Breaks’ and choose to automatically get an email when any new photos are added to those breaks.
Have a look; join what will be a huge, new and exciting contribution to the world of surfing.
http://www.wpsurf.com
