My name is Jeremy Blatti, but my friends call me Jay. I live in Lausanne, Switzerland.
As an amateur photographer, I combine my passion for photography with my passion for outdoor activities, travel, and sport.
I regularly take my camera with me on these occasions, which is where I take most of my shots.
I strongly believe that you will take better shots of the things you love the most. Therefore, you will find many snowboarding, kitesurfing, and surfing images in my portfolio.
However, surfing images are rarer since I live in a country that doesn't have seas or oceans.
Since I practice all those sports myself, I can understand the movements and trajectories of a rider, which helps me anticipate the action and where the peak moment of a trick will take place.
This allows me to compose my shots accordingly when I'm behind the camera.
Photography has been an ever-increasing part of my life for some time now, as I started to work more regularly with partners such as tourist offices and sporting events.
I also organize photo workshops and sell my images to individuals and companies to decorate their walls.
Next, I work part-time as a lawyer and part-time in seasonal jobs.
In winter, I train snowboard instructors and accompany disabled people on tandem skis.
In the summer, I train teenagers and young adults to become coaches for a sports program.
A Post-Apocalyptic Scenario
In May 2023, I went on a kitesurfing vacation to Egypt with a group of friends.
We spent a few days in Soma Bay, and every morning, we took a boat to the kite spot. It dropped anchor not far from the shore.
We could then launch our kites from the boat and enjoy kitesurfing on the clear and warm water of the Red Sea.
It was a great couple of days full of kitesurfing sessions, games, laughter, and sharing. And, of course, I brought my camera to take some kitesurfing pictures.
Along the Red Sea in and around Soma Bay, there are a lot of unfinished constructions.
They are hotel and housing projects that have been abandoned and will probably remain like that for a long time.
When I got back on the boat after a session, I spotted one of the kite teachers - Hamada Kamel - riding in front of the boat.
So I hurried to take my camera out of my bag and took a few shots of him.
About the Shot
Shooting kitesurfing from a boat adds difficulty since you're unstable most of the time, bouncing to the rhythm of the waves.
In such a situation, I advise you to shoot a bit wider so you can still crop and recompose your shot during the editing process to get the composition you imagined on the spot.
Anticipating his trajectory, I saw the building in the background and decided to frame it into my composition, hoping that the kite teacher would do a huge trick in front of it.
He made a very smooth, clean, and controlled transition, and the result was this image.
For this pic, nothing was planned; he didn't know I was taking photos of him when he was kiting.
I used a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action and an aperture to have the action and the background in focus.
This picture has now reached the finals - five images remaining - of the 2023 Red Bull Illume photography contest in the Best of Instagram category.
The results will be known at the end of November in Sölden, Austria. Fingers crossed until then!
You can discover more of my work on my website, www.jayblatti.com, or via Instagram @jayblatti.
Technical Settings
Camera: Canon R6
Lens: Canon 100-400
ISO: 250
F-Stop: 10
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
Words by Jeremy Blatti | Photographer, Lawyer, and Sports Instructor