Sunny Breger Maria Fernanda interview on Nazare surf photography

In the Sunny Breger Maria Fernanda interview, Breger described how photographing big-wave surfing from a jet ski at Nazare gave her a rush she recognized from bowl skateboarding. She also explained why Ocean Experiences workshops teach safety alongside photography, how the courses reached Nazare and what she wants the project to offer next.

How did Sunny Breger become an ocean photographer?

Sunny Breger came to ocean photography through board sports and an existing interest in making images. After taking up surfing at 17 and moving to the French coast at 18, she spent as much time in the water as she could. Videography eventually became her job, bringing her camera and her interest in action together.

From the mountains to France

Growing up in Germany, Breger was drawn first to snowboarding and the mountains. Surfing followed, then skateboarding. She traveled to the coast whenever she could before moving to France, where access to the ocean became part of her daily life.

Photography had long been a passion, but she said her work developed more in videography. Putting a camera in the water let her combine visual work with the movement and energy she liked in board sports. That combination, rather than a single planned career change, led her toward filming and photographing ocean action.

Why the water replaced some skateboarding

At one point, Breger skateboarded even more than she surfed. She particularly liked bowls and transitions for their adrenaline rush. An injury contributed to her doing less skateboarding and spending more time surfing and swimming, although the feeling she sought in those activities remained important to her work.

What did Sunny Breger say about Nazare surf photography?

Sunny Breger said shooting big-wave surfing from a jet ski at Nazare gave her the closest feeling she had found to bowl skateboarding without being on a board. Seeing the size and power of the waves at close range made her want to keep working with the surfers and crews who operate in those conditions.

Finding the skateboarding rush on a jet ski

Breger had been fascinated by how surfers train for extreme conditions. She first found herself shooting at Nazare while working on a documentary with a professional surfer. From the jet ski, the waves were directly in front of her, and the work produced a familiar physical rush.

The experience changed what she wanted from her creative work. She could feel that intensity while filming people whose profession put them in the waves, rather than by riding a skateboard herself. She also described another side of the experience: concentrating on the image and the force of the ocean made her feel deeply present.

How does Sunny Breger approach ocean safety training in Ocean Experiences workshops?

Sunny Breger said Ocean Experiences workshops are built around moving safely and confidently in the water, not just finding an angle for a photograph. Participants train for the conditions they will encounter, practice how to manage themselves in the ocean and then apply those skills while making images.

Preparing photographers for the water

Breger said the courses give people a controlled way to test their limits. In her view, learning how to move through the ocean and respond to changing situations helps participants feel comfortable enough to focus on their photography. She put the principle this way:

you always overcome your limits in a very controlled way.

The preparation includes dynamic apnea work with Wavecrusher Systems. Breger also named Yumeria for expertise in ocean movement and Nexus for jet-ski work. Those different roles matter to a course that asks photographers to think about where they are in the water, not only what appears in the frame.

Making the experience accessible

Maria Fernanda described a participant using a phone with dive bulk water housing to capture waves while working on her positioning. Breger agreed that the workshops offer more than camera instruction: people also get to train, enter the water and experience the conditions they have prepared for.

She said participants have reacted emotionally after getting out of the water. For Breger, that response reflects the same mixture of challenge, happiness and immersion in nature that drew her to the work. She also said she learns from the people who attend and from the swimming and photography the team does around each course.

Why did Sunny Breger take Ocean Experiences workshops to Nazare?

Sunny Breger said an Ocean Experiences course reached Nazare by accident: waves elsewhere were too big for the group to swim, and she and Maria Fernanda already had experience working there. The change grew out of workshops that had focused on photographing from the water while swimming in bigger waves.

An unexpected change of location

Breger described the move as a step beyond the earlier course format. Once the group made Nazare work, she saw how strongly participants responded to it and said she hoped they could keep taking courses there. The shift did not erase the original emphasis on preparation and ocean skills; it gave the group another way to experience the waves.

Learning from the wider group

Breger said the workshops bring together people with different interests who learn from one another. Professional surfers have joined as models, giving photographers a closer look at their work. Guest speakers have also encouraged participants to tell their own ocean stories and consider opportunities for those stories.

Keeping the courses going has not always felt certain. Breger said she and Fernanda have had moments when they thought they might stop, then saw people sign up and found reasons to continue. She called the courses enriching for the organizers as well as the attendees because each one brings more swimming, photography and exchange within the group.

What does Sunny Breger want for the future of Ocean Experiences?

Sunny Breger wants Ocean Experiences to develop more courses in ocean skills, mental preparation and photography. She also hopes ocean conservation can become part of future workshops, though she did not announce a specific conservation program. Her aim is to give people different ways to challenge themselves and make work in the water.

Ocean skills and creative practice

Breger recalled swimming with a former course attendee who lived in Lisbon and wanted to train. Another person approached them and asked to join. That encounter helped her picture courses that could inspire more people to strengthen their swimming, become calmer in the ocean and test their own limits.

She sees a creative path alongside the physical one. Future courses could help photographers work differently in the ocean, including making images of waves as art rather than focusing only on surfing. For Breger, ocean training and image-making are related, but neither has to be the only reason someone takes part.

A place for conservation

Breger said she and Fernanda would like to bring ocean conservation into future courses. She presented it as a goal, not as a component already in place. For now, her plans center on expanding what people can learn about the ocean and what they can create while working in it.