In water photography is especially wild. Check out Leroy Bellet: https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-story-behind-leroy-b...

He rides BEHIND surfers in the barrel. Absolutely nuts.

The underground rock formation that generates the Mavericks waves is actually pretty small. Photographers, rescue jetskis, and onlookers on small boats can be on very calm water, while surfers they're watching are riding a 100 ft wave just a few meters away.

It’s how the size of the waves is calculated. They talk about it in the first season of the 100 Foot Waves TV show mentioned in the article. Video from several angles is analyzed using the surfer or another known object for scale.

It’s not easy to measure ocean waves unless you have a jetski riding right on the crest or a LIDAR system on shore which is expensive.