By Lura Readle Scarpitti and Brian Hornung
Photos courtesy of Ryan Miller
Ask any great photographer why their photos stand out from others out there, and they’ll tell you that love and knowledge of the subject is one of the most important things to have, to be successful.
This fits Ryan Miller perfectly — local boy and internationally known and revered surf photographer. Not one to rest, these days he splits his time between running a seasonal ice cream shop, and jetting around the world capturing great photos for the World Surf League. As a “local-gone-global” story of the area, we asked him if he wouldn’t mind sharing how it all happened for him.
Talk about growing up and surfing in St. Augustine. What was it like “back in the day?”
I grew up surfing in St. Augustine in the 1980s and ‘90s. In the ‘80s, I was really young and would just surf at the end of my street. I loved hitting up the local surf shops and buying stickers. I still remember getting laughed out of the place for being a kid with a pocket full of pennies. In the ‘90s I was a teenager and would mobilize to different surf spots with friends. The only glaring difference I see between myself then and the kids I see now is the addition of the telephone. We would just all pile into one guy’s car and be together all day. Once you got separated, there were no phones to find each other with. It was a good sense of community amongst kids.
Surfing has had an impact on a lot of other people’s lives and careers from the area. Can you comment on whether, and how, growing up in the St. Augustine surf community made an impact on your, and their lives? Why did it have an effect?
The strong ties I had to the other surfers in St. Augustine helped me start a solid network in the surfing community. When Gabe Kling was making the tour, he helped me out a ton. I literally built my entire network from him. It was great to have a friend I grew up with out there on the road when we were traveling. Similar story with Zander Morton. I had taken him on his first real national magazine writing assignment. He eventually became the editor of Surfing Magazine.
When did you start developing an interest in photography and, specifically, surfing photography?
Maybe like 16 in high school. We had a really good photography class that I gravitated to. So I did surf photography for like two years and realized I hated it. Shooting film of average waves and not doing anything with the photos. I realized I would way rather be surfing myself.
Who has been your inspiration?
I’m not so sure there is a who. More like a what. All of the learning I have done on the road has been hugely inspiring for me. The culture, architecture, food, religion, etc., in all the countries I have been has been my biggest inspiration.
Is there anything that you haven’t done in your career that you have in front of you? And what goals did you have when you started that you’ve been able to achieve?
I’ve thought a lot about this and my only goal is to be as productive with work and happiness on that given day. Everyday I wake up I ask myself how can I be the most productive with work given the conditions I am granted. Same goes for my happiness on a personal level. How can I be the most happy today? After that everything falls into place for me. I don’t care at all about goals in the future.
You’re known for having this way of managing to get the best travel situation — flying first class, always scoring amazing accommodations. Can you talk about that?
That is a lot of work! I put so much time into researching flights and mileage programs and travel hacks, it is silly. I just really enjoy the logistics of traveling. I would much prefer to write out someone a list of restaurants for any city in the world than to do my actual work.
What sticks out in your mind most in your career? Any memories that you can share?
Top of the list is the relationships I have formed with the guys I’m on the road with all year. One memory that was really special, was John John Florence’s first world title in 2016. I had seen a lot of world titles go down before that but not with anyone I had the same relationship I had with John John. That day was really special seeing a good friend win.
Favorite places in the world? Favorite breaks, waves, people in the world surfing scene?
I don’t have any favorites. I just try and give each day the most opportunity to have a good time. When I start thinking in terms of favorites I start to want to go to that place and not give the place I am in at the moment 100%
Last, but not least, care to tell us how a St. Augustine kid turned surf photographer has an ice cream shop on the television series “Jersey Shore?”
Yum Yums was kind of the catalyst for everything. My wife, her sister, her husband and I got the store when we were 20 years old and still in school. We had no idea what we were doing but somehow managed to grow the business year over year. In the early days when we had no personal expenses, we could just work in the summer and then the money we made would fund our around the world trips all winter. When I first started doing surf photography again for real, the income I made helped subsidize all of my travel. I didn’t have any trust fund or safety net, so I needed to pay for that travel somehow until I began making money from photography.
