Conditions first. Foam is the brightest thing in any surf frame, and the camera clips it to a flat white. Every preset here rolls the highlight off before it hits the ceiling, then cools the sea and pulls the blue band down so the wave separates from the water and the sky.
Outside is the swell before it breaks: Set Wave and Swell Face give the wall clarity and colour, Peak Curl and Break Edge firm the contrast through the face, Offshore Spray and Salt Spray hold the airborne droplets against a deepened sky. The Wave is the moment: Spray Line, Lip Throw, Barrel Light with the aqua brightened so the tube glows, Drop In with the shadow opened under the lip, Paddle Out, Impact Zone.
Inside is the wash: Whitewater at full boil, Shore Break on wet sand, Foam Bank, Wash Back, Tide Push over the bar, and Beach Break for a grey morning when the sea needs its weight back.
Report: check the foam first. If it has texture, the rest of the frame is right.
