When the Cape Fear big wave event rolls in to Tasmania later this year, the focus will be firmly on the surfers tackling the beastly six-metre waves of Shipstern Bluff.

But lurking in more placid waters will be Stu Gibson, a Hobart-based surf photographer whose incredible images of world-famous breaks and life on the water are beginning to be noticed around the globe.

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While comfortable with a board underfoot, Gibson realised surfing would never pay the bills.

It was then he started photographing his big-wave-surfing mates.

"I picked up the camera around a group of friends and we were all chasing similar, larger waves — it became a passion and went from there," he says.

"It was 2004, 2005. I did a bunch of video work but got passionate about stills photography.

"I didn't have a great eye just yet but I was keen to swim in larger waves and my friends were keen to tackle them, so it was a good combination."

That decision would result in Gibson snapping breaks from Africa to Tahiti to King Island.

For the 35-year-old, though, there's more to it than point and shoot.

To be as good as Gibson, it takes a little more than simply waiting for the perfect break.

"It's not just patience but passion," he says.

"It doesn't come easy in Tassie. It's cold and all of our great waves are really hard to get to. It's not served up right in front of you — you've got to be really keen to get amongst it."

His expeditions lead him to spots reserved only for those willing to find them.

And it's there where he wrestles with an age-old surfing dilemma. How much exposure is too much?

"Everybody always comes home safe," says Gibson. ( Supplied: Stu Gibson )

"There are certain places like that, for sure," he says.

"There's a few locations where it's not necessarily the right thing to do, to shoot there as much as we shoot anywhere else.

"I think the older I get I'm learning that a lot more, and people appreciate that. You pull it back a little bit."

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As the man whose images showcase the raw power and beauty of Tasmania's biggest breaks, he bears a certain responsibility.

The better the snaps, the greater the exposure.

While it's a good thing for the state's surfing reputation, it runs the risk of local hideaways being overwhelmed by those searching for surf nirvana.

"You have to please the masses, and it's a fine line doing the work I do, but I think that's surfing in general," he says.

"We end up sharing them and as a photographer that's the job I'm in.

"How much do you do it? Do you regret it? I don't know. Certain places seem to hold their own ground.

"Shipstern Bluff hasn't changed much in the past 10 or 15 years that I've been there and hopefully it stays the same."

The cold water slabs of Shipstern and Pedra Branca, an enormous break 26 kilometres off Tasmania's south-western tip, are well known.

It is there where things can get a little hairy.

"We've definitely had some moments out there, whether it be the ocean or some big fish or something like that," he says.

"Everybody always comes home safe. Nothing too wild just yet and hopefully we keep it that way."

Gibson's next assignment will be snapping the likes of Mick Fanning at the invite-only Red Bull Cape Fear event at Shipstern later this year.