HE'S Joli by name and jolly by nature.

Well known surfing photographer Peter "Joli" Wilson couldn't been happier to collect for the second time in his illustrious career, the photo of the year award (ginormous Cloudbreak during the 2012 Volcom WT event) at the recent Surfing Australia Hall of Fame Awards.

"I'm very stoked to have won this award. Second time in four years. It's a big honour and I figure I'm doing something right," graciously accepting on behalf of himself and his devoted wife and partner Jan.

"Without her support I wouldn't be doing what I do. She has even had a couple of covers of surf mags in the last two years," said Joli who's mother's name was Jolly which led to the Wilsons adopting Joli, French for pretty, as the signature name to credit his photo.

He was given a camera as a confirmation present by his God Father when only 10 years old and then his Grandfather who was a successful amateur photographer put Peter in the picture literally at 14 years of age,

"After saving up for over a year, Grandad showed me how to develop and print my very first photograph of me holding my very first surfboard."

His first surfing photo was published in 1972 of North Narrabeen's Col Smith at Bells and he was inspired by seventies photo icons Bruce Channon (Surfing World) and Americans Art Brewer and Jeff Divine (Surfer Magazine). He worked for Quiksilver as their main ad and promo manager during the eighties and like a lot of other Victorians saw the light and moved to warmer waters on the Gold Coast to become a full time professional photographer.

Obviously the industry has changed with the advent of digital but as Joli says, "A good photograph is still a good photograph no matter on what or how it's taken. The basics of photography have not changed regardless of the instrument it's captured on."

His advice to any aspiring photographers is, "Be committed to your craft as it is getting harder and harder to make a living form surfing photography. Learn your craft well, read, study and take lots of photos. You have to enjoy what you do and also know that you have to take small steps. You are not going to be the best overnight. 'Luck' is spelt 'hard work."

So what was it like on that amazing Cloudbreak day that earnt best photo of the year?

"I've been going to Fiji for a number of years but had never seen Cloudbreak like it was in June last year. Scotty O'Conner who is the owner of Namotu surf camp for the last 15-16 years said he'd never seen it like that either."

"I was in one of the Fijian longboats in the line-up using a Canon 1D mark 4 and I knew that I was witnessing something very special. I was hooting and screaming as those waves came into view. I've seen some incredible waves in my life but these waves where off the scale. I really wasn't thinking about awards but I knew I was capturing something very special."

Although it not always smooth sailing for these guys who put themselves in harm's way to get the shot.

"My worst fear was when we were losing power in our boat in the line-up during the Code Red Teahupoo day and having to be pulled out by another boat," reflecting on the other biggest day that he had experienced in 2011 at Tahiti.

If you're down at the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro amongst the thousands of spectators expect to see a smiling grey ponytail character with his favourite cameras catching all the action.

It's not hard to see where Joli gets his inspiration from as he says, "Surfing keeps me young, so I'm going to keep shooting those 'Joli' images for another 50 years."