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A 15-image representation of a top-tier Californian shooter’s recent work.
(All captions by the photographer)
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I shot this Moroccan stack from about a mile away with a long lens. I ran up the mountain for the angle, screaming at the top of my lungs. The waves were that good.
Same day as the lineup. After I got back down from the mountain I put my camera in the housing and jumped off those rocks with a soft top as a platform. It took me about 30 minutes to get outside, dodging sets and getting sucked down the point. This connection with Dane Reynolds made it worthwhile.
Western Australia and a man at home on the wall: Jay Davies.
Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. I was craving a different angle, and knew a guy who knew a guy. I pulled up to a huge compound with a barbed wire fence all around it and a little yellow helicopter parked in the yard. The pilot ripped the doors off for me and up we went for a few hours, hovering over the best right point in the world.
Chippa Wilson, Bali.
Barron Mamiya, Teahupoo.
Mick Fanning, South Africa, 2015, a few days before the shark incident. This was taken on a tented safari, waking up at dawn surrounded by elephants.
Gabriel Medina and his mom, December 19, 2014. Gabe had just won the world title.
Bear Cummings, Kirra, during Cyclone Winston. He and Mick Fanning were among a small handful surfing this day. There was too much water moving so we took out a jet ski as a shooting platform and to shuttle the guys around. Bear paddled into this one while Mick drove and positioned me for the angle. A combined effort for sure.
Complementary colors: Wild flamingos on the beach, Aruba.
Nikki van Dijk and Tia Blanco, British Virgin Islands. We spent a week bouncing around together on a sailboat, hunting surf.
Yadin Nicol, Morocco.
Owen Wright took me to this wave near his hometown on the South Coast of New South Wales. It was so far out in the ocean you couldn’t even see the setup from the beach. Spookiest swim I’ve ever had: 10-foot waves unloading on your head and you’d still be thinking about sharks. I got to shore, took my camera out of the housing, and saw this image. An instant favorite.
Conner Coffin, Jeffreys Bay.
[Feature image: We found a small island in the South Pacific on the edge of an atoll. Few people in the world had ever surfed this wave, or even stepped on the island. We pulled up in a little boat. Crystal clear water and not a soul in sight. The wave broke straight onto dry reef but the guys were coming out of four-second barrels and doing airs. Gabe Medina.]
