The past week Souther California received one of the cleanest and long-lasting south swells of the Summer. The Lowers WCT contest was on and some of the best surfers in the world gathered around to surf, compete, and hopefully win the coveted purse of $105,000. With a 10 day waiting period for the contest and an abundance of sunshine in San Onofre, but clouds and fog in San Diego, I made a daily trek up to the contest site at dark to try and capture some glimpses of moments before the contest jerseys went on and the crowds came. Last Wednesday I set up a shoot with Alex Knost, a friend and one of the most talented longboarders I know. We woke up early and shot the morning sunrise session from the water. We captured some really nice images of him walking the nose and sliding across the early morning light. The first image I shot of the day, the image above, happened right as the sun peaked over the mountains and Alex was waiting for the first wave to come in. This is one of my favorites. The action images will be seen in a magazine in the next few months or so, but this image I doubt would ever make it in, but to me reminds me of our day shooting in San O.
