This is an image of Will Skudin from Hurricane Earl in 2009. This photo was taken about .5 miles off the coast of Rhode Island just as the storm was making landfall. Without being present it’s nearly impossible to explain the conditions properly. Winds were blowing 45+ mph, pouring rain, large swells and chop, and absolutely no contact with anyone on land. No one even knew we were out there. At moments of heavy rain you couldn’t see land and as far as we knew, this wave hadn’t ever been surfed. I remember sitting on the jet ski trying to shoot photos when out of the corner of my eye I saw a large mass emerge from the water and I yelled “Whale!” but no one else had seen it. A few minutes later the mass emerged again and I saw that it wasn’t a whale…it was exposed reef about 20 yards from us on the ski. That means it was so shallow at that spot that the reef was exposed as the water drew off the reef to the waves. We had no idea what properties this wave had or what the shape of the reef was. Incredibly sketchy. They ran some of my photos and some video we took on the weather channel and other news stations in the following days.

Found this image to be quite striking. No one looks at this blog so whatever, but in case you are…hello. This is an image I took all by myself. Most of the time that I am out in the ocean taking photos, I am completely alone. When I am out there by myself, I can be myself, and I usually start to question what the hell am I doing? Why did I drive an hour one way to the beach before the sun rose, why did I stand in the freezing parking lot and contort my body into all different positions trying to get this wetsuit over my aging body, why did I choose this lens instead of my other lens to shoot photos with, why is the front of my waterhousing where the lens looks through starting to fog up, why am I in the ocean feeling frustrated, why am I screaming in anger at the top of my lungs in the middle of the winter at 6am at the ocean for not sending me a beautiful wave to photograph while the lighting is perfect, why the hell am I wasting my time doing this? The only reason I do it, is because I have to, I don’t know what that means, but I gather that if you were to take everything I have away from me, I’d find my way back to the ocean and find a way to document it. In reality, no one cares and I suppose it brings me happiness knowing I can do it alone and do it for myself. I guess I’ll say, into the void of the internet and universe, enjoy the photo.

Dawn Patrol. Snowstorm witih Brian Pollak in Bidgehamton, NY 2019

Surfer Magazine Volume 60, Issue 2

Double Page Spread

New York, Half Page

Full Page on Left and Half Page Top on Right