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Over the last five years I have traveled to this spot on Africa’s east coast three times. There are a lot of things that keep me coming back, but the most special part are definitely the whales. The morning I took this photograph I had a humpback whale breech within 100 meters of me as I was swimming out to the peak. Scoring pumping waves with barely anyone out is pretty awesome, but scoring pumping waves with humpback whales breeching is out of this world. Photo: Nick White
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Ten days after waiting for the sun to poke its head out. I had arrived on Mexico’s Pacific Coast two days after a hurricane had sent an XL swell and flooded the majority of the coastal village. This led to the weather being pretty unsettled for the following week. And for some reason the sun seemed to be covered by a thick blanket of cloud every morning when the wind was blowing offshore. We had delayed our exit a few days hoping that one morning would be clear. I took this photo the morning of the day we left—no clouds anywhere to be seen and super fun 2- to 4-foot peaks were rolling through a lonely lineup. Photo: Nick White
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Right place at the right time. Two years ago - while briefly working in an orphanage teaching English in South Sri Lanka - we woke up to horrible weather with gale force winds and rain. We went about our day like any other. It hadn’t even crossed my mind to check if there were any waves about. We got to a river around lunchtime when I realized that the wind was blowing straight offshore. In the distance I could see lines stacking up to the horizon. We frantically drove to the coast where we found these things rolling in with not a soul in sight. Photo: Nick White
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Home in Western Australia. Aside from the growing crowds in the southwest, we really don’t have any reason to complain. Here is a photo of the most perfect wave I have ever seen roll through the southwest with my own two eyes. Someone could be standing tall inside that thing. Photo: Nick White
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As good as home. I had just finished a month-long road trip around South Africa and was simply trying to keep busy in Cape Town before heading back home to Western Australia. Some friends I had met earlier in the trip were keen to do a day road trip east. On the road we came across this beach. I remember counting eight people in the water on the entire beach. A lot of people don’t associate white sandy beaches and aqua blue waters with South Africa. Perhaps this will change their opinion. Photo: Nick White
Editor’s Note: #My5Lineups is a series highlighting five of a featured photographer’s favorite lineup shots. The seventeenth in the series is Western Australian photographer Nick White.
Among the tens of thousands of photographs I’ve accumulated on my hard drives over the years, the following gallery features a few shots that resonate with me. They each have wonderful stories behind them which makes them extra special to me. If they get you frothing for your next adventure, then, well, I’ve done my job.
See more of Nick’s photography on his website and Instagram.