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Kelly catching his breath while threading a long barrel. Photo: Aroyan/lowtiderising.com
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Going surfing, one of the best feeling there is especially when a right point is lined up with one wave after another. Photo: Aroyan
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National Geographic’s Adventurer of the year award was given to Kelly in 2008. We shot this for the article, They choose a different one from the shoot of him holding his board. Photo: Aroyan
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Kelly winding up and powering through a cross bump before driving straight up and redirecting off the lip. Photo: Aroyan
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A cold stormy day breaking right on the rocks, Kelly prepares for the next hollow section to spit him out into the channel. Photo: Aroyan
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Tucked in deep at a Rincon driving through the cove. Photo: Aroyan
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Stoked, on a hot sunny day at Rincon reflecting on the waves he just found and which board to ride next. Photo: Aroyan
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Rearranging the lip and putting it back on a rail, right back into it. Photo: Aroyan
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Crispy sparkles of sunshine really defining the shape of the wave. Photo: Aroyan
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Al Merrick with Kelly getting as deep in the shaping bay as you can without using the planer. It’s no surprise here that he started shaping a few of his own that worked really well. Al and Kelly’s relationship is like a tight-knit family formed from years of love and support. Photo: Aroyan
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I sent Kelly a text photo shot through binoculars to give an accurate report on how good it was. Photo: Aroyan
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Sunset session, one last look. Pt Mugu. Photo: Aroyan
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An absolutely uninhabited beach except for the friends we went with and a couple of huge bait balls clearly defined by birds diving in every direction just outside the lineup. I swam for about thirty minutes before shooting the rest of the session from shore. Kelly drifted around and disappeared in all the good ones. Photo: Aroyan
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Quiver check, deciding whether or not to pack bags for the Snapper contest and go for World Title #10. Photo: Aroyan
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Slip sliding a tight arcing slash and holding a fine line. The speed blur really shows how all the energy is revolving around his center of gravity. Photo: Aroyan
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Party time celebrating World Title #10 with Bret Dennon, Sal Masekela, Steve Zeldin and a few hundred close friends. Photo: Aroyan/lowtiderising.com
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Surf check. If it's going off, Kelly’s finding barrels. Photo: Aroyan/lowtiderising.com
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Al Merrick and Kelly discussing the anatomy of surfboards and what makes them work. Photo: Aroyan/lowtiderising.com
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Signature slash through an empty lineup. Kelly free surfing without any one around is like an artist in his studio having the time of his life. Photo: Aroyan/lowtiderising.com
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This was the first day I gave Kelly a ride home in 2007. After picking off one of the longest waves of the year, when he came in when it was dark. We didn’t have a meeting spot to find each other, but the crowd screaming his name lead me right to him. Photo: Aroyan/lowtiderising.com
Once I asked Kelly, “What kind of waves do you want to surf today?”
“Hollow barrels with no one out,” he responded.
That reply formed our continual search. I have shot a lot of sessions with Kelly Slater via video as well that are still in the archives. Hopefully, we’ll get them edited together at some point sooner than later.
To view more of Branden Aroyan’s work, check out lowtiderising.com.
