at the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout surfing contest at Backdoor Pipeline, north shore,
All Pistons Firing. This was an extraordinary situation at Pipeline during the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout several years ago. At the time, there were two solid swells in the water. One from the north and one from the northwest. The northwest swell was producing the goods, but every now and then a north set would come through. This produced this rare image of all of Pipe's reefs firing at the same time. It’s the only time that I’ve seen all the reefs turn on at exactly the same time. Photo: Sean Davey
Back in the ’80s and ’90s, they used to fill magazine covers with super-tightly cropped images of surfers. You couldn’t see anything else. These days, it’s much more about pulled back images, notably the lineup shot. Back then, we didn’t shoot anywhere near enough of them because we were always in such a hurry to capture the action. However, I’ve managed to capture quite a few over the years while traveling.
I believe traveling keeps you more on the alert for the pulled back images. Since good photographers never have a camera too far away when on the road, the lineup shots tend to happen more there than at home. I do live in Hawaii, though, and this place definitely is right up there as far as lineup opportunities are concerned—especially at Pipeline. There are just so many different angles to be had of that place. There are days when I don’t even take the big lens because I’m much more interested in capturing the lineups and wide angle beach scenes. I find that those who purchase my work as prints and canvases definitely have a preference for the wide and pulled back images. Here are a few of my favorite lineup shots from around the world.
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