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Pipeline. Up on the hill during the heat when Mick Fanning won the World Title. North Shore, O'ahu. Photo: DaveNelson-photography.com
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Anthony Ruffo at Ghost Tree. This was one of the biggest west swells in decades with buoy readings that were so big that they almost didn’t make sense. I think it was like 28 feet at 23 seconds. Either way, it was massive, and it was scary as f#$k. I was out there shooting at Ghost Tree. Some of the sets blackened the horizon and capped out in the middle of the ocean. Anthony Ruffo got this huge one, and I'm pretty sure he was done after this wave. Photo: DaveNelson-photography.com
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Dane Gudauskas at P-Pass. John John and I had talked about going to P-Pass for a few years, so when he called and said, “Nelly, you see that swell going to P-Pass?” I knew it was finally going to happen. I called the Gudangs, and Tanner and Dane were frothing. John John and Nathan Florence had already booked tickets through Guam. I looked at the swell; it was massive! I was kind of shitting. Needless to say, it was all-time. I got annihilated swimming, and Dane, Tanner, Nathan, and John had, what had to be, one of the best trips of their lives. Photo: DaveNelson-photography.com
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Eala Stewart in Tahiti. The morning of the huge swell of 2013 in Tahiti started off slow and was only about 4 feet at dawn. Eala Stewart and Landon McNamara paddled out mid-morning just as the swell started to jump a bit. This photo was taken just after Ealas first barrel of the trip. As he was paddling back out, I could see his huge smile as he just stopped and threw his arms up in the air. A moment of pure stoke from the humble Hawaiian. Two hours later, it was 15 feet and death defying.. Photo: DaveNelson-photography.com
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Josh Mulcoy at Steamer Lane. Josh made a rare appearance at Steamer Lane in my home town of Santa Cruz, and scored some incredible sandbar waves. Photo: DaveNelson-photography.com
Editor’s Note: #My5Lineups is a new series highlighting five of a featured photographer’s favorite lineup shots. The tenth in the series is Santa Cruz’s Dave “Nelly” Nelson.
I got into water photography in Santa Cruz in the ’90s after buying a housing from my friend Tony Roberts. For the last 20 years, I’ve shot for several different companies, including: Vans, Fox, Sector 9, and O’Neill.
When I was younger, I loved swimming in big waves, and although I still swim when its big, I’m much more calculated with where and when I swim these days. My worst pounding came at Pipeline on a strong west swell. I swam out at dawn and was trying to get a big barrel shot of Braden Dias for Reef. Braden rolled into one from the second reef, so I swam in to get the double up. Unfortunately, I got sucked over the falls. The reef came up fast and I smashed my elbow hard on the lava. When I finally came up, I glanced at my elbow and saw that I had taken a half-dollar-size chunk off the plate. I then looked back out and saw a 10-footer bearing down on me. I dove to the bottom, but it was too late. I got sucked up and over again, and this time my housing cracked on the reef. I knew it broke the port the second it hit. It pinned me on the bottom for a while, and when I came up, I was gasping for air. Thankfully, that was the last wave.
The port had a huge hole in it, and I poured all the water out and swam in trying to hold the housing above the surface. I ran up to the O’Neill house and ended up saving the roll of film inside. The camera and fisheye lense were toast, but I did get a cover and two spreads from that roll.
To see more of Nelly’s work, visit his personal website at davenelson-photography.com or check out nrbphoto.com—a site Nelly started with two friends and fellow photographers, Birdo and Matt Walker.
