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This is one of my favorites yet. Keiki beach break so big it's dwarfing everyone on the beach. Id say 20 foot faces. Some Hawaiians would probably say ten though. Photo: Doug Falter
I always liked photography, but never took it seriously until last year. I took two photography classes while attending high school and did pretty well at it. After graduating I put my camera down and took up working on cars as a career. Five years ago, while I was living in Tampa, FL working as a mechanic, I took up surfing. It all began when moved in with a roommate that surfed. Before I moved in I had already purchased my first used board for 50 bucks. I was hooked from day one. We loved surfing so much that we would drive two and a half hours one way just to get to the east coast of Florida when swells came.
After five years of poor economy and tough work with no room for growth, I finally decided to leave my career as a mechanic behind. As of now… that was the best decision I ever made. After going on a couple surf trips and getting more into it I decided to buy a decent camera and pack up to visit Hawaii. I came for a few months without any expectations and realized I loved it. After returning to Florida, I made the big decision to pack up and move. I gave everything important to my family and sold my car and packed up some clothes and all my camera gear. Since I have moved here, I have been shooting so much it’s impossible to not learn more and improve. Every day I have breakthroughs. I have been swimming in bigger waves and tuning my camera better.
I’ve worked for many different clients, and I just scored my first magazine out of Brazil, Revista Surfar. I’ve also been selling fine art wall prints on my facebook fan page.