Portfolio: Mike Smolowe

Yadin Nicol at home in Santa Barbara late afternoon this past spring.

This is from a trip to Western Sumbawa last year. One of the most photogenic (and shallow) waves I’ve ever seen in person.

Same wave, different angle. This is a good friend of mine, Nick Stolz.

This is right outside a small fishing village in Nicaragua. I don’t think it breaks all that often, but this day was firing. It was just a few local kids with broken boards, a couple friends and about as picturesque a landscape as you could wish for with the storm front approaching.

I can’t say where this is, but hands down it's the best afternoon I’ve seen in California.

Danny Fuller, same wave.

Hossegor, France doing its thing.

This is a portrait I shot of Anastasia Ashley in Mexico this past February on a trip with Airwalk.

Kilian Garland speed blur late-late afternoon in Santa Barbara.

Pipeline from a slightly different angle then you’re used to.

My favorite wave in Santa Barbara offering up a little diffused light from a pier overhead.

I lived in Santa Barbara for the past 5 years, so a lot of my portfolio reflects it. Conner Coffin, taking SB for what it’s worth.

Another portrait of Anastasia. We didn’t get waves on this trip but got some really good lifestyle imagery and some of my favorite portraits to date.

Backdoor, Pipeline doing its best cumulus cloud impression.

Unknown at Pipeline. I shot this on my first trip to Hawaii and still consider it one of my best Pipe images.

Yadin Nicol on January 5, 2008. I had taken the red-eye back from Hawaii and got into LAX at 5:30 am. Driving up the coast, I saw waves I didn’t even know existed popping up all over the place from Malibu to Santa Barbara. Stuck in rush hour traffic, I looked over at the car next to me and saw Tom Curren with his family and decided to follow them, knowing his local knowledge would lead me in the right direction.

Kilian Garland at Sandbar from another angle. If there’s a wave, he’ll be there.

Anthony Tashnick, Malibu County as the sun dropped behind the rocks.

Pipeline again. Even with all of the photographers, it’s hard to get sick of shooting here. I love this image because it shows the mayhem in the lineup with surfers and photographers a-like.

Pipeline watercolor speedblur.

Kilian again just south of SB.

New Jersey gold.

An image I shot as part of a personal project to show the effects of water pollution in the ocean.

Kilian doing what he does best with beautiful Santa Barbara in the background.

The media.

CJ Hobgood after he won Mundaka in 2008. A very special moment and one of my best memories.

John John Florence putting his backdoor knowledge to use in Malibu.