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This is a shot I have envisioned in my head for a while, and only possible to shoot today with the invention of the GoPro. Shot at a beach break near my home. The board broke on this wave, but the vision made it worthwhile. Shot with the GoPro Hero 3+ and a Gripstick Pro Mount. Photo: Mike Coots
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This was my first published image, which ran in Surfer Magazine as a spread in the Big Issue. I remember Andy really liking that pic, which really stoked me out. He was by far my favorite surfer to shoot. Very spontaneous and creative surfing, which made him exciting to shoot. I would sit in the pouring rain to shoot him surfing, and felt he was always on the verge of pulling the craziest maneuver. Kauai is just not the same without him around. 1/1200@F8 ISO 200. Shot with a 500mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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I enjoy spending the summer fishing from my Jet Ski. I mounted a Gripstick Pro mount on the sled hooked up to the GoPro Hero 3+. I am heading back to the harbor near my house after a wonderful afternoon sojourn. Photo: Mike Coots
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Bethany Hamilton shot at sunrise in Hanalei Bay. My inspiration right there! 1/125@f5.6 ISO 250. 35mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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This is probably my favorite shot I have taken in the water. Kiron Jabour during the Backdoor Shootout. I won't lie, it's tough and very nerve-racking swimming at Pipe with one leg. My prosthetic is a total anchor and, with the ability to only wear one swim fin, can make it difficult. I started out shooting the small and medium-size days a few years back. One of the worst situations is getting caught inside and watching all the other photographers around you swim to safety in the channel. I feel like I am dragging an anchor (my prosthetic) going nowhere as the water gets shallower around me and then begins to boil. Then I know I am in for it and brace for a lip to the head. It feels like my heart is jumping out of my chest. Been smoked out there a bunch, all on the small and medium days. I had to push through that fear, and this image is a bit of a reward for overcoming those difficulties. 1/1250@f11 ISO 200. 70-200mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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Not sure who this is, but it was shot in the evening at OTW. 1/2000@f5.6 ISO 400. 500mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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The prosthetic and leash have a love/hate relationship. I use a leash so that if my prosthetic gets ripped off, it will stay attached to my board to be easy to retrieve. It also wants to tangle around the aluminum ankle I am wearing many times a surf session. I have gotten very adept at using my good toes to untangle the tangle right before taking off. Shot with the the Hero3+ GoPro using a Gripstick Pro Mount. Photo: Mike Coots
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This is one of those times where you have to anticipate the moment. Although I was working for Quiksilver as a staff photographer, it takes a bit of instinct to know when he will show up to surf. I had a Quiky grom hold my strobe off camera, and got this moment near the water's edge at Pipe. There are about 40 people surrounding him, but with the magic of composition, you can remove those unneeded elements. Profoto 7B at full power, 1/200@f16 ISO 100. 70-200mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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This is Dane Gudauskas at small Pipe. Although this image looks like its been "photoshopped," it has not. A gorgeous sunset balanced with a single1200WS Profoto strobe popped at full power. I enclose the flash in contractor bags, and my assistant wears it in a backpack. If the backpack strap breaks (the flash setup is almost 50lbs), the contractor bag will hopefully prevent any electrical shock as the assistant often is wading in the shoreline to get the light source as close to the subject as possible. A bit dangerous in a way. You have one shot at full power, so it's exciting to anticipate the action and see what transcribes on the LCD after the shot is taken. 1/200@f11 ISO 400. Shot with the 70-200. Photo: Mike Coots
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Shot from a helicopter mid-afternoon at Pipe. Shooting from a heli is a bit tough as the pilot can't hover and wait for sets. Large loops from Waimea to Sunset are needed to not piss off the homeowners in the area. Always gotta keep moving. Communication is key with the pilot. If you are out of rhythm with your loops, you could very easily miss all the sets. Though Pipeline is the most photographed wave in the world, shooting from the sky can give it a different look and feel. 1/800@f8 ISO 125 Shot with a 70-200mm on the long end. Photo: Mike Coots
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Kelly at Backdoor on an early morning surf before the Masters started for the day. The beach was already packed, and I am sure a lot of people were wondering what this guy is doing laying on his stomach in the sand with a long lens. It must have looked random, like I was just shooting sand. I like the warm and cool tones of this image. 1/800@f5.6 ISO200. Shot with a 500mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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Top turn shot with the Hero 3+. This Merrick is a magic board given to me by Bethany Hamilton. GoPro made me this neat surf handle that works well. A bit akward to paddle with it in your mouth though as it feels like I am getting waterboarded. Photo: Mike Coots
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Bruce, backside no grab over a very shallow reef. That's his specialty. 1/1250@f8 ISO 200. Shot with the a 10-22mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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This was shot for Quiksilver. Shayne McIntyre night surfing Waikiki. On-camera flash with a 10-22mm lens. 1/15@F2.8 ISO 800 at 1/16 strobe power. The camera flooded seconds after this wave, and although the gear was lost the image was salvaged. Stoked. Photo: Mike Coots
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I got caught inside by this wave early this winter. It was bigger than it looks, and a few minutes later, I lost my prosthetic leg on a bad wipeout, never to be seen again. 10 grand on the bottom of the seafloor. The toughest part was driving my manual transmission truck home that day without a leg. And that's why I now wear a leash 100% of the time. Photo: Mike Coots
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Pipeline in all her glory. Shot with a 70-200 on the wide end. 1/1250@f11 ISO 200. Photo: Mike Coots
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Kamalei is one of my favorite althetes to shoot. He has a lot of talent and heart. I have probably shot him more than anybody else. Channel Island Surfboards sent him some SUPs and we had fun goofing around in the dark. Hardest part is getting the focus to catch. I shot it on another SUP without a water housing, but use a pelican case. On-camera flash shot at 1/200@f5.6 ISO 200. Photo: Mike Coots
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Underwater image of myself with the GoPro Hero 3+. Photo: Mike Coots
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Rob Machado mid-afternoon surf session on Oahu. 1/800@f8 ISO 200 Shot with a 85mm lens. Photo: Mike Coots
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Flynn Novak about to jump into the Ehukai Express. Shot from a helicopter. 1/800@f8 ISO 125. 70-200. Photo: Mike Coots
Experiencing the kind of loss that Mike Coots has might keep anyone else sidelined for life, riding the proverbial pine. Rather than wallow in self-pity, Mike turned every surfer’s nightmare into a life-changing personal gain. In fact, since having his right leg taken off by a tiger shark at his home break on Kauai, he flipped the situation 180 degrees. Instead of fearing, resenting and avoiding sharks, Coots lobbies for their conservation, dives with them and continues to surf the same spot he was attacked at the tender age of 18. Additionally, he helps lifelong friend and “sister” Bethany Hamilton with her foundation and provides counsel to amputees and victims of shark attacks. He also picked up surfing after his leg was removed and now tows into huge waves while wearing a prosthetic. To say that Mike made the best of a bad situation is an understatement at the very least. He considers the accident a blessing and is ready to do whatever he can to protect the animals that nearly took his life.
See Mike’s impressive portfolio, featured last week on The Inertia, above.
Can you recount the shark attack?
I was on this bodyboarding team and right after high school, we were all together. I was 18 at the time and it was early October. We went surfing on the west side of Kauai. There’s a military base out there and a pretty good surf spot we all went to.
I remember we all got to the beach. It was early in the morning and we all paddled out. I was on my bodyboard and it was about four feet or so. A nice set came through and all my friends caught waves. I think it was a five-wave set. Soon enough, it was myself and another guy out there. When the last wave came in, I remember looking at him and we looked at each other wondering who’s going to catch the wave, and I got on my board and started paddling and as soon as I made a motion, the shark came up and grabbed onto me. I didn’t see it coming from far away or anything, and it wasn’t a scary fin coming towards me. It was a blind-sided attack. Kinda like a submarine but vertical. It latched onto my leg and it started shaking me back and forth–I guess kinda like a pitbull would do with a doll.
During the back and forth motion, I remember feeling a lot of pressure on my legs like a big guy was sitting on me. I didn’t feel any pain or anything. After it swung me back and forth a couple times, I, with my left hand, punched it in its nose pretty hard. It let go of me instantly and went back under water. I got back on my board and I looked at my index finger and it was all bloody and I could see the bone and stuff sticking out. It looked like a split open potato. I was kinda freaked out. I was like, “Oh boy, I’m hurt.” After I looked at my finger, I looked up at the guy that I’d been jockeying with the wave for, and his face had gone completely white. I yelled, “Shark! Go in!” and he started paddling in and I paddled in behind him.
As I was paddling, my right leg started doing this shaking, like a total spasm. I distinctly remember thinking, “This is it. The shark’s getting me again and I’m toast.” I looked over my shoulder, and I didn’t see the shark, but I saw my leg just severed off completely. I had no idea I was even hurt, but my leg was just gone. You couldn’t have done a better amputation with a scalpel. It was just perfectly cut off. I remember seeing blood shoot out the middle every time my heart beat.
At that point, another wave came and I caught it and rode it right up to the sand and I tried standing up on the beach. Y’know, you’re used to standing on two feet your whole life and I remember falling over in the sand with blood everywhere. My friend Kyle saw this and ran up to me, dragged me up a little higher, took my leash off my boogie board and made a tourniquet instantly and he just started saying a prayer. I closed my eyes and I just remember praying with him and as soon as he finished the prayer, I opened my eyes and there was this pick-up truck right there. This guy Keith had seen it from far away. He had seen me in the sand and he threw me in the bed of the pick-up truck and we took off to the ER.
I remember going in and out of shock, real hot and cold, going in and out of consciousness. As soon as we got to the ER, these surgeons started running up to the truck and my body gave out. I woke up the next day and I was at our main hospital, post-surgery and everything. My family and friends were all there.
After that, I spent about a month out of the water because of the stitches and staples. I guess there’s a high risk of infections, so I had to wait until all that healed up and then I was back in the water just over a month later.
What went through your head as the shark was shaking you back and forth?
It wasn’t an out-of-body experience or anything. I was looking right at the shark. Your whole life in the ocean, you’re basically preparing yourself for that moment. I knew it was a shark attacking me. The punching (the shark in the nose) was totally instinct, that fight or flight instinct.
In Hawaii, we have centipedes. When you see one, you kind of get chicken skin. I remember having that exact feeling. The “get away from me” feeling where you feel that creepy sensation. I knew I just had to get away from the situation. Whatever I had to do–punch, kick, whatever. And it worked. As soon as I hit the shark, it released its grip on me and left me alone.
Do you remember being taken to the hospital?
Yea, actually we had the tailgate down and we were moving so fast that nobody thought to jump back there with me. I was laying by myself and the guy had his quiver of surfboards back there next to me, and I remember them being held in cloth board bag material. I was playing with the cloth to keep my mind off the injury, not trying to look down at my leg.
I was also looking out the back of the tailgate and we were moving really fast, passing cars and everything. At one point, we pass a girl and her mom and the tailgate is down and I’m missing my limb, blood everywhere, the whole tailgate covered in it. I remember looking at the mom and looking at the daughter and they pulled over, off the road, looking very disturbed. I remember thinking, “This isn’t good.” Y’know how you can kinda judge your injury on the expression of others? It was one of those things where I knew it wasn’t too good by looking at people’s reactions to seeing me.
