Pelicans on the hunt for a meal usually travel in groups as they sweep low over the waves in search of prey. This trio of pelicans, skimming over the rich blue waters of the Pacific Ocean on an early September morning, creates a horizontal thrust, echoing the flow of the soft waves that gather below them. Those waves are deceptive – the surf is running high, and the surging greenish wave anchoring the image at the bottom of the frame is far larger and full of foam. It is this contrast between the smooth horizontal glide of the pelicans and the massive horizontal crash of surf against a sandy beach that tells the story here.

In this, the final shot in my series of three pelican images, I contrast a hunting pelican looking for a fish, to the surfer floating below it, who is looking for a wave. Ultimately, this pelican found its fish and this surfer found her wave, but at this moment they pass in space and never notice each other. In my imagination, I see this pelican as a lookout for the surfer. It flies overhead, seeing in all directions, while the surfer rides the water, searching for the wave that will make her day. She found that wave just one minute after I made this shot. (See the following image.)

I tracked the surfer we saw in the previous two images as she was carried towards the shore upon a large wave. Suddenly, she lost her balance, and her ride came to an abrupt ending. This image captures that moment – her hand flies to her face, perhaps to prevent a mouthful of salty water. At 1/2000th of a second, my shutter speed reveals a layer of flying droplets hang in the air before the wave. The wave itself expresses the essence of this sport – pure energy – as it engulfs the surfer in its massive wall of water, spray and foam.

This image is a study in body language and expression. This surfer is coming right at us. His hands and legs are confidently positioned to maintain his balance, even as a frothy wave churns below his board, and an even larger wave looms in the background. His gleaming wetsuit is an indication that he takes this sport seriously and spends considerable time at it. The message here is a simple one: mastery.

Successful surfing requires an excellent sense of balance. To ride a moving board moving swiftly upon surging waves, a surfer steers with ever changing arm and leg movements. Staying the course is extremely challenging, and most surfing runs end with an abrupt dismount, such as we see here. Shooting at 1,4000th of a second, I was able to catch the instant when only a few of this surfer’s toes remain in contact with the board. His body becomes a study in imbalance, as he gradually falls into a virtually horizontal position. He echoes the horizontal thrust of the wave he rides, as well as my horizontal crop of the image itself.

I abstract the end of this surfer’s run by photographing him from behind and partially obscuring his body wth exploding foam. Even at this 1/4000th of a second shutter speed, I compose the image coherently, placing him in the upper right hand corner of the frame, within a context created by four alternating horizontal segments that flow through the image from top to bottom. The two segments filling the lower half of the image contrast with each other in terms of color and activity – the foreground wave at the bottom is active and greenish, while the segment running through the middle of the frame offers a stretch of calm blue water. The two segments in the top half of the image show even greater contrast. Another stretch of calm blue water appears at the very top of the frame, while the surging white wave embracing the surfer within it expresses the point of the image itself.