Surf Widow of Another Kind

The colloquialism “surf widow” often refers to that innate reaction to hurricane swell that mysteriously forces you to drop everything you’re doing to travel and catch as many waves as possible. Your significant other (and family) is left in the wake as the metaphorical widow to take care of all the household duties – cook, clean, mow the lawn, pick up the kids, paint the house, fix the commode – you name it. But this article is dedicated to a surf widow of a different flavor altogether – your trusty and very unselfish surf photographer.

While you’re lacerating the lip, pulling behind the curtain, and otherwise carving a wave like a Jack-O-Lantern, these guys are sacrificing their time to capture our surf sessions, leaving family friends to fend for themselves just as we are. Surfs up in Hatteras? No problem – they will take day off to shoot. Eastern Surfing Association contest located a few counties away and held in boring, marginal surf? – You’ll hear no complaints from these guys. Going to a remote island to camp out for a couple days to catch it just right and spend some quality time with the State bird (the mosquito) in the process? – Done deal, they have their tent set up before you get off the boat. The surf photographer is everywhere and even spends more time afterward to load photos on the web for everyone to see. The monetary rewards are few and far between, but the passion lives for the next swell, whether it 2 or 10 feet. Even more amazing is that considering the fickle nature of our waves and generally sparse population, Bogue Banks may claim a higher surf photographer density than anywhere along the East Coast. Heck, some of these guys are just as good subjects for surf photography as they are photographers, and they still rather shoot than surf, i.e., they rip!!! So without further ado and by no means in any particular order, below is a list of our dedicated surf photographers. Go out of your way to thank these guys the next time it’s cookin’ out there, while meanwhile they are on the beach or are treading water for hours on end taking about a thousand shoots per session.

Brad Styron at http://www.bradstyronphotography.com/. – My good buddy and deserves a strong tip of the hat for igniting the surf photography revolution here along Bogue Banks in my humble opinion. His portfolio is A+.

Graham Hunt at http://www.surferphotos.com/. – Another real good buddy who always has a smile on his face. He travels well and is “in the know”.

Jarred Bell at http://www.islandvibephotography.com/. – Environmentally conscious and hard working. The phrase “Not afraid to travel” would be an understatement.

John Sudbrink at http://sudbrinkjj.zenfolio.com/. – Somehow squeezes in surf photography in the middle of serving in the military and raising family. Nice as heck too.

Jay Getsinger at http://www.jgetsingerphotography.com/. – Word dedication comes to mind. He lives in Winterville and likes to surf to say the least, but more times than not travels down to Bogue Banks just to shoot. Has some great nature shots on his website – loves the great outdoors.

Mike Boykin at http://mkboykin.smugmug.com/. – I don’t know Mike as well as the others to be quite honest, but no difference – he has skills. Some of his wildlife shots are mind blowing too.