Surfing at Sunset

As I stood on the beach shooting the sunset last month in Carlsbad, Calif., I kept an eye on this guy between shots. He would paddle out on his board, wait for the wave (as he’s doing in this shot) and then try to ride it the 50 or so yards back to the beach. Then, he would do it all over again. I don’t recall him ever actually standing up on the board; the waves just never got big enough for that.

I must admit, I just don’t get surfing. Maybe it’s the doing the same thing over and over that turns me off, or maybe it’s the part where you get wet and smell like seaweed; I don’t know. But he seemed to love it; and he probably looked up at me taking photos of the sunset and thought that looked boring. To each his own. It’s what makes the world go around, I guess. And besides, if he didn’t like surfing, I wouldn’t have snapped this great shot. So we both won in the end.