This weekend was just a little taste of what goes into shooting at Jaws. After a full week of checking reports, it’s safe to say the energy of this swell was in the air long before it actually arrived. And this is exactly why I got to the cliff with a couple photographer friends by 4 am Saturday morning, making sure we could set up camp in our usual spot for the entire weekend.
The swell was building fast throughout the day Saturday and that sunset session was a clear indicator of what was to come Sunday. That next morning, between 3 am and 7 am, we sat and counted 15 shooting stars in the sky; even in the dark, with no moon, you could see barrels spitting, plenty of whitewater, and lines stacking up on the horizon.
Then, Kai’s crew was first on it. It was still pretty dark by the time they were in the water and we could already see Kai getting whipped into waves. That was when I grabbed my wide lens just to get a different take on the sunrise. The result was a shot of Kai Lenny on an early morning bomb with a purple sky behind him. The entire morning session after that was absolutely insane. Guys were going for it left and right and it reminded me of the El Niño swells we had just a couple winters ago.
If that happens to be the last good Jaws swell of the season, I can honestly say I’m satisfied.
Note: You can find more from photographer Robin Ernst on Instagram here.
