"This is a very similar angle and set up to a photo I shot a few years ago that was awarded Photo of the Year by SURFER. This was actually taken two years later and it really depicts just how varied nature can be. You have the heaving tube with Kalani Chapman, the double rainbow, the mountains, and the rain. They're all lined up and working together." Photo: Noyle
"This photo of Jamie O'Brien was used as a SURFER cover. It was my first SURFER cover and it was taken on my first trip for SURFER in Tahiti. This photo will always be special to me for that reason." Photo: Noyle
"I took this photo of Slater and Reef McIntosh during the Eddie. The people behind the event asked me if I wanted to swim Waimea during the event and, being young and naive, I said yes. Turned out two other people declined it before me. It was pretty nuts. I was terrified, but to be given a front-row seat to such a special event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Photo: Noyle
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ZAK NOYLE
"I love this angle. You have Jamie O'Brien going switch at Pipe and you can make out the other photographers on the shoulder. For this shot, I was actually swimming back out and just turned around really quickly as the wave broke and Jamie flew by. I actually didn't even know he was going switch until I looked at the images later that night."
"This is Makua Rothman at Pipe. I love the color of this image. When I took it, I was actually caught inside from the wave before and was trying not to get pounded. So as I was swimming back out, I saw Makua on this gem. I guess getting caught inside for this moment was both a blessing and a curse." Photo: Noyle
"This is Danny Fuller at Teahupoo shot with an over-under rig. We flew down to Tahiti thinking it was going to be big, but the swell never really materialized when we got there. So we decided to get a little weird and played around with this over-under rig and got some amazing results that wound up being used as a feature in SURFER." Photo: Noyle
"This image of Zeke Lau was taken in Honolulu and is a really different perspective than I normally shoot. I wanted to really put the viewer in the water, so I was going for angles that were similar to what you would see if you were paddling out to the lineup." Photo: Noyle
"Randall Paulson, who is pictured here on a huge wave at Pipe, was the first person to show me the ropes at Pipe. I think I was 20 or 21 and he taught me where to swim, where to sit, and what to look for when you're shooting Pipe. So to be able to get a shot like this of a guy that helped me so much feels really good. Thanks again, Randall." Photo: Noyle
"What a lot of people don't realize is just how close we, as water photographers, get to our subjects. This photo of Billy Kemper was shot this past winter and Billy actually hit my housing with his rail as he flew by. He was apologizing after and I told him, 'Don't apologize! I think we just got a really good one.'" Photo: Noyle
"What I love about this photo is just how green the water is. It's a photo of Dane Gudauskas on a really solid one at Pipe. I think it'd been raining for about a week straight, which gave the water at Pipe this odd green tinge. It contrasted really well with the blue sky overhead." Photo: Noyle
"I shot this photo of Stephen Koehne at Off The Wall during the Volcom Pipe Pro a few years back. A lot of the waves were closing out, but there were a few that were absolutely perfect. I was the only photographer shooting this session and it's one of the most memorable days of my life. At one point during this session, I actually lost my housing and camera with all of my photos. Thank God I found it." Photo: Noyle
"Early mornings and late afternoons are my favorite time to shoot Pipe. Typically, Pipe gets a little bit of morning sickness so it's not always good at first light. But this particular day, I had a feeling we would score so Danny Fuller and I paddled out at dark, hoping to get a few by ourselves. It was firing and the early morning light made the photo really unique." Photo: Noyle
