Imagine this wave more than double in size, but in the same shallow spot. Youthful exuberance, to put it mildly.

The Lineup

A skimboarder wins the day.

Photographers hard at work… and a body boarder, I guess he brought the whole quiver.

The press box shooting photos of… not much on this one, but always on the ready.

Patiently waiting at the right spot.

Jumping into the shallow end.

“You’re photobombing me… oh, this kind of works.”

One heads home for the day, while another is eager for a new set.

“End of the road boys.” Blackball is up, no more board surfing for the day.

The Wedge is a shorebreak in Newport Beach, CA that is famous in the surfing community. Reasons for its fame are simple; waves can get big and barrels thick and it all happens in maybe just a foot or two of water.

Bodysurfers and body boarders are common there, with the occasional deranged surfer. Dominating the set waves on this day were a group of skimboarders. They would launch very close to the jetty and catch a small swell that ricochet off the rocks. From there, they would pump their boards into the bigger peak over a sandbar just to their right. The whole point was to get covered in a barrel. They were great.

Plenty of local photographers were on hand, because it was opening day of the new season. Most of the photographers at The Wedge were using telefoto lenses and looking for the classic barrel shot. I was visiting from out-of-town, working on a different assignment, and did not have a zoom lens. I decided to instead see what I could do with a fixed 50mm lens and looked to document the whole scene, which included the gallery of photographers.