Photo: Shawn Tracht // Surfer: Scotty Swenson

This night was, and still is, and always will be special to me.  It’s the night I finally did it, I finally bought my professional surf photography rig and committed to myself that I wanted to be a professional surf photographer for the rest of my life.  Earlier that day I slapped the money down on a Canon 7d and a water housing setup that I had been eyeing for sometime.  Don’t think equipment is key?  Think again.  Try surfing Pipeline on the wrong surfboard and you may not come back.  Try entering into the professional photography scene with less than pro equipment, and be prepared for rejection.

I’ve read stories in surf magazines, one in particular in Slide magazine, about the two guys who quit their legit careers, said screw it, and ran off into the sunset of waves and oceans and fat barrels with their photography rigs and built a famous water photography company.  That was so bad for me!  Seriously!  I have a family and a job that supports us and won’t leave that, but this photo, and my new camera set-up give me a taste of freedom and allow me to dream, and maybe someday, when the kids are out of the house, I’ll take that chance and give up the day job and just shoot photos, surf, and get sun burned for the rest of my life!  This is just the beginning.

This photo now hangs on the wall of a friend’s house and has been featured on Surfline, and to think it was from my first session out with my new camera setup.  I am so surfer stoked.  And I am sooo in!  There is no way way out from here, and it’s right where I want to be!