Todd's World

The weather radio was on in my office the other day and the only part of the forecast I heard was seas 8 - 12'. With remnants of Hurricane Ida rolling into town this weekend I had a feeling that the phone would ring soon.  Sure enough my friend and athlete Todd Swinton called.  "Waves are going to be large is all he said.  I knew what that meant, meet Todd at one of the local beaches pre dawn!  In Todd's world things happen quickly and always happen early.  I met Todd about three years ago when he was working at the Portland EMS store. Since then our friendship has grown closer and we have shared a number of great adventures on land. Now let me set this straight, I don't surf.  I love the canoe and sea kayak but large crashing waves are not for me.  I have a healthy respect for the sport and admire those that are able to do it well.  Todd is a fantastic athlete in the water and in the mountains and the kind of guy you want to have on your team when things get ugly.  Photographing him is always a pleasure as I know we are always going to come out with some solid images.  With Ida's ocean swell hitting the local beaches, Todd thought the surf at Higgins Beach was going to be the place to be.  I arrived before 6:30am and was lucky enough to see a glimmer of the sun as it rose.  In a flash the sun was gone.  I caught up with Todd a little bit as he slithered into his wet suit.  Once he gets suited up the next stop is the water.  I always have be quick with the camera because before I know it he is paddling out to the surf.  On land I watch and photograph him carve up the waves and stare out at the ocean imagining what a rush that must be to ride a large wave... With the approaching winter usually means the best waves here in Maine and Todd does not stay out of the water when the mercury drops below freezing.  Ida was just a warm up for more to come.  Todd is pictured in numerous images in the portfolio galleries of this web site.