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Alex Smith, Salt Creek, US

“The Smith brothers have been in town since the El Salvador ASP comp and I’ve been trying to link up with them on this little pulse of waves we’ve been having,” says photographer James ‘Jimmicane’ Wilson. “The hurricanes down south of Baja have sent some fun, super angled SSE swell. This is from the second storm. The first storm sent pumping waves to Lowers last week but we raided the place with costumes and foam boards for two hours. Seriously the most fun time ever.” Maybe not so fun for the people that were surfing when the raiders turned up, but awesome either way. If you haven’t seen the mayhem, watch it here.

But, on the day y’see pictured here: “There were a few fun ramps out there. The highlight though, came from when we were walking down to the beach. We heard a guy yell from the parking lot ‘You’re a day late fags!’ We look back and sure enough, it was Christian Fletcher rousting us because apparently we blew it.”

Photographer profile

Jimmy Wilson

Jimmy Wilson. Jimmicane. Jimbrodamus. Which blows your hair back? Take your pick and strap in, ’cause Jimmy rides bumpy. You want the truth? Jimmy will give you his truths in the blink of an eye and won’t apologise if it stings. Opinions are nothing on their own, so the 26-year-old certainly has the skills to back up. A good photo, for Jimmicane, is ineffable. “You know right when you lay your eyes on it,” he says. One such photo was the image of Kelly Slater’s full-rotation air-reverse during the Quiksilver Pro, New York against Taj Burrow. “It was rewarding to get such a special image with literally hundreds of other lenses shooting the same maneuver. Also the fact that I’m from the East Coast and that was an iconic event and iconic air by the greatest surfer of all time. I feel very fortunate.” And if you ask Jimmy where surf photography’s headed, it’s a simple answer: “iPhones”.

More photos from Jimmy Wilson