Brendon Gibbens, flirting with a Japan air, Portugal

German-born, Cape Town-raised Brendon Gibbens ain’t the sorta guy who is going to drown you in surf talk. “There’s a lot more to life than just surfing. The thing I love most about surfing is purely the action of surfing,” he says. “I’m not too sure what the name of the beach is but it was ridiculous as to how big the ramps were. Pretty difficult to find a good one but when you did you were locked into a six-foot power sandwich.” This photo, which ain’t a Japan but a slob with jitterbug rear foot was captured by the mountain goat-like Thomas Carey. Tom hiked across a river – more accurately, he was carried on the back of a pal so his clothes and cameras didn’t get wet – so he could ply his trade on a rock looking into the wave. Note: Tom used the 200-400mm Canon telephoto with the now ubiquitous Canon 1DX body, handheld. On the way back, and without a friend to mount, Tom removed all his clothes and carried his bag over his head. “I’m always crawling around over rocks to get shots,” says Tom. “I’ve damaged so many cameras and lenses just to get a better angle. Every once in a while you end up going down, sliding or eating shit, but it usually pays off.”