Unknown, South Coast

Photographers gots to make a crust. It ain’t all Mentawais shoots and saucy fashion photos – sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Though foremost a surf photog, Rod ‘Rodeo’ Owen tries his hand at a few different documentation styles – one o’ those being landscaping. It was on one of these landscaping jobs that Rod found himself being picked up by a chopper on dark for an aerial shoot. They hugged the coastline, sitting on 180 kph and heading towards the the shoot location – an area near Bateman’s Bay on the South Coast. It was somewhere in between Sussex Inlet and Ulladulla that Rod spotted this perfect left – only two guys on it, and pristine conditions to boot. Rod asked the pilot to climb to 250 feet and clicked off a few frames – one of which you see here. Though unsure of the secluded spot’s name, Rod’s vantage point offers a seldom-seen look at one of surfing’s most desirable scenarios – a glassy, sand-bottom session with just you and yer buddy. For more of Rod’s work, including profiles on Craig Anderson, Koby Abberton and others, check out his brand new website. – Elliot Struck