Photo Submission by Jon Cornforth on May 03, 2012 - 17:05
Jon Cornforth
About the Shot
I created this image at Hamoa Beach near Hana, Maui in January 2011. I am fairly competent with an underwater camera housing, and I have done some boogie boarding during my lifetime, but it took a lot of dedication to fling myself into a breaking wave with my large housing in hand. I got thrown through the air and pummeled by waves more than you can imagine. My camera housing turned into a dangerous weapon during the out-of-control punishment inflicted by the larger and more photogenic waves. During one of my more memorable moments, I received a big gash to my right shoulder when my housing hit the bottom while I was cartwheeling through the water. I’m lucky that it did not hit my face. I shot several thousand terrible wave images that were almost immediately deleted. However, this fantastic wave breaking at Hamoa Beach near Hana is the most impressive from all my effort. I really like how I not only captured the breaking tube, but the wave momentarily looks like some type of prehistoric monster. I also like how I framed the entire composition in my normally recognizable wide-angle style.


