Lion-hearted and hawk-eyed, perennially shirtless and charismatic, Nate Smith brings a certain roguish heroism to the art of shooting surf photos.
He’s a master of seeing little moments evolve in the seconds before they manifest, powerful moments, ephemeral moments, gold, blue and black moments, moments encountered while swimming at Pipeline on the biggest day of the season or moments in the back of a limousine with a newly-crowned world champion. Those familiar with his work can pick a Smithy shot at 20 paces, which, I suppose, is what every kid exploring the world through a camera lens sets out to one day achieve.
In 2010 Nate won two international awards in the prestigious Red Bull Illume Image Quest, considered the world’s greatest adventure and action sports imagery contest. Nate was flown to Dublin Ireland to accept his awards for best Close Up image and also Athletes Choice Award.
Nate is still hunting the perfect shot to this day.