Here’s a set from kiteboarding’s photog of the year, Bryan Elkus. I remember this being my favorite (haha and only!) Cape Hatteras session of 2009… Dylan Thompson, Jason Slezak, Brandon Scheid, Aaron Hadlow and I traded sunset laps on the REAL dock while Elkus shot with remote flash from the inside. It was one of those crazy Triple S evenings; steady southwest wind, insane sunset and plenty of friends calling bangers and close calls from the shore.

Real Dock: sketchiest easy feature in kiteboarding

The dock is a strange beast. In photos, it looks easy enough: small olly to 3-trex wide flat bar. What you cannot see is the section at the end, where the dock makes a 90 degree turn to the shore. This creates a nasty closeout section to the inside of the dock; fall to the inside and you’re going for a hospital status man hug with a barnicle covered bulkhead and dock. I still have the scars and ‘dent’ in my shin from a close call at the Liquid Force team shoot earlier this year, and have driven a number of friends to the hospital after similar encounters.

Most of this shot is Elkus. The lighting, the composure, the capture, the kite, the board, the boots, the...

She’ll make you, then she’ll try to break you. Final shot appeared in the 2009 coverage of the Triple S in SBC Kiteboarding mag. Big props to Bryan Elkus for making these insane evening shoots happen. Check out his work at his constantly updated website, or, if you own a kiteboarding magazine (not the kiteboarding magazine… any kiteboarding magazine) you’ll be able to peep a sample or two of his work.