We all have those days: your leash is perpetually wrapped around your foot. Your toes are always bent in the wrong direction. Your hair is in your face. Your style is nowhere to be found. Your rail digs on every turn. You speed past every barrel. You bog through every section. But once in a blue moon, the opposite happens — every set wave comes your way. Every wall lines up perfectly. Every tube provides an exit. Every air is landed clean. Every turn is completed gracefully. Every element of the dynamic surfing experience is in sync — for a short time, life is about as good as it gets.
To be sure, those days are fleeting. But when they occur, we relish every minute of ‘em, attempting to hold on tight to that special feeling generated by the perfect nexus of swell, wind, tide, and physical performance. Which is where our Career Sesh feature comes in. Of course, we’re setting the bar high with this debut by profiling Virginia Beach, VA, native Michael Dunphy and his particularly epic March 25th session in Newport Beach, CA. We’re talking big frontside and backside hacks, successful barrels, and clean, well-rotated, properly executed airs, all captured in one sitting on a bright, sunny, wave-filled day with every technical requirement met on the photo end. See below for a short intro from Dunphy and photographer Joe Foster, and then click through the slideshow for input from each about this particularly perfect day. And next time you find yourself in solid swell with a photog tracking your every move, hit us with the Career Sesh goods to see if your performance is up to snuff.
MICHAEL DUNPHY: “After getting back from Australia for a month, I was out in California waiting for the 4-Star [Vans Pier Classic] to happen in Huntington Beach. That time of year always seems to be fun with mixed-up swells that are way peakier than normal — kind of like the East Coast. It was definitely one of the better days I’ve surfed in Newport over the last couple years."
JOE FOSTER: “This day in Newport was not too crowded; Dunphy stays at Chase Wilson’s house and can see the waves from there, so it’s an advantage for sure. We got this day so fun and he was just surfing insane, from barrels to airs to cutties with perfect lighting and no wind. We couldn’t have asked for more and Mike was the right guy to be shooting this rare fun day."
