(The Mercury News) – Santa Cruz surf photographer Audrey Lambidakis has been aboard multiple boats this winter in an effort to capture fearless surfers attempting to tame the epic swells rolling through Mavericks, a heralded big-wave surf break off the coast of Half Moon Bay.
And while she has seen some headline-making successes — she captured images that went viral of Peter Mel getting barreled “in the wave of his life” on Jan. 8 — she has also witnessed plenty of body-jarring bails.
She has captured images of surfers getting chucked off the boards like rag dolls. They’re sent tumbling down the cascading face of the mountainous wave and smashed below the surface by a wall of water. CONTINUE