How I Photographed a Surfer Through a Santa Cruz Stairwell
Some photographs find you before you find them. The Stairwell is one of those. I made it in Santa Cruz, California, in early summer 2026, on a road trip down Highway 1, in a stretch of coast I used to call home. I lived in Santa Cruz for five years, and I have been surfing since I was eight, so when a run of strong south swells lined up with my trip, I knew exactly where I wanted to be. Here is how a concrete stairwell, a stubborn tide, and one rider added up to this print.
This print comes from Santa Cruz, CA during the string of summer swells in 2026. I noticed the wave aligning with the stairwell while scouting a place to surf. At the time, nobody was surfing the wave, but I decided to head back to my van for the camera.
I waited for almost an hour in the stairwell for a surfer and wave to align.
Thankfully, I stuck out the wait as I love this image.
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I was not hunting for a single frame. I was revisiting old haunts, checking some of the well known breaks around town and a few of the quieter local spots I got to know over the years. Surf spots have a way of staying in your head, and I wanted to see how they looked in a big south swell. Somewhere along that loop, I walked into a stairwell I had not planned on, and I looked out.
The frame was right there. A sunlit brick wall on one side, a shadowed wall on the other, and a clean gap in between that opened onto the ocean. The walls did all the composing for me. I could see the photograph before I could take it. There was only one problem. Nobody was riding the wave, and the tide was not right yet. The picture was missing its subject.
There was a second problem. I did not have my camera. So I ran back to the van, grabbed my Sony and my Tamron 70-180 G2, and hurried back to the stairwell. Then I did what you learn to do when you shoot waves. I waited. The stairwell is concrete, about ten feet tall, and it takes five to seven steps and then a scramble over rocks to reach it. I stood there for right around an hour.
I will tell you, an hour is a long time to stare at an empty frame. But the ocean is on its own schedule, and surfing and photography both reward patience. Slowly, the tide began to change, and the wave started to pick up. It stood taller. It peeled with more shape. And then, in the late morning, a surfer dropped in.
I was about 100 to 200 yards from the rider, working alone, and I was zoomed in to 159 millimeters, which let me stay on land and still bring the wave close. When the surfer set a line into the barrel, I pressed the shutter. The wall on the left glowed gold in the sun, the water behind it was green and glassy, and the blurred leaves at the top corner softened the edge of the frame. That was the shot.
What I love about this photograph is how little I had to invent. The stairwell gave me the frame, the swell gave me the wave, and the tide gave me the timing. My job was to be present and ready, and to stay long enough for everything to line up. If I had walked past on a different day, or left after twenty minutes, I would not have this picture.
A word of caution, since I know people are curious about places like this. Access to coastal spots can be tricky, rocks near the surf are slippery, and waves are powerful and unpredictable. Respect any signs, stay well back from the water, and never turn your back on the ocean. I am keeping the exact location to myself, as many surf photographers do.
The Stairwell is a horizontal print, and it is an open edition. I try to sign each one, though I cannot always guarantee it. I think metal makes the green water and the golden brick really pop.
Go check out all the prints by Dalton Johnson.
About the Author
Dalton Johnson is a photographer, writer, and filmmaker who tells stories about real people pushing themselves in the outdoors, from the High Sierra to the far reaches of every continent. He has shot and written for brands, tourism boards, and editorial outlets, including Nike, Patagonia, Four Seasons, PBS, GoPro, and Ford, with more than 160 campaigns and hundreds of published articles to his name. Off assignment, he bikepacks, trail runs, swims open water, chases big waves, and rock climbs.
