About a week ago (WEEK AGO), I paddled out to (what I thought was) an empty lineup. There weren’t many people driving around, on the beach, or on the boardwalk–strange for a beautiful late-Spring morning.

The surf looked aight and the rest of the week’s forecast suggested surfboarding wouldn’t be an option in the coming days.

Suiting up and walking closer to the water, I couldn’t tell if a seal had washed ashore or someone was randomly swimming at 6:45am on a weekday. After paddling out and catching a wave, I realized it was no seal, but a friendly dude called Evan Zodl.

This stoked individual decided he had enough energy to get up at dawn, suit up, and not surf but shoot a very average (but beautiful) day of waves. We chatted, linked up for a few shots, and by that time he was asking me, “Do you think it’s worth it to surf?”

I hesitantly said, “Yes,” wondering if I’d get “The Shot” before he put his camera away. I got out to work and he hopped back in to shred–leaving me totally unaware of his name and more importantly, Instagram handle.

Turns out we linked up a few more times: The photo gallery below is made up of average surfing and great photography by Mr. Zodl.

Gallery and Photos by Evan Zodl. Enjoy…