Heather Smith, A Lone Surfer (SINGLE SHOT 2026)

I turned around after having taken a family photo above this famous beach and saw this surfer alone with his thoughts and leaving only his footprints. Camera packed away, I grabbed my phone to capture this moment. The phone's RAW format somehow ended up giving this a painterly effect, and somehow it just worked.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.