Steve West loves photography. He also loves an adventure. So no one else could have been more excited to call me up for an invitation to model as a surfer in the middle of winter. Since adventure and photography are right up my ally, there was no hesitation in my response.

I packed a few articles of clothing and Steve came prepared with the surf gear, board, tent, and camera equipment. We drove out to Hayama, Yokosuka and parked the jeep at a cliff. The beach was down below and fenced off. We hopped over with the bags and heading down the first set of stairs to find the second set possibly destroyed by a tsunami. It was nothing with a little bit of urban rock climbing down the wall. We pitched a tent to keep the gear dry. Steve did his test shots. And I suited up.

Almost all surfing photographs on stock websites show the sun shining, beautiful waves, and a sexy woman in a bikini. Steve wanted an unattractive looking beach, no sunsets, rain, and a model that is not sexy. The concept was to capture the unwavering spirit of a surfer. By no means am I a professional surfer. I tried it for the first time this past fall and absolutely fell in love with it, so getting into the mood of wanting to surf felt quite natural for me.

Check out Steve West’s mecan.jp and his gettyimages portfolio.