This month, photography publisher Insight Editions released "The Finest Line,” by big-wave surfer Rusty Long. The coffee table book chronicles all the best big-wave spots and surfers in the world with large, brilliant pictures by some of the top surf photographers. We caught up with Long to get a bit of backstory on a few of our favorite shots.
Photo: “This is during the Code Red swell, which was a historic swell that coincided with the a World Championship Tour contest,” says Long. “That was one of the biggest, rawest, most ferocious days ever towed into out at Teahupo’o. People put themselves in positions that were really dangerous and as extreme as it gets. It was a tow-in only day. All the guys that really live for Teahupo’o flew in for that day. It upped the ante in the sport.”