Wakeskater Nick Robinson takes off from the start dock at Battle Falls in Groveland, FL, the fourth stop of the 2012 Wakeskate Tour.
Garrett Cortese

About the shot
Biography
For the past decade I've been able to combine my two passions in life as a career: wakeboarding and photography. Growing up boating with my family in the waterways throughout Northern California, I discovered wakeboarding just as photography was becoming a serious passion. In 2005 I was hired to work full time as an editor and photographer for Alliance Wakeboard Magazine and made the move to Orlando, FL, which has been my home the past eight years.
Working for Alliance has given me a backstage pass to the worlds of wakeboarding and wakeskating, as well as the unique cast of riders who make the sports so special. To be behind the lens documenting it all - from progressive new moves to bonfire hangout sessions on a lake shore - has been a tremendous blessing. Years ago I told my mother that I don't have a job, I have a lifestyle. I'm fairly certain that holds true today and I wouldn't trade it for anything.