Mo Freitas, a local surfer and talented waterman from the North Shore of Hawaii, prepares to enter the brooding sea on an incredible day of surf at Log Cabins. Mo‘s adept skills from a childhood spent surfing Hawaii‘s massive waves allowed him to navigate the rigorous paddle out, before he proceeded to pull into some picturesque barrels.
When shooting surfing, I naturally gravitate towards shoot-ing from the water, where I feel most at home and my creativity unfurled. However, shooting from the drone has found a special place in my heart as of recently, allowing me to explore landscapes and seascapes for their textures and patterns, and to juxtapose humans against these incredible scenes. I often have a hard time pulling the trigger to capture the photo, as the surrealism involved with navigating what I‘m shooting from this angle still takes my breath away.
Morgan Maassen

About the shot

Biography
I am a photographer from Santa Barbara, California and was born in 1990. My interest in photography started in my teens after experimenting with my family's home video camera at the beach, goofing off with friends and exploring the central coast. I graduated high school early at the age of sixteen to concentrate and explore visual media freely and intensely via many different mediums. After working in the graphic design industry, I decided to pursue filmmaking and then photography as both a creative outlet and occupation.
Growing up in and around the ocean has provided me with my favorite subject to photograph. The majority of my work is water-related and involves the oceanic lifestyle. I've also frequently incorporated my passions of traveling, nature, architecture and fashion into my work. While I strive to capture what I see as beautiful, this is often not the perfect moment. Instead, light, textures, and the abstract nature of the earth are what truly fascinate me – the human element and the infinite variables of emotion keep me on my toes when working with people.
I consider myself an active participant in the digital age. The internet has allowed me to communicate, network and collaborate with people, places, and subject matter across the world. I enjoy working with both film and digital mediums, and motion pictures are the apple of my eye. I dream of nothing more than visiting the next new country, capturing whatever beauty it may hold.