All images copyright Ken Horton (c) 2009
Lightning in a Bottle To see lightning strick is an amazing coincidence of being in the right place at the right time. At the NSSA Easterns, I saw lightning strick. Not once, not twice, but three times. Lightning being a 10.0 surfing score. And the same surfer, Balaram Stack, scored all three. The first occurance was on Saturday during an open heat. I shot the sequence but I saw nothing but water. Sure he came out of the tube. But was it really a 10.0? The next time was the following day. I was in a position to photograph him during the experience. Once again, a 10.0. This time I agreed with the judges. I asked Balaram to pose for two pictures. One with 10 fingers extended, and one with his arms crossed (a Roman numeral 10). A half hour later, he went out in the Air Show competition and scored his third 10.0 of the competition. I wanted to ask him to pose again: this time with his 10 toes, 10 fingers and arms crossed. But I didn't press my luck. He still had one heat left, and how many times can you go back to the well? Well done, Balaram!