Mike Morris has a house on a tranquil stretch of beach in southwest Florida . There are several nice surf breaks within a short distance and one that's right out the back door. It's every surfer's dream to live on a surf break and some, like Mike, work hard to make it happen. For others, like me, it's a privilege when we get invited to visit and for a moment we also get to live the dream. I've been fortunate to have the experience and visit homes in places like Playa Negra in Costa Rica or the Abacos. Each has provided a vastly different experience with one common bond. I was surrounded by really great people.

On this particular day I was on my way up the coast after spending Thanksgiving with my family in Naples and got a call from Mike that a swell was beginning to show at the beach house and I should exit I-75 and check it out. I'm always up for a surf session and I already had all my camera equipment in the car along with Golden Retriever Rusty. I was worried about the dog but Mike said he was welcome at his house and dogs were allowed on the beach so I then knew we were all going to have a killer time. There's plenty of room at Mike's house and he invited several others to come for a surf with Adam Hubschman, Chris Wilson, Jack Hail and his son Jackson taking him up on the generous offer. A few others declined thinking the waves wouldn't be very good and I'm sure they're going to be kicking themselves when they see these pictures. As you'll soon see Mike was right and the Gulf delivered some really fun surf. It wasn't the best conditions for photography because it was so overcast but I still managed to take a lot of shots of them surfing and some fun ones of my dog playing on the beach. Adam showed me how to find fossilized shark teeth right on the beach and that kept me busy between sets.

As you look through the galleries watch out for the thumbs with an orange border because this signifies that particular picture has it's own special gallery that contains a full sequence of pictures of that ride and a slide show of it. Look for the phrase " check out the sequence " in the top right hand side of the full size picture page of the thumb with the orange border and click that link. There's lots to check out in this special gallery of Mike's SWFL Beach House