Internationally recognized water sports photographer John Bilderback recalls 20 years on staff for SURFER Magazine and others, in a series of short essays accompanied by his award-winning photography.

WATER SHOTS, by John Bilderback is a collection of stories from decades at the forefront of big wave surfing. Waimea bay closeouts and Kauai locals, Sunset Beach and Silly String, true tales of life as a photographer in the wildest era on The North Shore of O'ahu. Featuring hundreds of images pulled from an archive spanning forty countries, and characters like Buttons, Kelly Slater, Johnny Boy Gomes, Garrett McNamara, Andy and Bruce Irons, Marvin Foster, Robby Naish, and many more. A frank, honest look from behind the scenes, told by a veteran of of the photographic film days, working for Aaron Chang, partying with Sir Richard Branson, living with Fast Eddie Rothman, crossing the equator with Nainoa Thompson, WATER SHOTS is more than just a collection of photographs. It is an anthology of adventures, and a broad portfolio of the work of an internationally acclaimed water sports photographer who accumulated some great tales while hunting great photographs.

Being 72.8% water, John Bilderback can look back on twenty years of photography in his element. "Over two decades shooting water shots for SURFER Magazine, I've worked with many of the bravest watermen in the world. Fearless, incredible athletes, who I respect immensely. I watched many surfers evolve into prominent figures on the frontiers of other water sports too. Yet of all the amazing things I've seen in my life, nothing compares to what I learned a group of totally selfless people were setting out to do in 2013. After two legs following Hokule'a and her crews around the world for a book project, I trained for 18 months and became a crew member. Being onboard was the greatest privilege of my life. It was the culmination of a long career built on a love for the ocean, and an ability to hold tightly to a camera. The stories in this book are behind the scenes of my photography, managing dangerous waves, aggressive locals, delicate situations and editors in far places, as well as the wild characters who've floated across my course. Twenty years, three passports, and forty plus countries shooting for SURFER Magazine, John Bilderback makes his home at Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu, with his wife and three children.