Legendary Hawaii surf photographer captures his own final moments

Story at a look

• Iconic Hawaii surf photographer Larry Haynes unexpectedly died after a browsing session on Thursday.

• On Sunday, his family and friends discovered the final moments of his life, which Haynes himself caught on video.

• “Right here it’s. He had this unbelievable life proper up until the top. He couldn’t have crammed any extra into his life than he did,” Haynes’ pal Brian Bielmann mentioned.

HONOLULU (KHON) — Hawaii is mourning the lack of an iconic native surf photographer, however his family members are taking consolation in seeing a few of his closing moments captured on digicam.

Simply weeks after filming water photographs on the Eddie Aikau Large Wave Invitational, Larry Haynes unexpectedly died after a browsing session on Thursday.

On Sunday, his family and friends discovered the final moments of his life, which Haynes himself caught on video. It was pure pleasure as he did what he liked.

“Right here it’s. He had this unbelievable life proper up until the top. He couldn’t have crammed any extra into his life than he did,” Haynes’ pal Brian Bielmann mentioned.

After a stand-up paddleboarding session at Hawaii’s Laniakea Seashore, Haynes collapsed within the parking zone.

“We had been so, so shocked. He simply did the Eddie Aikau with us. He did the Pipe contest. He does the whole lot with a smile; after which, we simply misplaced him. He caught a wave at Laniakea. And, then, he got here in and collapsed,” Haynes’ pal Mike Prickett mentioned.

Haynes was a surf photographer for 35 years, identified for his braveness and athleticism within the face of huge waves.

“He’s probably the most dangerous*** of all photographers ever of all time. He was such a bull. And, he would go anyplace and do something and don’t have any worry,” Bielmann mentioned.

In reality, he was taking pictures on the Banzai Pipeline Hawaii at Ehukai Seashore Park simply hours earlier than he handed.

Lifeguards referred to as Bielmann to gather Haynes’ board to present again to his household. There, he discovered a GoPro on the paddle containing the ultimate moments of Haynes’ legendary life.

“I went down and received it this morning and instantly took it residence and went on the pc,” Bielmann mentioned. “There should have been 40 recordsdata, and we appeared by all of them. And, then, he had plenty of, like, non-start sort waves and time and again and at last caught this stunning wave and rode it for a very long time. And, by the top of it, we had been cheering and yelling and crying — the entire the whole lot.”

A poetic means for him to go — capturing the magic within the water as he did throughout this yr’s Eddie.

Whereas associates shed tears at shedding him, they smile on the means he went out.

“It’s actually cool. Within the footage as effectively as a result of he will get his wave and proper earlier than he turns off the digicam he had this Larry smile that all of us knew from him,” Prickett mentioned. “I used to be like, that’s what made me begin crying.”

Haynes is survived by his daughter, Lilly.