In light of the dwindling economy, there are still a few lucky (not to mention innovative and amazingly talented) buggers that got a shot at the mother load of breaks at Thurday’s Follow the Light Award ceremony. Follow the Light Foundation (FTL) was created in 2005 in honor of Larry “Flame” Moore. After nearly 3 years of battling brain cancer, the legendary surf photographer and photo editor of Surfing Magazine passed, leaving behind this foundation to help finance the dreams of surf photographers.

On the line this year were $5,000 clams and a coveted opportunity to go on a trip with the Surfing Magazine crew. We can only imagine that this trip will include the best surfers in a location the rest of us only dream about. But the paper doesn’t come without the chasin’. In addition to the contestants’ undeniable talent, they were required to submit essays that covered their passion for surf photography to proposals for what they would accomplish with the grant money. The competition was tough this year with over 60 entries, but it was narrowed down to these 5 lucky finalists:

Ryan Craig, Santa Cruz

Todd Glaser, San Diego

Zak Noyle, Hawaii

Shawn Parkin, San Clemente

Pat Ruddy, Florida

An in-depth look at the finalists’ work, memorable words from Aaron Chang and some kine mac salad from Nalu’s were followed by the announcing of the winner by Candice Moore. Congratulations to Todd Glaser, the recipient of this years grant! Start getting used to hearing his name, because this guy’s got more talent than M.J. has nose jobs.