A brief history of how I became the legend

Hi, I’m Roy Edlund, the OBX Beach Bum.

And that pretty lady with her arms wrapped around me is Sandie, my girlfriend of 42 years. Without her love and support, I’d just be an old guy on the beach, carrying a couple of cameras and muttering to himself.

Well, if I’m being honest, I guess I am that old guy, but I wouldn’t be as happy.

Together we are the OBX Beach Bum. And I owe any success as a photographer to her. She keeps the packages flowing and keeps our business going.

After losing everything in 2008, we struggled a bit and depression had taken a strong hold on me, until one afternoon as we sat on the bed I said to her, “if we’re gonna be poor, let’s be poor at the beach.”

So we moved to the Outer Banks in 2012.

I didn’t come here to be a photographer, in fact, I didn’t really have a plan at all. But I did spend nearly every day walking on the beach carrying my old canon camera and shooting whatever caught my attention.

I soon realized I was changing. Photography was healing me. I was becoming the man I always wanted to be. The pace of my life slowed, inner peace and joyfulness became the new normal.

I made the decision to keep shooting photos on the beach to continue this new path.

I soon had too many photos and decided to start posting them online under my new persona of the OBX Beach Bum. It wasn’t long before people began asking to buy prints.

So, this new life had begun and continues to grow. I’m glad you are a part of it.

Love from here. ❤