Versatile California-born photographer, heralded in the 1970s for his tight-angle water shots taken mostly on the North Shore of Oahu. Wilkings was born (1946) in Hollywood, California, raised in Hermosa Beach, began surfing in 1958 and taking photographs in 1964. Original surf photographer LeRoy Grannis, also from Hermosa, was Wilkings' informal mentor. He became a Surfer staff photographer in 1971, after receiving a B.F.A. in photography from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and moved to Hawaii. Wilkings developed and managed the photo archive at Surfing Heritage and Culture Center.