Wave of the Week

Well, I'm back in California and working on a lot of new projects. And it was great to come home to a stack of mail containing a bunch of paychecks! Here's a photo of Off the Wall from the Red Bull house when 3rd reef Pipeline was breaking. Big and chunky...kinda like Campbells soup, but less of Terrell Owens and more of his pain and punishment.

Brown Barrels

Well, the power went out all last night. I guess it made national news because Obama is staying on the island. Pretty quiet on the North Shore, but all this rain has made the water an ugly color. Brown barrels at Backdoor looked more like Mexico than Hawaii. A lot of people got sick from swimming in ocean the past week. The flooding washed all kinds of trash and chemicals into the sea.

Hobgood, Off the Wall

Backdoor during the Pipe Masters

Mele Kalikimaka

Check out this interview I did with a surf website called SpongeWars based out of Israel. Also, I just read in the masthead of the new issue of Surfer Magazine I'm listed as a Senior Photographer alongside the likes of Sean Davey, Art Brewer, and Jeff Divine. Super pumped!!!

http://spongewars.com/v3e/?p=949

Swimming at solid Off the Wall with the new HCW waterhousing...Keep your eyes peeled for the Hawaii issues of Surfer and Surfing Magazine out soon! photo//Sangiolo

Wave of the Week

Check out late afternoon green colors! My feet were touching the reef when this thing heaved over...It's pretty rare to see a wave pass by empty during the WCT madness in Hawaii.

Low tide Pipeline

Swell Coming?

Thank God there is a little bump on the swell radar maps because I'm going stir-crazy in Hawaii. But I suppose palm trees and sunshine is better than any day back in the states when it's snowing in SoCal and Vegas...
Stay warm my friends; the waves are coming...

Brazilian Buses

Matt Lackey sent this sighting to me the other morning from somewhere in Brazil. The photo is from my last trip to Mexico swimming in the pit with Derek Dunfee. Still not sure who took it to end up on the side of a city bus, but pretty classic nonetheless!

Wave of the Week

The colors of Waimea Bay draw a lot of photographers, and usually I shoot tight-cropped empty wave photos with a 600mm for stock imagery. This afternoon I decided to take a step back and shoot from across the river in an effort to capture the whole scene.

Postcard from Paradise

Surfline was loving a sequence I took of Pat Guadaskas at Pipeline. The wave spit hard and it threw him off balance and we almost collided in the impact zone. I posted it earlier this week, but this is in a flash slide show, so it's really rad to see it autoplay like a movie and see what it was like as he was flying at me. View slide # 10
http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/freesurf-highlights-from-two-days-of-perfect-surf-on-the-north-shore-postcard-from-paradise_21095/photos/1/

Summertime & the Living is Easy

The other morning as soon as I got out of the water I removed my camera from the waterhousing, traded the fisheye for a portrait lens, and headed back towards the surf team houses at Off the Wall. This beautiful girl Summer wanted me to shoot her custom cruiser bicycles on the North Shore bike path. We bounced some ideas off of each other and picked outfits. That was the most daunting part, because she probably owns more bathing suits than a surf shop. The white summer dress was perfect for that wholesome look, but of course my suggestion for a skimpy bikini attracted several creepy lurkers on the sidelines. Overall, we were both very happy with the images and had a blast!

Sequence Mania

Hawaii has been amazing... Usually this early in the season it's characterized by rain and clouds, but it's been sunny with offshore winds! And this morning I can hear the waves breaking on the shelf across the street. Time to go for a swim. More to come...

Swimming at Pipeline photo//Stallard

Working hard this week! photo//Roy

Wallpaper Paste

The emails don't stop about this wave. I've even had offers from random people to pay me to take them here! Surfer Magazine ran it as a 2 pg. spread, and now you can set it as your desktop wallpaper. Enjoy.
http://surfermag.com/photos/wallpapers/

The 4 Year Photo

The other night there were 10 water photographers and no one shooting land, so I took advantage of the situation. I've been trying to get this photo since I started shooting; can't believe it's been less than 4 years. Kalani Chapman, speed blur blowout at Pipeline.

Wax On Wax Off

I've been seeing some incredible surfing the past couple days. There are so many candidates for Wave of the Week; I've even been saving heinous wipeout images as well. So during the time in Hawaii each week I'll post an incredible wipeout. Here's one at Off the Wall. For every photo from Kodak Reef that looks like it's an insanely perfect barrel, here's the reality. 6' to 8' closeouts with lava rock waiting only a few feet below.

Dual Angle

Surfer Magazine’s Assistant Photo Editor, JP Van Swae, was in the channel documenting the great swell that hit the North Shore this week. In the foreground you can see me shooting with a shorter lens amongst 30+ photographers. Owen Wright driving through the barrel with balmy evening colors…

Photo//JP Van Swae

Good to Epic

Cool vintage gear I won this week on Ebay:
1. Limited edition Reeboks with the pump action tongue
2. Yashica T4 Super D with waist level super scope and Carl Zeiss lens
3. Polaroid 203 Passport Camera
4. Fuji GA645zi medium format *rare black version*

Swell report doesn't get any better for Hawaii!

Camping poolside w/Johnny. Life is good.

Black Friday

Fresh NW swell hit Hawaii on Black Friday. Shallow, thick, and very dangerous. There were a couple casualties that day starting with Rasta in the AM, and then Aamion Goodwin in the afternoon. I shot this photo and raced back to the pad for my waterhousing. There were 30+ photographers shooting in the channel, everyone from the beginner to the legends. Yet somehow I managed to get a unique angle by using a different lens. More to come...

Pipeline

The Metamorphosis

Each month many of my photos are passed over by editors because they’re empty waves, lacking a corporate logo, or backlit leaving the rider indistinguishable. It’s frustrating, because I find myself wanting to shoot issues and moody scenes that aren’t suited for editorial, but rather art galleries. Opening night is really rewarding for me because at an exhibition I can see people’s emotional reaction to my work. Awe, fear, curiosity, elation, etc. are expressed individually or often all at once.

I took a step back and looked at all of my peers who have shot magazine work exclusively for their entire careers and then transitioned into fine art when the opportunity presented itself. But what do they have? A body of work spanning numerous decades filled with logos and commercialism. They’ve suited the purpose for the publishing company to pump out more magazines and barely keep their heads above water. Perhaps the push for art galleries should have come sooner…
I’ve already received quite a few emails stating that (aside from the swimming in the waves) I’m beyond crazy to want to leave my job at Surfer Magazine. Paid trips, insta-credibility, and most of all a monthly salary in a roller coaster industry. I’m not Vincent LaForet, but people said the same thing when he left The New York Times…and then his entire career skyrocketed. I’m leaving Primedia on good terms, and appreciate all the opportunities they gave me. Grant Ellis, JP Van Swae, Rick Irons, and the whole crew treated me like family. The world is going through a lot of changes right now. I am too; not only as a photographer, but also as a person.
The independence of being a freelancer feels amazing, I’m working on an amazing project and creating images in my own style. I’m having fun shooting again; it feels like a re-awakening. Numerous art gallery curators requested meetings with me before Hawaii, and my postcard promo had a great response in SoHo. This is an exciting time; thanks to all my friends and colleagues for their advice and support. I’m looking forward to the next 6 weeks in Hawaii and the future in 2009!