Secret Spot

Blacks 2013

Autumn Afternoon

Supersession

With the temperature in the greater southern California region reaching over 100 degrees for multiple days in a row, I was searching for anything to do to cool off. After sitting at physical therapy for a my knee watching Surflines live feed of Lowers going off with all the world tour surfers in town for the Hurley Pro which started on Sunday, I knew I needed to get in on that action.

The line up was one of the most talent ridden that I have every personal experienced. There was the young guys like John Florence, Julian Wilson, and Gabriel Medina blowing up as well as the veteran slayers like Freddy P, Mick Fanning and Christian Fletcher. Oh and some guy named Kelly was catching every set wave and throwing giant full rotation backside threes.

Labor Day Swell

After two weeks of flatness and weird weather, seeing a forecast with a solid south swell coming and good weather had me and many other surfers up and down the coast salivating. It was, however, Labor Day weekend, which meant a lots of people and not a lot of parking. Due to a recent knee injury, I didn't feel strong enough to spend the entire weekend shooting in the water so I decided to rent a 400mm lens for the weekend and mainly shoot with that. I hadn't shot from the beach in a while so it was a good refresher and practice.
The first day of the swell I drove down to Trestles to meet up with my brother and a few other friends from San Diego. After parking the farthest I've every parked at the top of the trail and getting down to the beach, I was stoked to see the guy suiting up next to me was Gabriel Medina, who won the Nike Pro at Lowers a couple months ago. He proceeded to go catch more waves and land more airs in such a short period than anyone I've ever seen, which made my job really easy.

I spent the next two days shooting in at 56th St in Newport and Northside Huntington Pier with Bryan Van Arsdale. Bryan is always a standout at Northside so it was fun working together all weekend with him. Both days were a little bit frustrating due to the variety of swell in the water at the same time which made the waves a bit wonky and not working to their potential. Despite these factors, we were able to get some decent shots.

Well I hope you enjoyed the pictures from this weekend. I'm having my knee looked tomorrow so hopefully its nothing too serious and I won't be out of the water for long. Until then, thanks to everyone who helped me out this weekend.

Escaping the Madness that is the US Open

Ah the US Open...a whirlwind of concerts, parties, thousands of the smallest bikinis a man has ever seen, a city rising from the sand complete with its own skatepark, and a surf contest thrown in to give its some legitimacy. I've tried to document the contest for the last couple of summers and I've tried every possible approach for someone who doesn't have any industry connections and can't gain a VIP access (though I've been working my butt off recently to try and make that happen). Its frustrating to have to deal with the daily morning overcast skys and the blown out chop that happens in the afternoon, making it hard to find a window to get a good photo. I only went a shot a few days out in the water on the northside, hoping to catch some of the competitors out practicing. Didn't get too much luck this year with waves, however. Slow, fat rollers on the high tide.

 The first day of the little swell we had, I shoot with my lens at 35mm opposed to the 16mm to try and give myself some forgiveness in terms of positioning. The current runs pretty strong on south swells and I tend to find myself doing laps in order to stay on the peak. This was one of the only decent shots of that day. I haven't shot in the water in while, so I was a bit rusty. Hopefully I can get some better waves and try out some different lens and techniques soon because the lens I'm using now is really more effective when the waves have a bit more size and fill out the frame more.

Nike Lowers Pro

Spent a few days last week making the long walk down to trestles (which is a pain in the ass with a bunch of camera gear I learned) for the Nike Lowers Pro. I went down there intending on documenting the contest for a documentary class at my school to focus on the corporate sponsorship and the recent changes in the surfing industry but it didn't turn out as strong as I thought it could. Maybe I'll focus more on it in the future.

Shooting from the water at Lower Trestles is a lot more difficult than I originally thought it would be. I think next time I go there I'll try to shoot with a longer lens and maybe use a boogie board to sit off the peak and raise my perspective a bit.

Michel Borez boosting on the inside.

Yadin Nicol wrapping one around

Cory Lopez going huge backside

Tanner Guadauskas

Dane Reynolds not looking to pleased to be doing another interview after his heat win

Sean's Swell

Drove up to the OC to catch the recent swell at a spot that never breaks unless its huge. And boy did it deliver. Stand up barrels throwing thick right on the sand.

 Billy Hopkins pulling into some dredgers

 Bryan Van Arsdale getting a mean one while Eric Tomlinson cheers him on.

 Quinn McCrystal