The US Open of surfing is best described as sheer chaos. The beaches, and town of Huntington Beach become so overrun with people that it simply making it from the waters edge back to the hotel becomes a test of skill and patience. This year, however, I was able to escape the madness for a bit and enjoy the view from high above. The people at Airship Ventures let me go up in their Zeppelin (NOT A BLIMP) and get some pretty unique images. It was a great experience and an even better way to enjoy the Open without being stuck among the zoo. Head over to SURFER MAGAZINE to check out more photos from the shoot.
Category Archives: surfing
Conversations with A Legend
Last year we did a boat trip to the Mentawai islands with a group of watermen for the first ever Stand Up Paddle indo trip. The trip was amazing: great waves, great people. On board was legendary surfer, paddler, human Dave Kalama. For those of you not familiar with who Dave is, he was one of the pioneers of tow surfing at Peahi, one of the first to jump on a SUP and push the boundries both in distance paddling and wave riding, and is plain and simply one of the most influential figures in surf history. Needless to say it was pretty neat having him on board, talking story with him and shooting him surfing. One of the coolest things for me personally though, was the fact that I was reading Susan Casey’s The Wave, a book that heavily features Kalama as it explores big wave surfing’s history. I would be reading the book upstairs and then come down and pick Dave’s brain to see if things actually went as written and delve even deeper into what Casey was writing about. It’s experiences like this that make what I do so rewarding.
Coco Ho: Indo Cover
We spent two years putting together the Nike girls film “Leave a Message” (watch it here https://vimeo.com/24900605) and went on some really fun and memorable trips. This shot of Coco is from a boat trip to the Mentawai Islands. I’ve been doing trips with Coco since she was just a little grom, and she is always fun to have along. I’ve always liked this shot and recently it was used as the cover of Freesurf Magazine in Hawaii.
Dane Did It First
You may be noticing an increased number of alternate surf crafts in the water these days: especially the mini simmons. These retro hulls make any wave fun, to be honest they have become my go to board. From Creek to Mex to Indo, the mini is comin. Don’t think the resurrection of these boards is anything new though, while digging through the archives I came across this three year old shot of Dane and his mini-inspired Channel Islands on the Gold Coast. It really comes as no surprise that some one like Dane would be keen early on to how good these little guys are.
Water World
This image was taken on a recent trip to Indonesia. The waves got small for a few days and we had to find some ways to get creative, the crystal clear water and shallow reefs make for some unique photos of the world below. We were fortunate enough to have a beautiful custom wood board, shaped by our friend Kevin Cunningham, on board: really setting this photo apart. For more on Kevin’s board check out his company at www.SpirareSurfboards.com
Indonesia is an amazing place, but being that it is on the entire opposite side of the world, it makes for quite the trek getting there. This trip we had a day to kill in Hong Kong while waiting for our connecting flight. Wandering the city was an eye opening experience to say the least, look for some pretty neat video and imagery from our wanderings coming shortly.
