Singletrack Mag full page from Cali

Super stoked to find out I got a full page in this months issue #44 of Singletrack Magazine out of the UK. It was a shot of Scott Rempe on a recent trip to Southern California in early summer. Go check it out!

Sebastian Inlet / Hurricane Kyle

Jensen Callaway

Brian Noel

Paul Reineke

Paul Reineke

Getting the call the day before that the swell was good but I couldnt go layed out a decision to make the drive or not. Steph and I decided it was time for a road trip up to old Florida. Got to the inlet about 8:30 and it was good. Even better, no one was out. So I decided not to miss anything and surf myself. Surfed for about 2 hours and ended up ripping out the center fin plugs on my Kechele. Bummer. Right in front of Kevin Welsh, who was one of the kindest Surf Photogs that I have ever met. I ended up talking to him for a while. It was nice to match the name and face to such a positive attitude. After a few calls and finding out Dave Leonard forgot his charger...which explained why I couldnt find where they were surfing, I went and shot on the beach along with Steph and Kevin. Jensen Callaway was boosting while Reineke was getting barreled. Ran into local boy Brian Noel as well.

Swell continues

Dave Leonard
Today was the first time I have ever gone to Reef Road and back to Boca twice in one day! Well, Steph, Matt and I loaded up and headed out dawn patrol style to find it onshore and closing out. We drove checked and checked and found nothing to shoot. Went home and got the call about an hour later that the swell had picked up from Skeeter. He and Matt picked me up and back we went. The swell was nice and clean but the locals werent ready for sharing. We were down at LaPuerta, I swam out with the housing and really didnt get shit. Dave Leonard was trying to get into anything within my view but came up short numerous times. Such a great guy.

Delray surf shoot

Matt Oberman
Matt Oberman
Kyle Alvare
As word traveles fast each time there is any possibility of a decent swell down here I always need to take it lightly. This was another one of those days that just didnt live up to the hype. Matt and I tried to decide where to go. He ended up just paddling out at Delray public along with 400 other people to surf bumped up swell. It was much larger on the outside but not really hitable on the lip. He and a few others got a few one turn wonders and I was there to bake in the sun. There wasnt much there and soon after got a call that it was "good" down in Boca at an undisclosed spot. So I headed down, called Kyle Alvare and we snapped a couple from the beach there. Not too bad. I got in the water for about twenty minutes until sundown and got a couple for myself. Heres a few from that day...

Furey Skate Portrait

Local grown up surf grom Tommy Furey called me up to do a portrait for Jimmy Magazine, a local mag. We met up at East Coast Surf and Sport where he was skating a mini half pipe. The weather was less than perfect but there were a few sun rays poking through as darkness grew closer. Overall it was a success and only got hit with the board once on the hand. I used a Canon 1d mark2, 580 ex and 430ex flashes with pocket wizards all hand held. Good job Tommy!

Ferrets...!

We were invited to shoot one of the more interesting subjects of my career that brought on new challenges, while learning more about the ferret. Steph and I were hired to photograph 6 personal Ferrets at a private residence for them to be sent to magazines. Setting up a backdrop and two Calumet travelites, one with a softbox and the other shooting through an umbrella, we aimed at fast moving rodents for about 2 hours. I shot with a Canon 1d mark 2 and Steph with her 5d using various lenses. They were almost impossible to keep still and had to bribe with everything from pacifiers to laser beams. It went well and I only got bit once....!

Tiny Bubbles....Ft laud shoot

Steph and I went down to the Ft. Lauderdale Hall of Fame pool and shot a mom and her son. While she shot I experimented with some different backdrops using sheets. I also used some shades and reflectors. It provided some interesting results no the less but also created a bit more editing as well. Steph got some really great images for the family and they will be so excited when they see them.

Hurricane Ike

Shane about to be in one of many.
Dave letting the crowd that there aren't just kooks driving over from the Eastside.
Venice Public Beach...maybe.

Hurricane Ike was by far some the cleanest waves I have yet to see hit the West Coast of Florida in a long time. Heading to Captiva Island with my friend Shane on Sept 10 we found chest high reeling lefts. Once again conditions were not the best for shooting so I enjoyed the perfect shoulders. Broke a leash and kept going until dark. We ended up doing two 1.5 mile drifts for about 5 hours of surfing. Then drove that night up to Venice, Florida where I knew, by morning the swell should fill in. It did all right along with about 100 people. Still there were good waves to be had. Ended up meeting up with Dave Leonard later that day along with JP and we surfed 2 more times until dark again. Did a little shooting but there was not a peek of sun until just before sunset. We stayed the night there and I got to see my parents for a few hours. On it in the morning for good conditions but a little mushier than before. Surfed for a couple hours and then drove back to Boca for another week finished with good waves scored.

Chasing hurricane Hanna

Cammack racing
Matt tucking in.

On Friday September 7, 2008 Hurricane Hanna gave South Florida a magical day for all our patience. Early that morning I awoke to phone calls ringing my cell phone long before sunrise. I arose and jutted over to my closet undisclosed spot and surfed by myself while the conditions were much too crappy to shoot in. I caught 100 yard long lines to myself until about 7:30am and then got Stephanie up and headed to Reef Road in Palm Beach to cover the best of the swell. Skeeter and Matt Oberman were already on it. It was pouring rain and cloudy and hard to shoot in but the swell was perfect. Steph and I shot from the gazebo for the first half of the afternoon and then I jumped in the water to try and get a few with Matt and John Cammack. Really didnt get much from the water but Surfline thought otherwise and published one of Matt in a tube, but then didnt metion his name. Transworld is also very interested as I right this in a few land shots from that session. You can find a couple images from the day here along with the rest of the coast http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/hanna-lights-up-northeast-ike-hits-the-gulf-and-back-to-back-south-swells-send-surf-to-california-and-hawaii-f_18627/photos/1/

Surfline Article - Off and Rolling

The past few weeks have reminded all of us that live down here in Florida that Hurricane is here and mother nature is doing its thing. There has been 7 twisters to hit the US coast in 2008. The weather channel has got to be so stoked. Ad revenue must be shooting through the roof. You know that if Jim Cantore is broadcasting Live near you, its probably not a good thing. In amoungst all the hype I through myself into the mix chasing them all to get the image that no one else thought of. The first chase was Fay back in early August, which brought us chop an brought me a sequence and wipeout on Surfline.com. Then came Hurricane Gustav which rolled through the middle of the Gulf. Stephanie and I charged toward the storm to Venice, Florida and was able to come away with some impressive shots. Thanks to Jake Harn and Tayler Brothers for being barrel test dummies along with JJ Ayala for getting the images I needed for Surfline. Congrats to Steph for getting her first image published to Surfline.com! A water shot too!