While it has been great chasing western storms the last month, this week started with soaking up some fun eastern swell. It wasn't a photo trip, it was a surf trip. A good old fashioned east coast chase with my good mate and former flatty Will Bailey.
This is not a photo of the waves, it's a shoot of the Rip Curl 4/3 Flashbomb... damn I love that wetsuit's fleecey warmness.
Probably a lot better than the text alludes
Lipper to the head
Pretty backwash light play
Will is also a photographer, he did a casual internship while I was the Editor at NZ Surf Mag. This led to him getting a cover of Sam Willis. Will became the mag's swim-wear photographer, which sounds way more glamorous than it was.
Will is one of Auckland's pre-eminent fashion and advertising photographers. Check out his website.
The 'I'm smiling with my mouth but I'm really saying f&ck off don't point that thing at me' look- aye Will!
What do photographers talk about on surf trips? The Kelvin scale and tweaked camera profiles, pixel pitch or emulsion ....nah... surf! Surfboards, the WSL, dream surf trips of the future, funny skunkings of the past.
We didn't score the most epically epic waves of all time. In a funny way I enjoy that. When the job was to be at the epicentre of a swell's focus I felt the pressure. The old, 'orrrr maaate; where were ya' used to burn. Sometimes it still does. But now I'd rather just find a good bank and get a couple of sessions in.
That's what we did, caught lots of waves, laughed, soaked up the rays and had fun.
From The Galleries
It's all about the East this post huh! This day was most definitely about being at the epicentre of the swell's focus....sooo good.
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