Kerikeri Vert Jam by craig levers

The man himself, Dave Crabb, organiser of the 2nd annual Kerikeri Vert Jam, on the tin ramp he built 18 years ago

The man himself, Dave Crabb, organiser of the 2nd annual Kerikeri Vert Jam, on the tin ramp he built 18 years ago

I've bleated on in the past about how much I love shooting vert, how it is a full circle thing for me; how the very first photos I took were of Tony Hallam and Mark Robinson in the bottom bowl of Bob Hill Park in the early '80's. So when me ol' mate Cale Tolley suggested I jump in for a roady up to Kerikeri for Dave Crabb's Vert Jam, there was no pondering, just a firm f%ck yeah bro- let's go!

Roadie mates Ants McCloud and Cale getting ready for Friday evening's killer session

Roadie mates Ants McCloud and Cale getting ready for Friday evening's killer session

The Prez of Skateboarding NZ; Ramon Thackwell showing the flare that would earn him a healthy second in the Masters

The Prez of Skateboarding NZ; Ramon Thackwell showing the flare that would earn him a healthy second in the Masters

Ants warming up

Ants warming up

On Sunday, Ants reckoned it was probably time to break in a new pair of skate shoes

On Sunday, Ants reckoned it was probably time to break in a new pair of skate shoes

Much to everyone's surprise Dave opted not to enter the event, later citing, quite rightly, it's too hard to run a comp and have your directer hat on and then swap over to competitor mode. But on Friday, the 57 year old had all the other Masters wor…

Much to everyone's surprise Dave opted not to enter the event, later citing, quite rightly, it's too hard to run a comp and have your directer hat on and then swap over to competitor mode. But on Friday, the 57 year old had all the other Masters worried

Cale... he's gonna kill me for this head shot... but...it's so funny

Cale... he's gonna kill me for this head shot... but...it's so funny

Cale limbering up on Saturday

Cale limbering up on Saturday

Wanaka's Chris Curren

Wanaka's Chris Curren

Uncle Mozza, Andrew Morrison, Morri, free from being the contest director this time, went on to win the Masters and the Highest Air

Uncle Mozza, Andrew Morrison, Morri, free from being the contest director this time, went on to win the Masters and the Highest Air

Pretty sure this is the winning Air

Pretty sure this is the winning Air

Cale's nose grind that was part of the run that got him the third in the Masters

Cale's nose grind that was part of the run that got him the third in the Masters

Ramon's Crail Slide

Ramon's Crail Slide

Working out runs

Working out runs

Chris Curren backside feeble

Chris Curren backside feeble

Wellington's Chris Wood, defending Open Champ

Wellington's Chris Wood, defending Open Champ

Well on his way to backing it up

Well on his way to backing it up

And he did... but this guy was nipping at his heals...

And he did... but this guy was nipping at his heals...

Meet 12 year old Wanaka local Zedyn Fellows... second in the OPEN

Meet 12 year old Wanaka local Zedyn Fellows... second in the OPEN

And no surprises... Junior champ

And no surprises... Junior champ

But right there behind him was Taupo's Remus Hanare, getting higher and more powerful every comp

But right there behind him was Taupo's Remus Hanare, getting higher and more powerful every comp

Ants's fakie Ollie...crowd and judge pleaser

Ants's fakie Ollie...crowd and judge pleaser

Ever the generous host, Dave Crabb invited EVERYONE back to Crabb Cove for a BBQ. It's a rad comp, Dave repetitively hammering home that it's all about good vibes and hanging with the NZ Vert Family. No doubt the legend nailed it for another year.

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NZ Surf The Collection Volume II is now distributed nationwide through all good Bookstores and Surf shops.
But if your local doesn't have it you can buy the book online. The 192 page+ Hardcover edition is ready to ship. Secure a copy of the limited edition run...once the 1600 are gone; and they will go, that's that.


Check it out...and order >>> HERE

The Dilemma by craig levers

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It has been phasing me for a week now. Of course the issue wouldn't exist if I simply hadn't pressed the shutter button. But I did. Call it instinct, muscle memory or a complete brain fart. Either which way it is done. Possibly the best 'surfing' photo I got at Mangamaunu, Kaikoura and it's of a bloody sea sweeper. Warren Hawke and I were in Kaiks for the final launch night of NZ Surf: The Collection Volume II. And there were fun waves, very shootable, what are two senior surf photogs s'posed to do- shoot of course. Wazza consoled me; 'Well you can spin it like this; It is, after all, Al Temoananui and he rips on any board he's on. He's the president of the Kaikoura Boardriders Club and he did contribute hugely to the Mangamaunu chapter in the book. You know you could alway photoshop the paddle out.' On top of all that he's a bloody top bloke, he's going absolutely 12'o'clock .... but he's on a SUP. Why did you do it LT, why didn't you paddle out on your proper board? What do you do? Bury it in a hard drive never to see the light of day? Or celebrate fine wave riding, no matter what the craft? Clearly I've gone the latter, but it wasn't a thoughtless process I tell ya.

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Levi O'Conner adding a huge amount of ease to the problem

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Feeling a lot better, thanks Levi

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My counsel, Mr Warren Hawke, photog and author... an actual legend for his on going contributions to the NZ Surfing community

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Tasty fun Mangamaunu... the scene of the crime. And sadly still under threat of a cycleway, despite it being recognised by the government as a protected surf break

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Josh O'Rouke, our graphic designer for the NZ Surf book trilogy, snagged his fair share on the Kaiks leg of the tour

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Tour done and back in the mighty Christchurch... and Taylors Mistake turned it up a notch with both swell and offshore gusts

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Sorry mate, didn't get your name, but that's a fine drive off the base


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Taylors Mistake has some of NZ's best baches tucked into the cliffs and hills

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Another regular feature in Warren's books, Ben Reeso hacking through the offshores

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Love me a good crib... and yep that actually is the direction to the famous Taylors rip

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Try saying Rod Somogyvari's surname five times fast... it'll get ya

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That's gotta suck

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Better approach to the slamming end section on the next ride

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Twin keel lip carve

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Rod again in a cavern, Rod's also in NZ Surf The Collection Volume 2 ...AND he's got a camper van!

My week in the Mainland was sick, we had awesome turnouts for the four book nights. Thank you everyone that came along, regardless of whether you bought a book, it was just good to see you. AND we got waves!

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Pre Orders for NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2 are all sent out! THANK YOU all for taking up the offer!


The 192 page+ Hardcover edition is now here and ready to ship. Secure a copy of the limited edition run...once the 1600 are gone; and they will go, that's that.


Check it out...and order >>> HERE

Come Hang Out by craig levers

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You are invited to attend one of the following surf book launches

Sumner: Monday 4 November from 8.00pm Clink Restaurant and Bar.
New Brighton: Wednesday 6 November Level One Cafe and Bar from 7.00 pm.
Waikuku: Thursday 7 November Office Cafe from 7.00 pm.
Kaikoura: Friday 8 November Groper Garage from 7.00 pm.

I love these weeks. A, B and C I'm in the Mainland. And I get to hang out with Warren. Of course we do have a pretty close working relationship throughout the year of producing a book, and it's super fun, no doubt the hour long conversations we have are only 30% work. The evenings are rad catch ups with the Mainland crew. So if you're about come on along. Check out the book and have a yarn.

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It has been the season for big installations. Here's this weeks. 5 metres x 2.8 metres gone into Network Edge's offices. It is the opening spread image of Pauanui in the Big Little Beach Book... which is nearly sold out again. There are only 50 of the reprint left. I'm guessing they'll go in the next round of shop orders. Should there be another re-print?

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And this one nearly did me in. Because the client wanted a big 1200mm wide canvas the decision was made to get another drum scan done oversized so it prints super well, effectively 1200mm wide was a 50% reduction of the new drum scan. The downside; somebody had to spend 10 hours, re cleaning and ridding the 2 gigabyte image of pesky dust marks. On the upside, there's now a perfect file that will handle going billboard, and the 1200mm canvas printed amazing... like actually, even had the cynical, critical photographer's eye stoking out on the sharpness and depth of detail. Thanks to Heath at Phreon for the mega scan and Ange at Factory Frames for printing the beast so well.

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Pre Orders for NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2 are all sent out! THANK YOU all for taking up the offer!
The 192 page+ Hardcover edition is now here and ready to ship. Secure a copy of the limited edition run...once the 1600 are gone; and they will go, that's that.


Check it out...and order, only if you want to of course >>> HERE

Barkers’ X Surfline Factory Seconds by craig levers

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For the last three years I've had the absolute pleasure of shooting the Barkers' X Surfline summer range. And last week we were able to step it up a notch, better waves and the addition of a new star model... Taz Hall. That's Taz up on the nose of Roger Hall's board.

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Taz has his own Facebook Page and anyone surfing in Bream Bay regularly will probably have shared the swell with him. He's a bit a a wave hog/dog but his stoke is bloody infectious. Pretty much he perches up the front and instructs Rog which wave to catch, which is all of them.

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Paws heading to the nose

Barkers' Clothing and Surfline have had a long relationship, longer than I've been shooting the summer range. The images made in these shoots get used for instore posters and window displays, and they also feature as a big spread in Spring issue of Barkers' magazine 1972, which goes out to 60,000 people. Quite a few more than NZ Surf mags ever achieved even in the halcyon daze of the early 2000's.

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The factory seconds aren't really the B-roll, they just aren't the ones that quite fit Barkers' brief; like these ones of Sasha Brownlie, she's a girl, Barkers' is a menswear company... but she was also our continuity controller and art director last week.

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Tony Baker was also one of the talent for the shoot.

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Product obscured... straight to the out-take folder.

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Moonbob has been a mainstay of the shoots and has ended up in Barkers' front windows on A0 canvases nationwide as a consequence... product in the shade...out-take.

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Rog and Taz dominating proceedings

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Sasha cross-stepping with grace

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Sasha... and the rain comes down.

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Moonbob... and a back focussed 5, damn it..straight to the out-takes.

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Rain doesn't stop Taz, but it does kind of f&ck up a Spring/Summer boardies shoot.

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TB..builder's crack 5...straight to the out-takes.

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Paul aka Moonbob sitting down on the job.

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Taz, stoked!

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The man, the legend himself...Mr Mike Cunningham on the film camera and on hand to create video content of the day. Here's a teaser of his fine work, full edit to come...

The A's are in Barkers' hands now, Roger is sharing some of the images already via Surfline's Insty and Facebook, it's all go.

Speaking of which...today is a big day in CPL land, NZ Surf; The Collection V2 has landed! The wait is on for the call, come pick up your books, and pay the Customs, GST and Duty...dohl. So if you wanna help out with the GST...

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Pre Orders for NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2 went crazy last week. THANK YOU all for taking up the offer!
The 192 page+ Hardcover edition is nearly in the distribution warehouse…nearly! We are taking orders now for those who want to be first on the block with their copy. And of course secure a copy of the limited edition run...once the 1600 are gone; and they will go, that's that.


Pre Orders are Available HERE

Podcasting From Piha by craig levers

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This week's post isn't going to be a long rant...'cos there's a new Raglan Surf Report Podcast out which fills that position. Check it out HERE

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Luke's opening spread in NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2

We had a lot of fun doing it, Luke's way with the podcasts is to do them completely unscripted and with little to no plan about what is going to be talked about. We certainly end up in some weird places and are probably waaaaay too frank. But it's all done in humour and I hope you get a laugh out of it. If you don't use a podcast app you can watch the podcast on You Tube HERE

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Pre Orders for NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2 went crazy last week. THANK YOU all for taking up the offer!
The 192 page+ Hardcover edition will arrive at the end of the month. We are taking orders now for those who want to be first on the block with their copy. And of course secure a copy of the limited edition run...once the 1600 are gone; and they will go, that's that.


Pre Orders are Available HERE

V2 is Here...Almost by craig levers

If you've been reading the emails sent the last 3 weeks you'll know I've been tripping all over Italy. It was crazy cool, a trip of a lifetime. We came back through Hong Kong with good reason... not to partake in the riots, which actually were happening while we were there. No, there was a more pragmatic reason. I got to visit my printer's HQ and pick up an advance copy of NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2 . It has been this year's big book project. And I can, being 100% un-objective, report it is a banger. 

An actual real book, already getting beat up from people having a blat on it...with a cheeky 1600 of it's siblings arriving at the end of the month!

An actual real book, already getting beat up from people having a blat on it...with a cheeky 1600 of it's siblings arriving at the end of the month!

I can't claim editorial prowess for this book, the concept and execution is all on Warren Hawke. He's the creative force behind it all, my roles are publisher and contributor. As the publisher, this was a no brainer to take on; the first volume of T…

I can't claim editorial prowess for this book, the concept and execution is all on Warren Hawke. He's the creative force behind it all, my roles are publisher and contributor. As the publisher, this was a no brainer to take on; the first volume of The Collection sold out in just over a year. Warren had..and has...identified a need for a book that reflects all aspects of our Kiwi Surf culture.

As with Vol 1 the book is crammed packed with NZ surfing royalty, shredders, big wave tacklers, women, long boarders and grommets. Warren draws no destinctions between craft ridden, age or sex. It's just about celebrating Aotearoa's rich surfing cul…

As with Vol 1 the book is crammed packed with NZ surfing royalty, shredders, big wave tacklers, women, long boarders and grommets. Warren draws no destinctions between craft ridden, age or sex. It's just about celebrating Aotearoa's rich surfing culture.

An important element of the book is the continuation of the Surf Village features. It worked super well in Vol 1 and this has been refined and distilled in Vol 2.

An important element of the book is the continuation of the Surf Village features. It worked super well in Vol 1 and this has been refined and distilled in Vol 2.

And there's wave porn... don't you worry, there are lots of waves to paw over.

And there's wave porn... don't you worry, there are lots of waves to paw over.

Regional diversity is nicely covered off with surf breaks from the Far North to the Deepest South...and right in the middle.

Regional diversity is nicely covered off with surf breaks from the Far North to the Deepest South...and right in the middle.

There's contributions from Logan Murray, Doug Hislop, Shaun Tunny, Bryce Wilson, Wayne Parkes and more.

There's contributions from Logan Murray, Doug Hislop, Shaun Tunny, Bryce Wilson, Wayne Parkes and more.

From our elite athletes...

From our elite athletes...

....to where it all started.

....to where it all started.

The movers and the shakers...

The movers and the shakers...

The artists

The artists

and the far flung

and the far flung

The 192 page+ Hardcover edition will arrive at the end of the month. BUT the advance copy signals the opening of pre-sales. We are taking orders now for those who want to be first on the block with their copy. And of course secure a copy of the limi…

The 192 page+ Hardcover edition will arrive at the end of the month. BUT the advance copy signals the opening of pre-sales. We are taking orders now for those who want to be first on the block with their copy. And of course secure a copy of the limited edition run...once the 1600 are gone; and they will go, that's that.
Pre Orders are Available HERE




Chaos and Explosions by craig levers

Piha from Anawhata Road last Wednesday night... 106 frames, each 30 seconds long, stacked. The horizontal light lines are planes leaving Auckland airport.

Piha from Anawhata Road last Wednesday night... 106 frames, each 30 seconds long, stacked. The horizontal light lines are planes leaving Auckland airport.

Last week was all about the photographic trend of astrophotography and specifically image stacking. Didn't see it? Check it out Here

This week, keeping in the theme, is another photographic trend, which is closer to my heart...Backwash and the glorious chaos it creates. There are photographers who specialise in backwash photography, some even going so far as to claim it as Ocean Art. I think that's a bit verbose. But there is definitely a set of skills involved in getting good backwashes, or more correctly; where backwash collides with an incoming wave. That's easy for me, I live at a beach that has a very famous one, so that's a big tick.

Glorious chaos and explosions

Glorious chaos and explosions

Then you have to pick your times, personally I like backwash backlit, which means on the West coast, it's an evening shoot. Back lighting shows the opacity of the wave face and ideally you'll get a bit of golden light in the spray. Clean offshores are good too, you get more loft and hang time in with the spray, plus your kit doesn't get covered in incoming [deadly to expensive electronics] sea mist.

Backlit goodness

Backlit goodness

You want to be close, but not too close, using a tripod is always ideal, but it does mean you're committing to being stationary. Before you set up observe a few sets, time your session on an outgoing low tide, find a spot to set up that isn't going to get nailed by a random sweeper set... I pushed it once, trying to sneak a session in on an incoming tide in 1991, I learnt the hard, expensive way.

Milkshake peak

Milkshake peak

Timing is everything; here's my golden tip, while you're going to want the biggest set, sometimes they aren't the best explosions, it's about watching and following the backwash. So almost counter intuitively, you're studying the waves going out to sea, as much as you are the incoming set waves.

Sea Mountain

Sea Mountain

Bat Eagle

Bat Eagle

The image I was after, ironically shot just 5 mins after setting up

The image I was after, ironically shot just 5 mins after setting up

Get out there, have a go, good photos don't happen sitting around thinking about it.

Next week... well... you'll have to wait, but it's going to be different again.



From The Galleries

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Chaos from the water, can't wait to be in this place again. Like this image? Check it out bigger HERE

Stacking It by craig levers

Excuse the typos in this week's post, it's finals morning at Teahupo'o so there's real distraction. Of all the WCT events Choopes would be my favourite. It is the one I'd love to be there.

Choopes back in the day before international comps at the venue, 2005

Choopes back in the day before international comps at the venue, 2005

Blair Stewart in a Choopes beast 2006... man I'd love to be back there!

Blair Stewart in a Choopes beast 2006... man I'd love to be back there!

There have been no waves around these ways, but there are windows of off shores coming. The default is to another super fun type of photography; Night Shoots and the night sky.

Auckland's Civic Theatre at night

Auckland's Civic Theatre at night

Auckland Viaduct night pano... and International Pano Award winner 2013

Auckland Viaduct night pano... and International Pano Award winner 2013

When I first got a camera in the late '80's I loved making long exposures of the Auckland skyline. I was fascinated with the concept of being able to lock the shutter open for hours letting the available light from buildings just seep onto the film emulsion.

29 Pines, Mojave Desert, shot on 120mm film at about 12 minutes… and one of the best dad jokes ever; Liquor in the front and Poker in the rear… which is actually a Reverend Horton Heat album name

29 Pines, Mojave Desert, shot on 120mm film at about 12 minutes… and one of the best dad jokes ever; Liquor in the front and Poker in the rear… which is actually a Reverend Horton Heat album name

Digital cameras are pretty good at night shots, you can change the iso, you can see your exposures at the time. The one real down side is you can't do REALLY long exposures, anything over a couple of minutes and you risk burning out the sensor.

Stacking it, framing the southern axis over North Piha's only shipwreck

Stacking it, framing the southern axis over North Piha's only shipwreck

But there is a work around called stacking. You set up the camera and take multiple images over a long time and then in post stack the images on top of each other. Here's last nights;

Piha from Anawhata road... 106 frames, each 30 seconds long, stacked. The horizontal light lines are planes leaving Auckland airport.

Piha from Anawhata road... 106 frames, each 30 seconds long, stacked. The horizontal light lines are planes leaving Auckland airport.

And the Tahiti Pro 2019 is done and dusted!... no spoiler here though, you'll have to go find out somewhere else.

From The Galleries

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Lion Rock under the southern axis sitting the the Beach Gallery HERE

Salty Faces by craig levers

When the PhotoCPL book was being together a theme emerged that wasn't preplanned at all. It became evident that the spreads really started to shine when a portrait inset was added. We ran with it, it worked.It worked better than ever anticipated because it added more depth. It highlighted just how well a portrait almost instantly becomes a recording of the past. haircuits, hell, hairlines change. Clothing and trends tie an image to an era.

AJ Matthews spread in PhotoCPL

AJ Matthews spread in PhotoCPL

Mikey Banks spread in PhotoCPL

Mikey Banks spread in PhotoCPL

Doing that book 11 years ago hammered home that fact that photography is such a rad way of recording time. If there was a thing I'd do differently it would be to take more images of people to have an archive of thoughtful moments.

Daniel and Xavier Davie spread in PhotoCPL

Daniel and Xavier Davie spread in PhotoCPL

I'm not a portrait photographer, I'm not good at it. I look at the editorial work of Marti Friedlander or Robin Morrison in awe...like how, why whaaaatt? How'd they cajole the subject into that poise- how did they think of that? 

There is a place I've found that I like what happens when I attempt a portrait. I suspect they work, work for me anyway, because at that time the subject is absolutley in the place they want to be the most. They are somewhat less guarded, the subject exudes a happiness. Generally with a smile that's hard to fake. 

Kehu Butler a few years back

Kehu Butler a few years back

Khan Bulter, Kehu's Dad

Khan Bulter, Kehu's Dad

Jesse Peters at Shippies

Jesse Peters at Shippies

Billy Stairmand at Manu Bay

Billy Stairmand at Manu Bay

Peter Harding at home on Greedy's Left

Peter Harding at home on Greedy's Left

James MacAlpine at Te Waha

James MacAlpine at Te Waha

Cale Tolley at the Island

Cale Tolley at the Island

Johnny Stokes double rainbows

Johnny Stokes double rainbows

Luke Cederman's blue steel

Luke Cederman's blue steel

Leon Santorik and AJ Matthews a couple of weeks back

Leon Santorik and AJ Matthews a couple of weeks back

Paul Culpan at Johnson's Point

Paul Culpan at Johnson's Point

James Skivington at Caves

James Skivington at Caves

Greg Straight same day

Greg Straight same day

The legend, Al Goodwin

The legend, Al Goodwin

Ant Low summer vibes

Ant Low summer vibes

Brendon Shadbolt always stoking

Brendon Shadbolt always stoking

Mark Coffy A O K

Mark Coffy A O K

Hayden Strom, Krui, Sumatra

Hayden Strom, Krui, Sumatra

Deidi, Krui

Deidi, Krui

Ratty at home

Ratty at home

Luke Huges at his home

Luke Huges at his home

Nat Baron during a North swell last winter

Nat Baron during a North swell last winter

Roger Hall, Waipu last spring

Roger Hall, Waipu last spring

Kye Bedford in his happy place

Kye Bedford in his happy place

Paige Hareb between sets

Paige Hareb between sets

Lewis Hampton just before the set that snapped his new board

Lewis Hampton just before the set that snapped his new board

From The Book Shop

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The book that started it all, check it out more HERE

Other Things by craig levers

I do shoot things other than surfing and waves.  I keep it pretty quiet, but certainly a large component of the annual income stream is commercial work. I really like architectural and construction work. I like the discipline of understanding the optics of a lens and how to achieve  straight lines... Architects and Builders HATE bent verticals and curving beams... you have to be so critically correct and know what is going on in the camera. I love it, love the challenge, love the technical knowledge you have to build up. 

So while I'm chained to the desk in book production for NZ Surf: The Collection Vol II which you can read about HERE  and there's clearly no surf around these parts. Here are examples of what also pays the bills. 

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Just fresh out of the camera, this was a job for Nouveu Construction and Oceans Electrical last week at The Wedge, Ponsonby. The challenge was to show the light installation and its reflection while showing the work space. So I opted to do some panoramas to avoid lens distortion.

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The LED light strips are controlled via an app so you can adjust the brightness and colours, part of the brief was showing that, so another challenge was keeping the light [in photog speak temperature] faithful to those lighting changes.  

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After all that, this is a personal shot. I wanted to shoot the Crystal Palace's ceiling Rose, but shoot in technically correct and big, again these are big resolution panos. The curves in the ceiling moldings are sagging from the old girl's age. 

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I shoot tiles! Tiles are a challenge to shoot, tilers are super critical about straight lines and of course tiles are highly reflective and generally in small rooms with mirrors. You have to be on your game to be straight AND not be in the image. I like this one because the mirror was used to show the hex tiles on the back wall. 

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This one was harder than it looks; the challenge was to show the angles and the different textures of the tiles used.

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The atrium on the TVNZ building shot last winter for The Tile People. 

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Getting a job and making it harder, a detail pano of tiles in a tight kitchen.

Next week there's going to be waves! So transmissions will return to normal... don't unsubscribe just yet. 
 

From The Galleries

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And not a straight line to be seen, just nature's best curves. An east coast bomb from July. Check it out HERE

Big Thing Coming by craig levers

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We had hoped to do it, but really it all hinged on you. Would you pick up on what we're putting down?  Turns out the book NZ SURF: The Collection Vol.I was a bit of a runaway success. We sold through the entire print run in 14 months. There are a few copies scattered around some book and surf shops, so if you haven't yet got your hands on a copy you'd better get out there toot sweet. 

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NZ SURF; The Collection is the brainchild of Warren Hawke, I stepped back into the role of being the publisher and Wazza took on being the author and editor. It's a challenging thing, releasing the reins and just guiding someone else through the thorny garden of book making. But Wazza hit a sweet tone with Vol.1. He jammed as many Kiwi surfers and stories in there as he possibly could. It worked, we sold out and sold out fast. 

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The title alluded to the hope that the New Zealand Surfing community with like it enough that we'd be able to continue the series. For the last 18 months Wazza has been amped up on creating content for NZ Surf: The Collection Vol.II. He's travelled the country chasing swells and gatherings of the tribe. 

I'm only allowed to show you the cover, but I can tell you now Vol.II has totally honed in on what worked, what was applauded in Vol.I and distilled the winning formula. 

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The final touches are being completed this week, and on Monday the 192 page [+covers and endpaper...so really its 200 pages]  book gets sent to the printer. The release will be November and we're bloody well excited at the impact that this is going to have.

Vol.II is new material, but follows the best ideas from Vol.I. There's coverage of new and older members of our surfing tribe, we've included some very different places in different ways to get to the roots of surfing in New Zealand as only a book can. There's surf history, surf stars and grommet coverage. Wazza has packed over 500 images and close to 60,000 words into the book that will have you go back again and again. We also reckon that there's photos of at least 350 different surfers in Vol.II. 

As with all PhotoCPL Media books it is a hard cover, quality printed and bound using sustainable FSC certified paper stocks. Designed by artist Josh O'Rourke. It also features the work from both established and upcoming surf writers and photographers. NZ Surf: The Collection Vol II - will be a limited print run again. The rrp will be $65.00. In the next few weeks we'll start pre-orders, but in the meantime... well, there you go, thanks to all that bought into Vol.1....here comes the chaos of book promo'ing and distribution! 

Reef Giveaway- Given Away!

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Reef very kindly gave me a pair of Voyage Boots and Mick Fanning Jandals to give to you, that's $300 of kicks. You had a 1 in 1487 chance of walking away with the booty [see what I did there]. Every subscriber went in the draw, which was done at 9am this morning using Random.org's number generator and Ken from Raglan won. They are on their way Ken! 

From The Galleries

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An east coast bomb from earlier July. Check it out HERE

24 Hours In The Waikato by craig levers

There was no post last week, and there was the best excuse. The only acceptable excuse; waves. A flurry of messages and calls, organising, packing the camera gear, packing the boards, packing the Troopy and slightly packing about what I was getting myself into. Last week's long period west coast swell had everyone frothing at the gills. Where would be handling, where would be big. As it turned out the coasts from South Taranaki up pumped for days. I opted for 24 hours in the Waikato. 

Luke Cederman last Thursday, just as the swell started to show

Luke Cederman last Thursday, just as the swell started to show

Luke in Raglan Surf Report advertising mode

Luke in Raglan Surf Report advertising mode

That was fun, but I didn't drive to the Waikato to shoot lefts this time. The pre-planning was all about chasing down some big rights. The tides were good, the wind was right. 

Leon Santorik drawing first blood on the right

Leon Santorik drawing first blood on the right

Sam Mathers under the hood on one of the larger ones of the session

Sam Mathers under the hood on one of the larger ones of the session

Luke Hughes wagging the shaping bay for the morning

Luke Hughes wagging the shaping bay for the morning

Leon on the foam ball

Leon on the foam ball

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When close is too close; Taylor Hutchinson well past full frame

When close is too close; Taylor Hutchinson well past full frame

On the next wave Stu buckled that black beauty

On the next wave Stu buckled that black beauty

Sam Mathers perfectly poised, Sam doesn't love this shot, frustrated that the wave wasn't big enough

Sam Mathers perfectly poised, Sam doesn't love this shot, frustrated that the wave wasn't big enough

Our Champ Billy Stairmand and my favourite image from the session

Our Champ Billy Stairmand and my favourite image from the session

Close second fav, Leon

Close second fav, Leon

...and that was that, the tide moved in and the bank stopped churning. But the day was far from over, within hours, just enough time to decompress and get some lunch, the next bank would start to fire up. 

Straight into the sun and the glare, miles away, everything photography 101 tells you not to do, Alex Dive driving through the glitter

Straight into the sun and the glare, miles away, everything photography 101 tells you not to do, Alex Dive driving through the glitter

Tom Billington couldn't make the morning sess' , he made up for it with vengeance in the arvo

Tom Billington couldn't make the morning sess' , he made up for it with vengeance in the arvo

Chris Malone hooking

Chris Malone hooking

All style and rail... Billy Stairmand

All style and rail... Billy Stairmand

Not to be out done on the rail game, Divey

Not to be out done on the rail game, Divey

Billy

Billy

Leon out on the face for a change

Leon out on the face for a change

Waikato winters and options

Waikato winters and options

Taylor not so full frame this round

Taylor not so full frame this round

It's wintery green, it's cold, its rippy, its hard work, but wouldn't you just love to be presented with that section. Billy blazing

It's wintery green, it's cold, its rippy, its hard work, but wouldn't you just love to be presented with that section. Billy blazing

24 hours of crazy good waves. As it turned out the west coast would pump for another 96. I'd like to be writing a claim that I'd surfed it out myself; truth be told I was happily broken from the big swim. Hoping you got your fill. 

THE ASFF Winter Sessions

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Did you miss the Aotearoa Surf Film Festival 2019 this summer? Well aren't you a tinny little bugger, it's back for the winter sessions!  Watch the trailer HERE

Details for the Auckland showings are on the ASFF website... Auckland showing at the legendary Crystal Palace! 
 

From The Galleries

And for something not too dissimilar; and east coast bomb from earlier in July. Check it out HERE

And for something not too dissimilar; and east coast bomb from earlier in July. Check it out HERE


Giving and Watching by craig levers

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Billy Stairmand is one of 3 men who have been selected to represent New Zealand and compete in the ISA World Surfing Games at Miyazaki, Japan in September this year which is one of the qualification events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He's started a givealittle page to crowd fund the costs of getting there. At 5K he's not even asking for that much. Anyway, on the givealittle page/s prizes and gift packs can't be explained. BUT Billy has organised a whole bunch of prizes that will be given away, including one of his surfboards [not one of the snapped ones from the other week!] Billy is getting to prizes together now and will announce them via other social media next week. - I'll keep you in the loop as well. In the meantime, if you donate now, you'll still be eligible; basically every $20 unit equals an entry. So give a little. 


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As mentioned in last week's mega post Brodie Jakich's clip of the strike mission is now out. You can view it via Backdoor's Instagram HERE

Speaking of Clips

Did you miss the Aotearoa Surf Film Festival 2019 this summer? Well aren't you a tinny little bugger, it's back for the winter sessions! 

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Watch the trailer HERE

Details for the Queenstown and Auckland showings are on the ASFF website... Auckland showing at the legendary Crystal Palace! 
 

From The Galleries

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If it was music it would be called re-mastering it. Last week I posted this image as a new edition to the Waves gallery on PhotoCPL.co.nz. Often I'll get a proof done, and I didn't like the proof. I'd made the blacks too muddy in an effort to have a punchy image with wintery skies.

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Fail! the beautiful silver opaque tones of wave was lost.

So back to the original, and a complete revision of the grading. NOW there is an image that looks like what it was like that day.

Check it out HERE

Chasing Storms On The Eastside by craig levers

You can view this one larger HERE

You can view this one larger HERE

The message back to Darren, Backdoor's marketing guru, was a firm YES. Yes I'm keen to go storm chasing with the Backdoor team, yep I can meet there, yep I can meet then... wait can we make it earlier and maybe even stay longer? The froth levels were super high, Darren had assembled the A team and the Low spooling off the East coast looked REAL good. 

5am Auckland traffic

5am Auckland traffic

What we hadn't really accounted for in our pre planning was the weather. We had over frothed.

Dawn.... beautiful driving and shooting conditions.

Dawn.... beautiful driving and shooting conditions.

Darren and the crew at stop one... you see a photo of Darren... I see a photo of the Troopy

Darren and the crew at stop one... you see a photo of Darren... I see a photo of the Troopy

The ol' when a wave breaks there, don't be here... Paul Moretti about to embrace the tumble cycle

The ol' when a wave breaks there, don't be here... Paul Moretti about to embrace the tumble cycle

The Low Pressure System was behaving itself and doing exactly what the weather gurus had predicted... we on the other hand and expected faster movement. We were a day too early. When you've been on enough surf missions, there's a mode you learn to adopt. Slow down, micro manage, fill the hours while you wait with meaningless tasks... want lunch? Find a warm cafe and make it last 2 hours. Need to catch up on your texts... write essays to your absent friends. The wind finally swung, the rain did not. 

A rare sighting of the Ceep... but how's the set up, love that $5.00 e-Bay umbrella/tripod bracket!

A rare sighting of the Ceep... but how's the set up, love that $5.00 e-Bay umbrella/tripod bracket!

Matty Hewitt's rain dance

Matty Hewitt's rain dance

Matt, rain dance v2

Matt, rain dance v2

Half the Backdoor team could only stay the day, so job on. We were lead to a perfect option thanks to Daniel Davie, credit where credit's due Dan made a great call, the waves were thick and rifling. 

Dan, absolutely styling it in his own front yard

Dan, absolutely styling it in his own front yard

Taylor Hutchinson perfectly poised

Taylor Hutchinson perfectly poised

Darren Celliers hunting down the hollow ones

Darren Celliers hunting down the hollow ones

Paul Moretti setting the tone for the next few sessions

Paul Moretti setting the tone for the next few sessions

Grom sensation Caleb Cutmore found a few rare open faces

Grom sensation Caleb Cutmore found a few rare open faces

It wasn't pretty, but we got the job done. Taylor, Matt and Darren couldn't stay. I would ague they had a misdirected work ethic. The rest of the team opted to stay, pleading texts were sent to partners and bosses. The rain persisted through the night. Was it going to be a wash out?

Taranaki's Daniel Farr drawing first blood first light

Taranaki's Daniel Farr drawing first blood first light

Klee Dummond as always, on the ones that drain just right

Klee Dummond as always, on the ones that drain just right

Your 7x national champ, our trip captain Billy Stairmand and the one that got away

Your 7x national champ, our trip captain Billy Stairmand and the one that got away

Billy's redemption

Billy's redemption

Daniel Farr charging down in the southern corner

Daniel Farr charging down in the southern corner

Bill with board change [board snap] number 2, the cost of charging

Bill with board change [board snap] number 2, the cost of charging

..and the clear dividend of said charging

..and the clear dividend of said charging

Paul, at the 'this is probably not going end well' moment

Paul, at the 'this is probably not going end well' moment

Again, Paul's dividend

Again, Paul's dividend

Paul...ok at this point there has to be a forewarning ... there's a lot of images of Paul, aka Pablo, aka the Rook. It was his session

Paul...ok at this point there has to be a forewarning ... there's a lot of images of Paul, aka Pablo, aka the Rook. It was his session

Whitianga's own Jay Piper- Healion well locked into cruise mode

Whitianga's own Jay Piper- Healion well locked into cruise mode

Jay in a nugget

Jay in a nugget

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Bill in full flight and steaming for the exit

Bill in full flight and steaming for the exit

Pablo... he just kept finding them

Pablo... he just kept finding them

Not the same wave

Not the same wave

But definitely the last one of an epic session

But definitely the last one of an epic session

Why the last? Well that lip got me pretty good, blew the water housing out of my grip and sent me into a crab dance on the sand. We both came up laughing, and the camera survived

Why the last? Well that lip got me pretty good, blew the water housing out of my grip and sent me into a crab dance on the sand. We both came up laughing, and the camera survived

Thanks has to go to Darren and Hutch from Backdoor Surf for pressing the go button in this team trip, check out Backdoor's social media, Sharp Eyes NZ, Channel Islands NZ and all the lad's Instagram accounts for more of the images. Brodie Jackovich was on hand too videoing, I've seen the rough edit, it's gonna be a sick clip when it drops. 

From The Galleries

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There were lefts too! Big hollow perfect peaks, I've added this one to the Wave Gallery, fricken LOOOVE it. Wanna see it bigger, want it on your wall? Well click here ... and while you're there, there is a like button and sharing options, help a fulla out, share the love :)

Got The Cover! by craig levers

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If you've been getting these E-bombs and weekly posts for awhile, you'll know I'm not one spare of a few words or four. It's an occupational hazard of being a surf journo hack. I've lost my words this time though. The latest issue of Smorgasboarder is about the hit the surf shops in Australia and NZ. Dune Kennings is on the cover; it's a shoot we got together a while back, a winter session at North Piha. Dune is on the board his Dad Lynden shaped him, January 1, 2000. Dune's very first board, the one he learnt to surf on. 

I'm stoked beyond stoke. Stoked to have landed a magazine cover again. Stoked that it's an international mag. Stoked that it is Dune, at North Piha and on THAT board... wait, apparently I've found my words! 

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The latest issue of Smorgasboarder's lead feature is ummm.... me! I knew the interview was going to be published, but figured it'd be rightfully tucked away in the back. It's not, it's fricken front and centre, bold as fuck! I have to say there's definitely a bit of ol' Kiwi humility kicking in.  Whaaa? Holy shit, that's not what I signed up for! But I'm stoked on the photos Dave and the crew from Smorgasboarder have used, stoked on the look of the spreads. 

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Cale Tolley back in print! This image was also used by NZ Post as the cover for their presentation pack of NZ Surf Breaks Stamps

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AJ Matthews, casual as

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Dune getting another spread

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oooshhh! South Piha and the Lion looking pretty. This image is also on the store from of Back Door, Barry's Point Road

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The book The South Seas gets great props in the feature

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The 12 page feature is bookended with a bang, Elliot Paerata Reid under a nice thick lip

Has the word stoked been used too much in this post? Definitely. Bloody chuffed to land a cover! 

Check out the full new issue of Smorgasboarder HERE  

The Book Store

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Wanna check out the Photo CPL Media books? Well the link is HERE
10 years of Publishing Hard covers and no sign of stopping anytime soon :)

Roady Time! by craig levers

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This week was always going to be about a mid winter wave hunt. It always is, it's my birthday week. I'm pretty sure I've prattled on about Gisborne holding a special place in my heart, but here I go again. In my late teens when I was living on the Gold Coast I hung out with a lot of surfers from Gizzy. And they all ripped. They'd recall stories of epic Gizzy Island sessions, how hard it was to get out there, how good Stock Route was. It hammered home how good it must be.

This week’s treats

This week’s treats

I didn't get down to Gizzy for another 4 years, the first trip was with Col Johnson, Sos [Steve Sosich] and an American surfer. We went to Mahia and slept in the Pines, got skunked with the wind and drove back to Wainui to find it pumping. Clean 3-4 foot lines pouring in at No Access. It was crowded! And everyone seemed to surf really well.

A Tuesday Stock Route Special

A Tuesday Stock Route Special

Soon after that I started working at the surf mag. I was working with a Gizzy native, Chris [Budge] Berge. And at the the time there was a huge Gizzy push of talent, Clint and Eddie Daly, James Fowell and the grommets; Maz Quinn, Damon Gunness, Brent Rasby, Chrissy Malone and Blair Stewart were all making names through the junior ranks. Budgey made sure we never missed a chance to be back in Gizzy. 

It set the tone for the next 15 years. We'd stay right on the beach at Schools, Wainui in Teddy and Smurf's flat with a revolving cast of flatmates. There'd be a minimum of 6 road trips a year to Gizzy, sometimes more, never less. There was criticism levelled at the mag that it was too Gizzy centric. We remained unrepentant, there was a real push of talent from the province. And dammit the waves are so good. 

Makorori blurs and hues

Makorori blurs and hues

Troopy Porn... don't you worry, more to come

Troopy Porn... don't you worry, more to come

Every year I vow to get back to Gizzy more, more often. Every year slips by and the trips are less. I don't like it, life gets in the way. 

This week was awesome. The gorgeous Ange and I had 4 blissful days surfing and sunning along Wainui and Maccas. The waves weren't epically epic, truth be told the banks are a bit blown from the swells Gizzy has copped over the last month. It didn't matter, there was still fun to be had. The weekend was packed, the week days were mellow. Good catch ups with old mates. Never enough time to catch up with anyone really. 

Lines for days

Lines for days

Young Nick don't surf

Young Nick don't surf

Home away from home, heater on full blast

Home away from home, heater on full blast

The infamous Stock Route wall, Stick 'Round Maz? Nah, Stock Route Mafia

The infamous Stock Route wall, Stick 'Round Maz? Nah, Stock Route Mafia

Stock Route and not another soul out, clearly must've been in the wrong place

Stock Route and not another soul out, clearly must've been in the wrong place

Gorge Textures

Gorge Textures

See ya again soon Giz-Town. 

The Book Store


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Wanna check out the Photo CPL Media books? Well the link is HERE
10 years of Publishing Hard covers and no sign of stopping anytime soon :)

Back On The Map and Ric by craig levers

And the world's worst kept secret is out... 

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Late last week the Herald 'leaked' the information that there was a very real chance that Piha would host as World Qualifying Series Event in 2020, not only that, but the organisers were going for gold, it will be a 10,000 star event. As such attracting, possibly, all the very best surfers in the world. I feel that I have to stress here, I'm not being glib, and trying to be all like 'told you so'... but it's hardly been a leak or much of a secret that it was on the cards. For the last year it has been the chat over a post surf coffee at the Piha Store. Is it gonna happen, what will it mean for Piha? Is it a good thing? Isn't it gonna be sick seeing how Slater tears apart our waves? Isn't gonna suck that we'll be invaded for a couple of weeks by wave greedy pros? Me? I dunno, the jury is out... but I'm actually tending towards the selfish surfer in me.  

Here's a good report on it from NZ Surf Journal. 

Ric on Tv! 

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Ric Christie hosted and absolutely starred on last Saturday's episode of Fresh, TV2. One of Fresh's Field Directors is Raglan surfer Olly Coddington, Olly is the man behind the scenes that put this ep together, including contacting me for all the archival images used in the show of Ric. I'm completely biased, 'cos I've known Olly since he was 13 and he's a GC, a bloody champion, but that said I reckon Ric did a bloody good job in front of the camera. Check it out HERE 

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Olly Cods, smashing the Bar earlier this year. 

The Book Store

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Wanna check out the Photo CPL Media books? Well the link is HERE 

10 years of Publishing Hard covers and no sign of stopping anytime soon :) 

Coffee With Kim by craig levers

Kim Westerskov is a name many of you won't know. In the circles of NZ and wildlife photography he is revered. You mention him to another photographer and generally they'll go 'Oww, you know him?!' In truth I don't, not really. 

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check out this article on Kim 
 
Very early on I became aware of his work. Somewhere, somehow I knew that the acclaimed Antarctic wildlife photographer had his roots in surfing. In the early '70's he was getting images published in NZ surf magazines and Surfing World. In the late '80's I became fascinated with underwater photography. I worked and a Surf'n'Dive shop at the time and my guess is that's how his work started to inspire. 

Amongst a long list of accolades Kim is a 5x BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The BBC's are the world's most prestigious photographic awards. He has authored a staggering 18 books, not to mention the many he has supplied images for.  You're getting the idea... he's the real deal. 
 
Just this summer we caught up for a coffee. I was fan boying out. As it turns out Kim shares a deep connection to the west coast. He has regularly spends weeks in his campervan exploring the coast. 
 
We are from different generations; Kim is 20 years my senior, but we do come from a similar era of photography. We were both schooled and versed in film. Both started pro shooting in analogue. Both have endured the transition from film to digital and the negative impact that has had on our profession. 
 
Wait, you say, what, negative impact? Well, firstly there's no question that the advent of digital was always going to come. We can all shoot more and for longer. Digital photography has opened the world to being more visual and it has made photography more accessible. These are good things. But it has also meant more people can shoot what used to regarded too hard. Swimming out into the ocean with a roll of only 36 exposures was reserved for the most determined. Where once images taken from in the briny were valued and respected for the effort made to get them, now we are saturated [pun intended].  
 
Nowadays these images are better than ever before. That's awesome, truly. More people shooting more means there is going to be a higher standard. But it also means we've all become hardened critics, to be wowed it has to be something extraordinary. 
 
The digital revolution has devalued our trade. I'm not complaining, it's just a fact. Evolve or die.  And these are the types of issues two veterans talk about over coffee.  How to survive the revolution.
 
Kim has adapted well. He mentors, talks and leads classes. He gives back, sharing his vast skill set. In fact just talking to Kim you see him animate and get excited about sharing all that is photographic.  
He's a photographer's photographer. He doesn't get too tied up in how the image was made, it is all about why and what the image is of. He thrives on the concepts of getting under the skin of the subject. He's still driven by the desire to convey and evoke emotion. 
 
This week we caught up for a coffee again... code for two and a half hours of blissful geek talk. New software, better workflows, social media domination... all that boring stuff. But what really stuck was Kim's love of his craft. Here's a sample; the evening before we were hoping to meet up for a photo mission to Karekare, I got stuck in town. Kim scored an insane sundowner session, he was so rev'd up and in the moment he stayed on the beach shooting until midnight. Now he moves on to Whatipu for a few days shooting, before returning to Piha to capture the big swell that's about to hit. 

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If you have ever considered taking a class, this is the guy. Check out Kim's work and website HERE
 

The Book Store 

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Wanna check out the Photo CPL Media books? Well the link is HERE  
10 years of Publishing Hard covers and no sign of stopping anytime soon :) 

It's Retro Bro by craig levers

Over on Instagram for this week I'd posted a bunch of retro shots with the stories behind them. Some date back over 20 years... I could have gone further, but their choice was largely on the memory they sparked. For this post I'm going to let you in on all of the upcoming daily selection... you get to see them first. 

Starting with the first two that have been posted.

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Here we have my old mate Troy Riley one of the original HB Jamas. This was a pacific trip in 2006 with Morehu Roberts, Blair Stewart and Sam Willis in tow. We scored perfect waves and got a ton of super full frame water shots which were the style of shooting back then. The deal was to almost be showcasing your water skills as a surf photog; the downside was that the fisheye lens distorted the shit out of everything. Case in point Troy is a booble head in this image. In 2006 I was still shooting water on film; digital still had a way to go to match film so I’d be swimming a half K through the lagoon out to the reef pass with only 36 frames in the housing. It meant you made every frame count. The vibe on this trip was epic, thanks fellas for making it so. The group cocktail shot is L to R Troy, Sam and Morehu.
We cashed in on a flight deal that included 4 star accomodation that had a reef pass straight in front and the other passes were close. The deal included free buffet breakfast, so our routine was, up before first light, shoot until 9am, back for the buffet, rest, shoot again, eat, shoot, dinner with ridiculously huge cocktails, in bed by 9pm...repeat. The perfect Photo trip. 

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Chrissy Malone at HTs in 1999 and the portrait is from the year before just a week after he’d won the National Open Title. This was the first photoshoot a NZ Surf mag had funded to the Ments- by that I mean the publisher paid for me to go, the surfers had to find their own funds. Everything was shot on film and at the time I was also shooting video on a Canon XL1. We produced a terrible video called SOS which was Surfers Over Seas. Again it was such a different era, where it was such a rarity to see images and footage of Kiwis charging OS that there was a real demand for it. The trip was bookended by Damon Gunness having his 21st on the boat... here’s a tip... don’t get a hangover in the Ments on a boat with no air conditioning. It really isn’t worth it. The charter with Kiwi Owner/Captain Moose on the Kuta Laut was awesome, Moose is so dialled into the swell and spots- still is. We came back 50 rolls of film exposed, which in the scale of things isn’t that much, but at the time my publisher wasn’t happy about the processing bill. But there were covers, features and poster shots that ended up all over the world. Chrissy still charges hard, living in Raglan and owning the ledge when it gets over 6 foot. His son Navryn is charging too- rad to see you behind the ski the other week Nav!

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Paige the Grom! By 2006 it was clear that Paige Hareb was going to be a dominant force in surfing, she had won back to back U16 National Titles. The reserved teenager was winning every grommet event there was. And in the mid 2000's there was a large circuit of comps, both Rip Curl and Billabong NZ putting on their own series which ran back to back. It was hectic and expensive for the families involved to get their grommets to all the contests. But I think the companies did succeed in fostering young Kiwi surfers, Paige, Billy and Ric were all groomed through these years. Both Leon Parkin from Rip Curl and Scott Casey from Billabong were passionate about pushing the junior scene.  
Within 18 months of these two shots being taken Paige would win her third National Title; Womens Junior and was catapulted onto the world stage with her break through WQS win in W.A. She never looked back, becoming NZ's most successful World Tour Competitor. In full disclosure, I've interviewed Paige for the next book; NZ Surf; The Collection Vol 2 which will be out in November... so I've got the stats dialled in.

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The day I nearly quit [again]. The surfer is Danny Carse, and at the time he was the best young surfer out of Otago. I loved shooting with Danny, every single time you'd walk away with something special. This shot was taken at North Piha just after a Quiksilver Air Show in 2002. And we were about to chase swell down to Gizzy with the Electric Eyewear Team. This image is on Velva film using a 15mm Fisheye with a Canon Eos 5 camera in a waterhousing I'd built. Because the NZD was so weak and my publisher, god bless him, couldn't keep stumping up for the tweaks and changes I wanted as I learned the craft. So I had to make my own, I wanted to.  
Over that summer I worked super hard on getting strong content for the mag. We were using a new scanning house to digitise the images, they had a state of the art drum scanner... we were about to find out they didn't have a state of the art Scanner operator. In 2002, because the image files were so huge to do the mag layout we worked with low resolution image samples. The Scanning house would then replace the samples with the high resolution image pre print. Because we were working in low res, we didn't pick up that every single scan had a blur over it. And we couldn't pick it up on the newsprint proofs we used to get. If you look closely at Danny's air you'll see the hills in the background have a weird edge on them. The whole fucking issue from cover to cover was blurry and it was out in the bookstores. It broke me, I'd worked so hard to make the images, and for the reader it would have just looked like all the images were out of focus. To add salt to the wound, the scanning house lost all of my original photos from that issue. I started looking for a new job, I was so disheartened. But I also felt I had something to prove, I needed to be a part of an issue that was strong. I held in for another issue...and then another... until mid 2008. 

The mug shot is of course Danny with his little brother Ric Christie. Ric's surfing is hugely influenced by Danny's style, every time you see that back knee drop inwards, that's a bit of Danny. This shot was taken during the Taranaki Nationals 2007. 

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Matt Hoy, summer 2003, Whanga Bar. Again this was straight off the back of one of the Piha Quiksilver Airshows. Hoyo would MC the events with Hawaiian John Shimooka. The Airshows were fricken awesome events all the Aussies would come over and the local board riders Keyhole would host a massive party/bbq at me old and sadly departed mate Bazzy's place. The Air Events were fast and high entertainment, they were over in one day and spectators could really get their heads around the concept. The last Airshow at Piha was held in pumping waves with clean offshores. I vividly remember a competitor getting a stand up barrel into a huge closeout hit, and getting a zero for the wave, he'd just got what on any other day would be a 10, but the wave didn't give him an air section and that was the rules- it was an Airshow- rough! Anyways... after the Airshow Maz, Hoyo, Bosko, Troy Brooks, Ry Craike and Craig Warton with me in tow chased cyclone Dobi down to the Coromandel. The idea of the week was that Quikky needed to shoot their winter wetsuits, so the poor lads had to surf in brand new full suits, they were marinating!  

This week; well I'm writing up a storm for the aforementioned NZ Surf; The Collection Vol 2 book. Warren Hawke is again at the helm and I'm just the lowly publisher slash contributor. Wazza likes to keep the content of the book pretty close to the chest, but I can tell you that the spreads I've seen so far are making me pretty bloody chuffed to be involved! OK, back to punching keys on the board... 

The Book Store

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Wanna check out the Photo CPL Media books? Well the link is HERE 
10 years of Publishing Hard covers and no sign of stopping anytime soon :) 

3 Cool Things...and more by craig levers

My good mate Luke Darby made this little clip last week. Luke is a graphic designer, filmer, web designer and fellow camper van geek. In fact we have worked together off and on since 1993- scary. Luke built www.photocpl.co.nz

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Check out  the video HERE 


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That was Tuesday's waves... then on Wednesday Dave Swan from Smorgasboarder Magazine interviewed me for the mag's regular podcast... I think I had a bit of a shocker, I know not to umm and errr, to keep the word flow succinct and flowing ... I sure as hell didn't do any of that! But its live now and the feed back has been positive. You can listen to it HERE


And Deeeeeen

The first photos I ever took, when I was 13, were at Bob Hill Park Bowl in New Lynn. I shot a roll of film using my Dad's camera of Tony Halam and Mark Robinson in the bottom bowl. Dad was pissed off I shot a whole roll of 24 shots. Whenever I get the chance to shoot skate, especially Vert I  grab it. Work gets in the way, surfing takes priority... shooting skate doesn't happen enough. Last Saturday Morri hosted the Dunga at Onehunga and he gave me access to the platforms- thanks Mozza! 

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U16 little legend Liam Haze rocking

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U16 winner Rico Henare 

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El Presidente Ramon Thackwell... as in Ramon's the president on Skateboarding NZ 

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Squeak McKenzie on his way to 3rd in the Open 

Best trick went to Stephen Nickolls... not for this slide, although it was pretty fricken sick

Best trick went to Stephen Nickolls... not for this slide, although it was pretty fricken sick

Wellington's Chris Wood won.

Wellington's Chris Wood won.

The Mount's Ants Mcloud escaped the kids and doing the lawns by coming up for the weekend- good to see ya mate!

The Mount's Ants Mcloud escaped the kids and doing the lawns by coming up for the weekend- good to see ya mate!

Scott Woolston on his way to 2nd in the Open

Scott Woolston on his way to 2nd in the Open

Cale Tolley with easily one of the biggest airs of the day

Cale Tolley with easily one of the biggest airs of the day

Aaaaand Deeeennnnn

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The post WAS titled 3 cool things... but on Sunday Billy Stairmand won the Gold Coast Open... It was Mother's Day and he dedicated the win to his Mum who passed away two years ago from breast cancer. You're a bloody legend Bilbo. 
 

From The Galleries

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Well, there's one place that would have been on the absolute cook this week! If you did go I hope you took out everything you took in... looks after this special place and don't shit in your own backyard! Love the place? Maybe you want to own visual proof of the biggest swell in years. Check it out HERE