Mini Mission: Copious Roady

The Waikato funpark turned it on for us

Just once in awhile the elements all come together ridiculously well. This last week has been A One Of Those. The plan was to assemble members of the Copious crew to get good action shots of them for possible use in point of sale posters and print advertising. Big Call, but here's how it worked out... 

The first stop on the tour was Raglan to hand out with Lee Ririnui. A day after we shot Lee got selected for the NZ Junior Team

I reckon he'll make a worthy addition, if he surfs like this in the Azores in September

We didn't think Raglan was going to be THIS good, of course; while my priority was on the Copious crew, there were others ripping the bag. 

Didn't catch his name, but how cool is Mr Surfmatt! 

Me ol' young mate Billy Lee-Pope joined us for the Raglan Leg, he's now in Bali with Billy Staimand filming their next clip. Check out Billy Lee-Pope Media HERE

You never just know who'll show up at Raglan, 1995 National Champ Brent Hutchieson, shot over from a family holiday in Miranda for a cheeky dawnie.

Always a great catch up, you're ripping Henchmia!!! Good luck in the Mentawaiis next week brother. 

Of course Copious's boss and founder Cale Tolley can walk to talk

Pretty good photographic studio to spend your work day at 

Larry Fisher on bomb

Stage 1 Done...onto Stage 2

Matty Groube and Cale, loving the Grobe hospo for Stage 2

Skating is a huge part of what Copious is about, more specifically transition skating; Bowls, Pools, and Ramps. Matt Groube very kindly opened up his personal funpark for Copious to skate and shoot. It ended up being a 10 hour... yes 10 hour pool session. Here's some of the highlights. 

The man himself, Matty Groube, owning his own pool. 

Shaun Boucher, twilight Madonna in the deep end.

Wellington's Jordan Nunns joined the session with some great hip work

Yep that'll be the boss again, walking the talk

Cale's high speed 50/50 in the deep end

Shaun's Smith locked in

Out With The Old, In With The New 

Best Ugly Bagel have just renewed their PhotoCPL image. Thanks guys! Keeler Kamp has adorned their flagship store in The Auckland Works for the last 2 years. It was time for a change... but keeping in the caravan theme. 

Just click on the image to see it large

Mini Mission; Taranaki

There was no web-log last week, so this week's one is early. The reason for the miss, well you probably guessed from the heading, the Naki' was calling. 

A part from a few tidy up day trips for supplementary images, the Taranaki mini mission marks the end of the shooting for the next beach book. It is pretty exciting to near the end of a stage, and to leave Taranaki to last was a great way to finish in style. 

The Three Sisters, with Elephant Rock behind,  last Wednesday.

It's a region that I've always felt a strong connection to through the years at NZ Surfing Mag.The drive always conjures up fine memories of my first Nationals as a photographer in 1994, the first roady I ever did for the mag in 1993 with Daniel Kereopa, Nat Barron and Larry Fisher. 

Hemi Takarua, Stacey Lamb, Motu Mataa, Chris Blain Dwaine and Barbara Mataa at Stent Road 2007; this shot was used in the latest Damaged Goods Mag

Motu, Rocky Lefts 2006

Then on other roadies hanging with the Mataa brothers and staying at Barbara Mataa's pad in Oakura. Full on ping pong wars at the Waitara Boardriders with Dan Waiweri and Ed Martin. The Mill with Pip Ngaia, Club 55 with Stacey Lamb. There's a huge amount of gratefulness for the hospitality Taranaki surfers have always shared. Mainly I just remember laughing a lot and being made to feel at home.  

Pip Ngaia shot in 1994 for a Rip Curl clothing advert... And in the book PhotoCPL of course!

This trip was a good trip for photos, all that was needed was images from The Three Sisters at Tongaporutu and Fitzroy. 

The 617 Pano camera set up for a 4 minute exposure... fingers crossed the film look nice with blurred out water and cloud movement. 

Elephant Rock...looking Elephanty

After seeing that left in the image above, well, Stent Road could be good right? The imagination raced with thoughts of walls like this...

Morehu Roberts at Stent Road, 2002

Stent Road 2001, or maybe this...

Graveyards 2012, this pano was used as the opening Taranaki spread in The South Seas Book, We felt it encapsulated the Taranaki experience, rocky points, long waves, and long scrambles over slippery boulders.  Or even this... 

Definitely not telling where... But no such luck, I got this...

The onshore cutting the swell to shreds at Stent. 

No surf this photo trip, but I did get what I went for. Good Three Sisters Panos and a pretty good sunset at Fitzroy.

It was a light chasing mission, not a surf chasing trip. 

#ishootfilm #shootfilmstaybroke

These are probably my two favourite hashtags, especially the latter, mainly because it is closer to the bone than you'd ever think. It has been a massively boring week in CP Land, tedious, repetitious, RSI inducing, eye blurringly BORING! 

No chasing west swells down or up the coast, oh yes I have FOMO big time. It's not even Fear Of Missing Out, it is I Missed Out... missed out on this...

Are you kidding me!!! Where was I?! 

Well sometimes you have to shut the world out and do what photographers really do... which is this ....

Removing micro dust particles at actual pixel level from high resolution scans that are 2 metres long in real measurements... yep mind numbingly BORING. 

But it does mean I have these to share, beautifully rich, sharp panoramas that will handle being used at 2 metres long with ease...and that's why #ishootfilm

This is Kohaihai Beach which is at the end of the road above Karamea, on the West coast. Click on the image to see it larger.

Two and a half hours down the road is Punakaiki and I think is my favourite Pano from the roady. It isn't overly tech, but there are subtle plays, like the slight blur of the swell. Click on the image to see more detail.

Over on the Catlins side; more rocks, rock made from volcanoes and 180 million year old trees. Check out the wood grain by clicking on the image. 

Just up the road a ways from Curio Bay's Petrified Forest; Nugget Point and its iconic lighthouse. I like this angle because it makes the lighthouse a beacon, above the horizon line. I like it 'cos it has those really oversaturated colours that Velvia film is infamous for. You can click on the image if you want to see it bigger....you can buy it at 2 metres wide if you really want to enjoy its full fidelity :) 

So what are you s'posed to do if nature gives you two bangers in one morning at the same location, hide one away never to be viewed by anyone else? God bless the interweb... more is just...more. This one is quite tech; filters stacked to get the exposure time down to 8 minutes... yep 8 lots of 60 secs to get the swell and the swirls of the currents around the Nuggets emphasised, it also streaked out the clouds really nicely. Oh you can't see that? If you click on the image you can see more detail. 

Kapiti Island from Paraparaumu. I have spent no time on the Kapiti Coast, so part of the mission was to stop instead of just punching through to the ferry. The Kapiti Coast is cool! Definitely one of the coolest camping grounds around, The Kapiti Holiday Resort....yes RESORT if you may. Big name, but it's backed up with great grounds just a wee walk from the sand, where I got the pano above which you can view larger by clicking on the image. 

Over on Instagram I've been loading up the black'n'whites that apart from Insty I don't really know what to do with. I love shooting with the Fuji Gw690 camera [and I love the review of it in that link] Here's some of those for your viewing pleasure. 

...there had to be some sort of Ambo shot it there ehh! 

AND THE WINNER IS>>>

Last week's mailer had a comp to win this T-shirt in... a limited edition, sold out T at that! 

The answer was Keeler Kamp... clearly the question was far too easy. Jed B was the one that got drawn by Random.org's randomiser. Thanks for playing fellas!!!  

Back From The Mainland

The three weeks on The Mainland went too fast. It always was going to be an efficient photo mission; no dilly dallying, stick to the hit list. There was a huge amount of luck involved, the weather played ball at every location. The problem is there is just so much to see and shoot, are mere three weeks is just not enough- but it was a massively successful mission none the less. 

The mighty Chevy proved itself as a more than capable camera bag, never missing a beat. Here it is perched up a Karamea.

On the way home there was a quick sidetrack the the Hawkes Bay...beautiful Waimarama Beach. 

Missing those perfect southern lines

Here's the result of three weeks on the road, 25 rolls of 6x17 panoramics. Now the real work begins, scanning and colour grading the keepers... and man there are some keepers. Over the next few weeks there will be a lot of film shots shared on Instagram and this mailer. 

The motivation for the 3 week photo mission was to gather the bulk of the South Island images needed for the next Beach Book. Happily, it is definitely job done, but it has left a reminder of what a wonderfully diverse and varied little country we live in. Of how many unspoilt and largely un-populated nooks and crannies our coasts still hold. Of how good a good roady actually is. 

In The Press

The roady didn't stop other work from happening; The latest issue of Damaged Goods just dropped. It has a funny wee account I wrote about the Piha Carpark in the '80s. The article also features this shot I took in 1987-8 of th old funny block at South Piha. Grab a copy, the feature on iconic Kiwi Surf Car Parks is really good. Sure there is a basis, but it's a cool concept. Luke Cederman has done Manu Bay, Simon Deken; Stent Road, Warren Hawke; Meatworks. Pete Morse; The Blowhole plus more.  

Oi, and what's this? Spotted in the latest Allpress Press, a little cameo of one big two PhotoCPL canvases in at North Drift, Ahipara...Jonny why are you looking so glum bro!!! The canvas is Dream Swell, which was taken during last year's monster June Swell. You can see it better HERE

Big Commissions 

The problem with big prints and canvas orders is that I'm so stoked the client wants them that big, I always give them a great deal because I wanna see the image that big too...gotta learn to be more business like! But this one really turned out amazing; It's Piha Layers on canvas at 2 metres long. The size of a door. What really hit home with this size was the sharpness and detail in the foreground stretch right through to the farthest headlands. It's on its way to a new home in California. Find out more about Piha Layers

And another big one a little closer to home. It now resides in Torbay. The client went for a triptych on this 2 metre x 2 metre beastie. I haven't presented ANY images like this before so it is great to see. Again it really popped; the sharpness and detail in the falling curtain is actually mesmerising. This image is called Perfect View, you can see it better HERE

T-shirt Giveaway Time

Wanna buy a PhotoCPL T? Well you can't, they are all gone! But when you signed up to this mailer there was a commitment to doing subscriber giveaways. So this one is happily for you. Email back with your preferred size and the name of this image [you just have to click on the image- but there has to be some skill question involved].  Every correct and eligible entry goes in the draw to be drawn next Thursday. Better odds by a country mile than lotto! 

From The Galleries

Here's is the first of the new panoramas, Glenorchy Sundown....loving the subtle palette 

Just click on the image to see it large

In Preparation

Getting ready for any big surf or photo trip is always exciting. Culling out what is not needed, finding excuses to acquire that extra bit of kit that just might, maybe come in handy. My week has been in this mode; it's time to pack the Cambulance. The mission is to complete the photography needed for the next beach book project.

I get asked a lot about what camera I use; but as I get older I understand more that photography is not about what camera you use, it is about successfully conveying to the viewer what you felt you saw at the time. I used to post all the technical details of how an image was made to demonstrate that the image was technically sound and could handle being used huge. This week a commission was a great example of this;

Just click on the image to see it bigger

I need to know if a client orders a big print from the website, the file not only can handle that enlargement, it'll actually come alive at the biggest size. This enlargement is 1.35 metres wide, the framed finished piece is nearly 1.6m wide. Every blade of sunlit grass is crispy sharp, every twine within the ropes is discernible.   

Clients need to know the finished piece will handle the jandal, I need to know it will! When this piece was delivered [I make a point of hand delivering when it is possible] the first reaction was "WOW! I didn't realise it was THAT detailed" ... that is what you wanna hear right?! 

I've come to realise that it is only the camera geeks that want to know the tech stuff. The clients are looking for a piece that will fit into their home, the colours, the place, the feeling are what draws interest. But I'm a camera geek, I know some of you guys are, so here's the foundation of the kit I'm taking. 

Left to right; The Berlebach wooden tripod, a article of East German craftsmanship, honed from an Ash tree, wood soaks up and dampens vibration. Wood is the best. Ash is the best wood. The carbon fibre legs- when I'm lazy and don't want to lug the wood. On top of the carbon fibre sticks; The Arca Swiss p0 head, better than a ball head, although technically it is a ball head, Swiss-French precision. Above the tripod, Canon Speedlite and diffuser; I don't really like using artificial light but it is good to cover bases. 

3rd row from left, at the top; Mamiya 50mm shift lens w/ ef mount; this lens is crazy sharp and ideal for digital stitches with the shift function. Below the Mamiya, one of my favourite lenses the Canon 70-200mm F2.8L, everytime I use it I remind myself to use it more. Below that; the Canon 300mm f2.8L again crazy sharp, and great for panned back surf shots. 

what the Mamiya 50mm shift lens can make- big digital panos [just click the image to see big] 

Next row from left, top Canon Ef 100mm f2.8L- I use this a lot in the water-housing- again lauded by the critics as one of Canon's sharpest lenses. 2nd from the top, my oldest lens a Canon 15mm 2.8 fisheye- a dangerous lens as everything looks so damn dynamic with it- another water-housing lens. Extension tubes for macro close ups. Slightly right and below; Carl Ziess 50mm F1.2  sick for portraits...but I don't shoot heads much. Below that, Sunway indexed pano head w/ Arca Swiss bar- essential for digital stitches- not that I do many digi panoramas anymore.

The 15mm Fisheye...dangerously good [ yep, click the pic to see it big ] 


2nd row from right, top; The Shen Hao PTB 617 Panoramic camera, made of Rose Wood...just a thing of beauty and responsible for most of the Award winners like this one...

The PTB camera paired with the Nikkor 200mm [click the image to see it better] 

The SPL Splash Housing; just looking at it makes me itchy to swim. And below it the workhorse; the Canon 5D mk iii, that fits inside the housing. Attached to it is another workhorse, the Canon EF 17-40mm F4.0L.

Far right row, top; sometimes interviewers ask insanely inane questions like 'If you only had one camera for the rest of your life what would it be?' Well it would probably be the Texas Leica aka Fujifilm GSW69. It is a film camera and it takes beautifully toned and brutally sharp photos like this...

Getting the drill on the images- if you click on them they link back to a bigger version

The next film camera below the Fuji is the newest, it is the Fotoman 617 with a German Super-Angulon 75mm lens. It takes photos like this...

click away my friends click away :) 

Below the Fotoman 617 is the Nikkor 200mm lens which fits the PTB camera and below that is my trusty Sekonic light meter. 

Missing from the kit photo are all the filters and random accessories, I've already bored you enough. The next mailer will be from the road, and I can honestly say I have little idea from where- except that it will be in the Mainland. Hopefully it will be dripping with tasty Kiwi line ups- so stayed tuned.  

Cuteness And Stoke

In the last mailer/ web log it was all about hardcore step offs and challenging the boundaries of what is rideable. That's not to state that last week's Jet-ski session was the biggest waves ever ridden- it was about extending the limits of what is surf able around these parts. There is no doubt Dave and Jamie came in from that session stoked. 

This post it almost the direct opposite. And the grounds of it is just one photo. A frame that was completely missed in the first two edits of the weekend's Billabong Grom Series Final. I reckon it's a photo that shows more surf stoke than just about any other I've shot. Meet 12 year old Summer Carkeek [the one smiling] and her bestie Alice Westerkamp.

Over the weekend they both would have had about 20 surfs, including their heats in the comp. They were literally in the surf all day, both days, coming in for fuel stops and sunblock replenishment.  Both those surnames may sound quite familiar too, Summer is the eldest daughter of Jackie and Glen Carkeek, Glen of course is the man behind Primal Surfboards and a former NZ surfing team representative himself.  Alice is the daughter of Jan and Nick Westerkamp both stalwarts of the Northshore surfing scene.

Alice dominating the Lion Rock peak

Summer on her way to a 2nd placing in the U14 girls final, Alice placed 3rd in the event too

Glen and Jan reckon this has really been the summer [as in season] that the two girls' surf stoke has hit critical mass. Surf trips for the Westerkamps and the Carkeeks are no longer about finding the heaviest, biggest pits. It's about seeking out grommet friendly runners, making sure the frothing fremlins are hydrated and watching tuckered out besties pass out from exhaustion on the drive home.

In exactly the same vein, meet NZ's current youngest contest veteran Indica Knox Corcoran, the 8 year old

Then there's a bit of brotherly love with Teddy and John Rua

A highlight of shooting the Grom Comps is witnessing and taking part in surfing families coming together from all around the country, friendships are formed and networks made. It has always been like this. There's also the business end of the contests, where the groms get to match themselves against their peers, in heats for sure, but it's often the free surfs around the event that push everyone to surf better.

Raglan's Taylor Hutchison showing the groms how it is done

Trust a Raglan grom to find a left on a right peak, Jayden Willoughby

A welcome return to surfing after 12 months of injury; Dune Kennings made it 2 for 2 winning the U20 division of Piha Grom comp after winning at Whanga a fortnight earlier

Dunedin grom Jack McLeod charging on the morning before the final, he posted a credible 2nd in the U17s

Taylor Hutchison slicing froth

Dune's winning form

Piha charger Claudia Fraser made the U20's final, but found herself out of rhythm in the last heat

Bianca Samson edged out her twin Gabby and Claudia for the win

Bianca, Claud, Gabby and Brit Kindred. The U20 finalists and mates that have all been surfing together since they were 12

From The Galleries

Here is a firm favourite that has just been ordered BIG again this week. There is a hint of its future use in the caption on PhotoCPL too. 

Just click on the image to see it large

Big West, Films and More Muck

Surfing Big North Piha

We all know Piha and the wild west coast is renowned for its big surf. The issue for resident surfers is not how much swell we cop.; it's where can we surf when it gets over 5 foot [10 foot faces]. Rips come into play too much, the breaks become too shifty and paddling out from the beach is neigh on impossible. It has long been a source of frustration for west coast surfers- you can see potential out there, but you know you just can't quite get in position with all that water moving about. 

And that's the beauty of a jetski, you can get put in the right place, that massive playing field gets nicely shrunk. Piha locals, Paramedic Dave Woods and Fireman Jamie Piggins, are the latest to venture into Piha's bigger stuff. Only last week they committed and co-bought their new [mint second-hand] ski. Dave is no stranger to skis and IRB's as a former captain of Piha Surf Lifesaving, Jamie is on a steep learning curve, but clearly already is a natural. 

Here is yesterday's session, their first ever session in pretty solid stuff. It was far from perfect, but they got more waves than any other Piha surfer yesterday over the low tide and peak of the swell. No one else could get out, they had the whole of North Piha to themselves. 

Dave Woods; always playing up, but always on to it.

Jamie... is that a nervous grin??? 

The boys' new set up

Reforms on to the Bar... grinding!

No scale, could be 2 foot right?

Jamie giving it scale with the one that got away  

Woody on a big outer bank left

Woody loving the outer banks

Jamie's freight train

A beast of a right

The sort of perfect wave that would be nearly impossible to catch without a ski

Here's a cheeky 25 frame sequence made into a gif for your viewing pleasure

Of course, there is always a price to pay, and Piggy is paying hard right here! 

Aotearoa Surf Film Festival

The ASFF is in full swing now and touring the country. Gizzy experienced sell out crowds; must of been the excellence of the Judging Panel and the selection of films huh!

Here's the schedule; get in there!  

Epic Reunion

After a long 18 years, Muckhole reformed to play at the Kings Arms, Newton. If you do a search for Muckhole you'll find that they are credited as being arguably the biggest Punk Rock band New Zealand has ever produced. Their last hoorah, 18 years ago, was to a packed out Powerstation, which is no mean feat for any band of any genre. 
 

I used to shoot a fair bit for the Muckers, I loved it, helping out mates and witnessing them succeed. So being asked again to shoot was no chore at all, in fact Sean O'Brien [lead singer] and I are agreed; we probably ended up with the best shots Muckhole has ever had. 

Check it out the full photo set HERE

NEW RELEASE

Is it wise to use Instagram as a gauge of popularity? Probably not, but if you were to, then this image should have been made available months ago. Hands down one of the most liked PhotoCPL images posted on insty 

Just click on the image to see it large

Fresh Muck and Kitsch

The Muckers - back in 1995, behind the Felix rehearsal rooms in Symonds St...lurking outside the womens..as they did- Photo:CPL

Last night, after a long 18 years, Muckhole reformed to play at the Kings Arms, Newton. If you do a search for Muckhole you'll find that they are credited as being arguably the biggest Punk Rock band New Zealand has ever produced. Their last hoorah, 18 years ago, was to a packed out Powerstation, which is no mean feat for any band of any genre. 

And last night... oh boy last night, the lads proved they still have the energy to electrify a crowd. Supported by old partners in crime Kitsch; the two bands played brilliant sets of tight well honed Kiwi punk rock anthems to a packed house. 

Here's my photo set of an awesome night at the KA! 

Eastern Journeys

I'm a proud Westie, I'll admit it. Not Westie as in bogan, more a connection with the West Coast, from clean off-shore waves to invigorating winter storm fronts. It is exciting, it is active. But you can't stay put all the time and over the last week it has been all about journeys to our eastern shores. 

Paunui sunset and moonrise

Picture perfect lefts all day

Uncrowded rights, where was everyone! Oh yeah the Island

Crystal cylinder; version 1

Crystal cylinder; version 2

Mission Bay Mission

There's a really cool doctrine in photography; and that is to set yourself projects and see them through. In practice it means you've clarified what the goal is and you've got a clear direction, it gives your photography purpose. This is being applied to the two PhotoCPL book projects this year. One of those books is a New Zealand Beach book, it'll be the third one done, it'll also be the best one- that's the goal. 

A book project like this leads to going to places [beaches] you wouldn't normally bother with. That kind of sounds bad aye, but as a westie, what possible reason would there be to make the journey from beautiful Piha to some artificially enhanced inner city beach? Well 1.37 million people can't be all wrong right? Turns out old bloody Mission Bay is actually pretty darn nice on a balmy summer's evening.

Long exposure at Mission Bay

Summer vibes in the big little city

Mission Bay's fountain- with a bit of added i-phone light painting- had to get some waves in there somehow

Mission Bay, you are alright...for a city beach

Cool Website

In New Zealand Surfing's photographic ranks, for the most part, we all support each other and there's good open dialog. Daniel 'Digga' Davie is one of our leading proponents. Actually Digga is one of those annoying mates that happens to be REALLY good at anything he puts his hand to; Shaping- yep his Dad Bob Davie taught him pretty darn well, airbrush and fine art- yep he has a great hand, surfing..ahh ah, there's a PhotoCPL covershot of him back in the NZSM days.

Diggs has a new website for his photography, which  is well worth a gander; my favourite section is his people and portraiture.

The wave images are, of course, nothing short of eastern goodness at its best. 

Check it HERE

From The Galleries

Keeping it East, here's a technically demanding pano made a few winters ago. Love the real lens-flare!

Just click on the image to see it large

Bowl Jams and Thick Lips

The Bowl Jam 2016

For the 5th consecutive year the Mangawhai Bowl Jam ran last weekend. Once again Jesse Peters taking on the task of organising the event and doing a great job of upping the ante yet again with a solid turn out of NZ's best bowl riders and a pretty damn big crowd to boot.  

Willie Beggs and Jesse Peters MC'ing the Bowl Jam

Super grom from Taupo Remus Henare on his way to third in the U16s

Remus's older brother Rico won the U16s

Mikey Bancroft was on form, posting third in the Open

Mikey!

Christchurch skater Dan Kelcher made the pilgrimage north to claim second in the open

Shaun Boucher shook off his bridesmaid status, taking out his first win this year after a string of seconds

Old mate Lee Mackenzie upset the Masters beating Morri and Crab- you bloody legend

Andrew 'Morri' Morrison came out of a 16 year competitive retirement for the Bowl Jam

Morri- good ole uncle Mozza

Another legend of NZ pro skating Dave Crab put on a clinic of vert too

Crab's stylish frontside Smith- locked

The old boys with US skating legend Eddie Elguera- Eddie gave one of his El Gato signature boards to Lee for winning the masters

One very very stoked winner!

I love shooting Vert and Bowl- thanks Jesse for the front row seat bro- amping for the next session!  

Thick West

And straight off the back of the Bowl Jam the swell jumped on the West coast. The Tasman Sea creating its very own type of vert ramps...

A nice coping to smash? 

Whangamata transplant Matt Honeycombe

Not the best place to be sitting with a water-housing; but, byjingos that's a glassy wave

And then, just once in a while, the clouds part just enough and a peak trucks through the light

Cool Shorty

Silver Surfers from Janine Hedley on Vimeo.

Submissions have closed for the Aotearoa Surf Film Festival and I'm in judging mode. It's great to see more Kiwi shorts are in than ever before. This one has been a standout, not because the action is crazy, but it's a warming heartfelt tome from the local Piha surfers I grew up inspired by. I dunno if the other judges will get it, but for a Westie it's a damn nice short film...spot the seepage cameo! 

Eastern Treats

A highlight of making books about NZ beaches and surf is that you just HAVE to keep on doing mini missions to some of NZ's worst kept secrets. Last weekend it was Waikawau Bay. 

Waikawau Bay is on the north eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula; it's about an hour's drive north of Coromandel town. Nestled behind the southern dunes of the beach is one of New Zealand's best DOC camping grounds. A staggeringly expensive 10 bucks a night! Dude are you real? $10 for this!!!

Click on the map to get a better idea of Waikawau's location

The Cambulance and the stunning camp grounds of Waikawau

The tail end of TC Victor's swell was still lurking about

Waves bigger than the Coro ranges!

Balmy evenings and fun, playful peaks

Just like a beer advert- where you'd rather be
 

The Aotearoa Surf Film Festival 2016

Every year the ASFF gets a little bigger, the format gets refined and the network spreads. I've been asked to be a judge again, and I'm absolutely chuffed to do so. I've been a judge since the first ASFF in 2012.

The O'Neill Aotearoa Surf Film Festival will kick off in Mount Maunganui on February 25th. Tour dates will run through March and April. The full film schedule and tickets on sale now over at www.asff.co.nz with more tour dates to be announced very shortly. 

Local Sessions

A lot of Westcoast Locals have chosen to ignore Tropical Cyclone Victor, the resounding theme and rationale being that the waves are pretty good right here in front, why waste the gas? I've been doing the same. It hasn't been easy, there have been moments of greatness on the East Coast over the last week for sure, daily phone calls to the east to check in, but it seems as though the sea-breeze has kicked in most days at midday.

Out West has just been fine. There have been good waves everyday for weeks now, us Westie's have been surfing a lot! Yesterday the surfboard was finally shelved in favour of the water-housing. It actually wasn't the best conditions, but it was time to start shooting.

Hard to leave home with this happening just down the hill

TC Victor making his presence felt on the westcoast yesterday...filling the water tanks and watering the gardens

Local leather goods purveyor Greedy giving it the ol' 1-2

Happy Greedy, surfed out Greedy

Even though the swell had eased off yesterday there were still a few to keep you honest

Our World Surfing Champion, the legend, the GC, Mr Ian 'Ratso' Buchanan in the rain

The mighty Lion

Second generation local, bar owner and model Chris 'Powelly' Barron
 

Powelly's blue steel

Greedy burying rail very nicely

It'll stay like that if the wind changes mate :) 

...and more of this today too... ohhh the achy bones...

MP- Untold

Here's a great book, if you get the chance to grab a copy, it's well worth a glance. I reckon that quick glance will drag you in and before you know it, you'll be hooked. The premise of MP Untold is that when author Sean Doherty was finishing the Bestseller MP, he had interviewed Michael Peterson's competitive rivals and surfing mates. Sean was left knowing only half the story was told.  MP Untold goes a lot deeper; Sean interviews Michael Peterson's closest friends, girlfriends and family. 

Cleverly, Sean has constructed the first person accounts into a timeline of MP's life, the result being a honest, but not quite tell all biography, of one on the world's best surfers and his ultimate undoing with drugs and mental health. It's a tale of tragedy but it's also a wonderful account of family bonds and life long friendships. As MP was a must read, MP Untold is even more so; and it is beautifully illustrated with a mix classic MP images and never seen before photos to boot. Published last year, you can suss it out more HERE  

Beached AS- Then And Now Is Back! 

There's a book storage facility in Northcote, thousands of boxes of new books are indexed, palletised, and fork-hoisted onto giant, industrial metal shelves that tower over you in the double storey vaulted building. Somewhere in that organised tonnage of papery goodness was 4 boxes of forgotten Beached As- Then and Now books. They have made a lair of the author, the title is not sold out at all, there's a special reserve of 64. 

Did you miss out; where you one of the people that contacted me to get your copy? Well it's back and you can view and purchase it HERE

It's Not All About PhotoCPL

There's lots of great stuff going on with my photographic colleagues at the moment; and here's just two new ventures that I reckon are totally worth a virtual and even physical visitation.

First up James Culley has his first solo exhibition on right now at The Arborist in Wellington. It's a daunting but necessary process for a photographer to go through, the stresses of finding a suitable venue, the gawd awful process of image selection and then the painful task of actually stumping up the funds to have your work printed and framed. Will anyone like your work? Hell, will anybody actually show up? 

Jim has jumped through all the hoops and curated a great solo exhibition entitled Still Motion Collection. 

The top 3 have been printed at A1, mounted with an off-white matt window and framed with dark ramin, finishing at close to A0. The remaining 12 are all printed at A2 with the same finish close to A1 in size. All have been printed on Hahnemuehle Photo Rag 308gms with non-solvent, archival grade inks. No expense was spared in ensuring they are the highest quality finished prints.

The exhibition is running at The Arborist on Willis St, Wellington until the end of January. Check out moreHERE

Then there is Warren Hawke's new website, and not before time Wazza!!! 

Master NZ Surf Photographer since the 70's and he's still going strong. Surferswall features Warren's latest shoots, there is even last week's Nationals already up there. It is an image saturated site, check it out HERE

Of course if you are a fan of Warren's fine work you've already got his book NZ Surf- Captured By A Surf Lens right? 

What!!! No?

Want to see more and even procure a copy? Click HERE

And Me? I've been surfing, there has no time to take photos... well I did do these post surf the other day...

New Addition! 

This one has been in the must get scanned file for way too long, but here it is in all it's massive glory. Shot on Velvia 100 iso transparency film using the Fotoman 617 Camera with a Schneider 75mm lens, 8 second exposure at F45. It was a very fun dawn mission. Loving the sun lighting up the Kaikoura Ranges.     

Just click on the image to see it large

Muriwai Mini Mission

I can see Muriwai from the end of my Piha driveway. It actually does my head in a little bit. As the Gannet flies- it's only 13Kms up the coast, it takes 10 minutes on a jet ski. BUT there is no direct road, it's a 55Km drive- back to Henderson, on to Kumeu and then back out to the coast; it's a 1 hour drive. So I don't get up to see my fellow westie surfers as much as I could.  Earlier this week I did. 

A Muriwai Gannet heading south to Piha?

I'm almost embarrassed at the lack of times I've shot recently at Maori Bay and Muriwai; and of course I need a great hero shot of Muriwai for the book project this year.  

Shoulder barging the bus loads of tourists for a tripod spot on Monday evening

I'd been waiting for a evening with solid swell  and good cloud activity, Monday was the day. It was amazing how popular the Gannet Lookouts were even on a midweek evening, there was a patient wait for the angle wanted. Even with the tripod set up there wasn't too much regard for personal space from the bus-loads of tourists. No complaints though, it's cool that the resource is being so used right?

cheeky lil' [smelly] fellas

Landscape photography is a strange lark; it isn't just about getting to the place that is going to give a cool view or angle. That's the first, most important part for sure, but there has to be something special happening too, something that will enthral the viewer, something that sets a faithful recording of the scene apart from an image that conveys feeling and mood. Most landscape photographers visit and scout scenes many times before finally getting that image they want to show the world.

The cloud cover, swell and wind played ball on Monday evening...

Want to see it larger....just click on the image to link through to PhotoCPL

It is a great feeling packing down the tripod and gear, walking back to the carpark knowing there's something good in the bag. It happens all too seldomly, which of course makes it all the more sweeter I guess.

From The Galleries

Here's an older one from winter's past of the mighty Muriwai, again it's light play that makes it. That break in the clouds spotlighting part of the beach. Just click on the image to see it large

The Festive Season Is Roady Season

Happy 2016 my friends.There has been weather- but there has been waves too. The Chevy got it's maiden voyage- not counting the drive from Christchurch. Nah, this new trip was all about packing it and enjoying it as a camper.                    

Under North Whananaki stars...before the 50knt winds hit

We joined family and friends at Whananaki with the expectation of east coast swell and the chance to shoot a few new beaches for this year's books. 

Predawn Otamure on New Years Eve

And then the storm hit, 50knt gusts, tents and tarps shredded; it was gnarly! But kind of exciting too, even through the worst of it there were a couple of sneaky waves to be had. Once the storm had passed we headed further north to Taupo Bay. 

T Bay in all its summery arvo glory

Taupo Bay holds warm memories for me; in the early '90's I'd always surf check it if there was any swell on the east. In 1994 it gave me some of my best images I'd ever shot from the water. Chrissy Malone and Matt Archibald on a T&C team trip and then Dave Gilbert with this image and it's sequence. 

When this spread was published in NZ Surf Mag in 1994, lots of the Dunedin locals thought we had snuck in and out for a shoot at Allen's because of the similar rock features

T Bay 2016, more baches and a paved road, but the waves remain just plain awesome

Sentinels of every Kiwi coast, the might Massey Fergusson tractor
 

NEW ORDERS

It is nice to come home from the Chrissy hols to a couple of cheaky orders. 
 

Here's a beautiful print on archival photographic paper at 750mm, the detail is mesmerising, click the image to see Piha Peak larger. 

Big is better! Here is Piha Bar Barrel at 1200mm wide on canvas, click on the image to see the image and size options.

Things Well Made

We Have a National Obsession With Roadys

I love them! Childhood memories of booting down to Kaiaua to visit the cousins, Dad at the helm of his purple Cortina mk 3, us kids smearing up the beige vinyl of the back seat with giant hokey pokey scoops from Pokeno. The inevitable "Are we there yet". 

This led to teenage adventuring with friends on surf trips, everywhere is new, everywhere is one to tick off the list and most definitely transferred to the Coming Back Soon list. 

When I was a bugged eyed grommet, Raglan was a place of lore. We had heard stories of heavy locals throwing stones at you while you sit in the line-up, of them crapping on your car bonnet [and the air vents] as a very clear message as to your place in the pecking order. Horrifying accounts of failed Jump rock launches and low tide keel haulings over the Ledge. But Raglan is a rite of passage for NZ surfers, you have to go, in fact you have to thrive. 
 

Whanga, just a cheeky 22 years ago. [click the image to see it bigger] 

Then Da' Bar, then Shippies, then Gizzy, then Stent; places you've heard about from other young surfers get added to the lists. And then you go global. 

People often say I'm lucky with my work and history, of going from those grom years to be paid to go on and document surf roadys. I loved doing it, no, I love doing it. It has always effected the decisions around the vehicle purchases, from the Holden HR station wagon [with the mandatory mattress in the back] to 4x4's. To now, over the last few years, 4x4's with mattresses in the back too.
 

The mighty Hi Ace 4x4 hi-top camper

To me, a self contained, go [just about] anywhere camper is a natural evolution in the great Kiwi Roady. Three years ago the commitment was made and adventures were created with the Hi Ace 4x4 Camper. It was a considered dabble, a dip the toes in, to see if camper van life was all it is cracked up to be. Turns out, it is that and even more. I once quipped the Hi Ace camper was the most expensive camera accessory I've ever bought, it's also proved to be one of the best.
 

If you look super closely, the Hi Ace is parked up. 

And then the thought process evolves; how can this experience be even better, how can roadys be longer and more comfortable? Well, this is how....
 

Meet the new beast, a 4.2 ton, 6.3 metre long, 6 lt V8, 2002 Chevy Silverdao 4x4. It's a Ex St John snow Ambulance that started it's commission in Ranfurly and ended it's service in the Christchurch earthquakes. It's a noble beast.
 

In service 2005

More room, more grunt... just MORE. 

It has meant tearing the bandaid off and selling the Hi Ace, no fib, it was hard to say goodbye, but you have move on right? 
 

Naturally, buying the Chevy, meant a road trip to pick it up and start the all important road trials- Kaikoura turned on an epic dawn as we headed home. 
 

Things Well Made

Bespoke and handmade have been popular catch cries of the last few years. The maker movement is in full swing as a reaction to mass produced- same as everyone one else consumables. Westside's Southern Anchor is a prime example of this movement, bespoke, sustainable products made with care, made by hand. 
 

Meet Beau, one half of the Southern Anchor 

And one of Southern Anchor's bespoke leather wallets- thanks guys- I love it! 

Check out more of Southern Anchor's fine works HERE

NEW RELEASE

Ahhh, and here's the tribute to the last roady the Hi Ace made happen. The Northern tip of the North Island- as far as you can drive in NZ.  

Just click on the image to see it large

Skate or Die

This post could be very easily filed in the Must Be No Surf folder

I'll be putting in the What I Love to Shoot Asides From Surf folder. The very first action shot I ever took was Tony Hallam doing a hand plant in New Lynn's bottom bowl when we were both 13. Last Friday I got some of the best skate shots I've done, thanks to some the True School Mount Maunganui vert ramp locals that put on the session.

Cale Tolley and Anthony McLeod suit up while Smitty warms up

Anthony going through his warm up paces

Jason Curtis, and honestly not Cale fist pumping him

The Mount Maunganui ramp freaks me out with it's shear size and the quality of the build. Cale in control

Smitty onlooking and giving Cale's F/S air a nice bit of scale

Anthony old schooling a Rock'n'roll...gnarly!

Last shot of the night- Jas

 

Going, Going, Gone

This week saw the last of the South Seas books leave the stock room for a big retail order. Both Brent Courtney, my co-creator of this book, and I reflected it's both satisfying and sad. We published the book in 2012, selling out in 12 months, and now the reprint is sold out. It's a stoke to be a part of such a successful project and now it's kind of sad it's no longer part of our lives. If you still don't own a South Seas book, most surf stores have a bit of stock, but they'll go fast leading into Christmas. Email me back if you need to know the nearest seller to you. 

The other side of PhotoCPL

It could be easy to assume that I don't do anything other than take images for the PhotoCPL website, the books or now T-Shirts.

But commercial work is still a huge component of what I do. This week is almost 100% shooting for clients and they have been awesome gigs to land. 

Monday morning was a nasty 4.30 am start to what turned out to be a very cool morning. I was contracted to shoot the media launch of the Ultimate Waterman 2016 at AUT Millennium. TV 1's weatherman Sam Wallace was on hand with Daniel Kereopa. Every cross over from 6am to 9am during the Breakfast Show was Sam with DK. My job was to document that and get images of Minister Steven Joyce announcing the Government's financial backing of the Ultimate Waterman 2016. 

Now, you might be going ho-hum boring media/editorial pics. But what I love about these jobs is the time pressure; the brief was to get images out on site with the national press release before 9am. Together with Ben Kennings and Sarah Rogan steering the ship, the press release was out before 8am. Brief nailed and exceeded. Snapchat, Instagrams, tweets and FB status's all a buzz to hype up The Ultimate Waterman 2016.

I certainly gained a new respect Sam, he's largely ad-libbing his cross-overs and he absolutely prompted extra activities with DK. DK did a great job of Waterman defending champ/ambassador. 

Here's some more images  from the morning. 

From the elite end of sport to the opposite, the next gig is probably one of my all time favourite regulars. Every year Surfing NZ run the Have A Go Days for lower decile schools. The brain child of SNZ's Development Manager Lee Ryan 3 years ago, the goal is to introduce kids to the surf that might not get a chance otherwise. 

To experience the kids going from nervous anticipation to being stoked out little grommies is nothing short of actually amazing. You get to share their bug eyed stoke, which of course reaffirms your own surf stoke. Last year when I wrote a piece for a website about it I totally lost the plot stating I've just taken my best surfing photo ever- well maybe a different kind of best ever.

The Have A Go Day program grows every year nationally. Local surf coaches and schools get more work and kids are introduced to surfing in a safe environment. Check out more about it on SNZ's Facebook Page

For the rest of the week I'm in the Mount shooting the next Copious Clothing look book. Yes it is a mates rates job and yes it is a not what you know, but who you know gig. Copious's founder Cale Tolley and I have been good mates since the 90's, for the last 5 or so years I've proudly been a Copious ambassador. Here's a poster and full page advert I shot for Copious last November.

Check out Copious Here

From The Galleries

This was one of last week's commissions and definitely one of those ones you pick up from the framers re-reminded just how good big prints look. The client was well chuffed- we both were! It's Piha Layers at 1.2 metres wide stretched on canvas. Just click on the image to see it large

The Mother Lode

#ishootfilm. It's a hash tag used on Instagram, but my favourite is #shootfilmstaybroke. 

I do shoot film and it probably is knocking the budget around quite a bit. Film costs to buy, it costs to develop, it costs to scan, and then it costs a lot of time in cleaning the scan. On average 2 hours went into spotting and removing all the dust and specks off the images below. It's laborious, and quite honestly it's boring. 

Of course the reoccurring question comes up with every scan opening...why shoot film! My reasons are different to a lot of other film shooters. First and foremost is quality, these images are still 6-4x larger than the best digital camera. There's also the thrill of picking up your processing from the lab and seeing beautiful big 6 x17 cm strips of transparency film. There's the manual-ness of the camera, it really is just a lump of [beautifully engineered] metal with a lens at the front and some film at the back. There's no batteries, light meter, no auto focus...there's no rushing. Everything has to be considered. This is not a snapshot.

So here I present mother-lode of this year's USA trip, scanned, cleaned, and soaking up precious gigabytes on my hard drives, but holy heck I like them! 

Bombay Beach, 6x9 on T-Max 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Bombay Sunset 6x17 on Velvia 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Broken Home 6x9 on T-Max 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Live A Great Story 6x9 on T-Max 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Bombay Graff 6x9 on T-Max 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Salvation Truck 6x17 on Velvia 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Salvation Jeep on FP100c, Polaroid Land Camera. Click the image to see larger.

Salton City Jetty 6x17 on Velvia 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Oregon Cop Car 6x9 on T-Max 100. Click the image to see larger.

Millicans 6x17 on Velvia 100. Click the image to see larger. 

Pine Mountain Shed 6x17 on Velvia 100. Click the image to see larger.

Royal Gateway 6x9 on T-Max 100. Click the image to see larger.

Oceanside Pier 6x17 on Velvia 100. Click the image to see larger. 

In Print 

It's the 30th year of New Zealand Surfing Magazine, that's a big feat for any surf mag, let alone one at the bottom of the world. I was there for half of those 30 years. The current issue features an interview about those 15 years. It's always nerve racking putting words out there; is it rambling foolishness, has the subject been kept to, is it even current and will the editor slice and dice the words to shreds. So far, people have said it's a good read, check it out if you get a chance. 

Winners and Losers

The Spring Equinox is upon us in full effect right now. And it's horrid! 

The west coast is always average for surf at this time of year, you ready yourself, prepare mentally for a frustrating period of onshore and wild seas. You think you can handle...and then you're in the middle of it. All that mental prep goes out the window. There's no surf and there's no sign of any.

Today was close but not quite

This week's forecast was shaping up to be maybe ok. Multiple meetings and conferences in Piha's carparks, valuable data on sand formation and local gossip shared... all to no avail. Mother Ocean just did not play ball this week. Not quite a clean offshore, no real banks and instead of being the predicted manageable 4-6 ft, it's a wobbly 6-8 ft. We lost out this week, ahhh well back to work. 

We Have A Winner!

In last week's E-bomb the new PhotoCPL T'shirt range was unveiled and there was a contest exclusively for you subscribers, buy a T and go in the draw to win a pair of Otis Eyewear...I said they were valued at $200.... turns out they are $250.00- oppps.

If you had entered, you would have had a 1 in 8 chance of winning these sunnies. Using Random.org's number generator John Charles from Gizzy gets the sunnies. Congrats mate, they are on their way.

New Releases 

With all the chaos of getting T-shirt orders to stores this one nearly slipped under the radar. 

Mount Dusk, click on the image to view it nice and big.

I'm stoked to have finally nailed a good Mauao panorama. Shot on film using the Fotoman 617. Using a neutral density filter to slow the shutter so the water would smooth out, the exposure ended up being 90 seconds. 

From The Galleries

Now there's a good segue for this image, it's a film pano too and it was shot in 2011 at the height of a wintery spring equinox storm. In 2012 it was awarded in the Epson International Pano's. 
 
Just click on the image to see it larger.