We don’t get seasons here in California in the classic sense, where each turn of the page has a huge and definite tone, as in latitudes further North or South. But in spite of a more balmy and temperate nature, we have certain aspects that Californians come to expect, each Fall.
As the artist Robb Havassy and I sat with long time waterman, fisherman, and surfboard industry icon Reynolds Yater recently, I thought to ask Rennie about this Fall and whether he had ever seen anything like it? His answer? “Never” That said a lot to me.
Weather is one of those things that most surfers are very in tune with. Rennie is actually an historic template for how we all are, having lived his life and been successful by virtue of his ability to read weather. I am no exception. What I learned as a surfer enables me to continually be in the right place and time to meet the collision of good weather conditions, tides and swell which make for that rare thing for surfers: The Perfect Day.
It is now a perpetual source of glee for me that I can carry a camera in my work, and when special moments occur, I am able to bring back more that just a great surf story. I recount critical junctions of time where unique things occur at the hand of nature, and when some one is right there in the midst, being a part of the vista, even better. We need that in a culture that seems to have become quite removed from our place in Creation. It is a reset button of sorts.
We have seen massive shifts in weather this year, no doubt due in large part to some cataclysmic Volcanic activity. Meteorologists had taken note of a La Nina Weather pattern which is indicative of cooler Equatorial water temperatures and the fact that this typically means a dry season for us here in California.
But instead, this Fall has offered a procession of majestic storms, weird weather phenomenons, all following the coldest Summer in recent History. The Fall wound up giving us heavy rainfall, wild swinging weather which went from scorching heat back to winter like conditions, and for Surfers and water folk, a real sensation of delight from time to time as things were, well, perfect.
This season so far, I have experienced an incredibly alive ocean. A massive swell at Mavericks, and multiple perfect days, all inter spliced between dramatic bouts of weather.
So here is the evidence. These are a few of the images from Fall 2010. All captured on the Canon 5D Mark 2 system. Small samples of a massive amount of motion and stills work produced in harmony with one remarkably unique Fall.
Go get some. It’s free! So are you.
