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Things You Should Know

I was down at California Street the other night to capture a few images of Malibu Surfer Brooke Carlson, the newest member of “Team Betty” for my wife’s company Bettybelts, when I saw someone headed into the water with what looked like a dive housing and a surfboard. It cracked me up. We call that sort of work where you ride and shoot or film another surfer: “board to board” work. It is tricky at best and amazingly difficult at worst. This image is the guy shooting. Again, hard to do. The lead image in this article is a shot

Earth Day: 2016

I am not a huge fan of the entire Earth Day movement. I see it as a politically inspired facade where people masquerading as leaders, do and say stupid shit, and pretend they care about you and I and the blue marble we spin through space and time on. As my colleague, Photographer Chris Burkhard put it in his instagram post of a stellar image shot in Alaska: “Every day is Earth Day”. I see it similarly. The image above was a shot at the end of the day, “Earth Day” 2016. It is a single frame from a time

Bali: Dispatch 2

When I land in a country, my modus typically consists of a calculated scramble to develop and capture content. It is rare to know in advance whether what one experiences right off the jet, is going to be a non repeatable event. So typically, I throw myself 100 percent into work immediately. Such was the case here this time on Bali. Indeed the featured image was shot within my first 20 minutes swimming a reef break off the coast of East Bali. I had not even met the surfer yet, but have since become friends with 18 year old Lempog

Samsung NX1: Modus Augmentation

Long time friend, and sage photo editor Jeff Divine, once put this question to me after pouring over a seasonal submission of imagery. Pages of 35 MM slides encased in Vis a File plastic sleeves, were stacked on his light table. “Don’t you ever shoot anything besides golden hour?” “Not if I can help it, Jeff.” (He looked at me quizicaly) The edit session gave me a reason and motivation to examine my method of operation in creation of my work. (Good editors are like that) Eventually this led to a higher (and narrower) degree of focus. That modus, which

Ocean Ohana: Guardianship

The other night my wife and I were at a friend’s home in Ojai. A bunch of us regularly get together and cook for each other. An eclectic mix of artists, musicians, scientists, researchers, doctors and ex or current military operatives, we spend the evening into the night, just enjoying the fok out of each other, and strangely enough, in spite of the laughter, challenges to each other’s knowledge bases, great food (each person is a remarkable chef-cook) and some interesting wines, we actually learn stuff that can be carried with us from that point onward. One such gem which

Why

Everyone has reasons for the things they engage, which by their actions define that person. The sage old adage of “It must work for them” really does not cover the reasons why people do things that well. I thought about why I do some of the things which I engage as an Artist, this week. It was brought into high focus for me by conversations with editors who I greatly respect in publishing and commercial ventures. It made me think about why I shoot what I do, especially the Ocean stuff. I mean, the world does not need another perfect

Risk Perception

The image above was shot during the 2010 Maverick’s Challenge where I worked as support and Photographer for K38 Rescue, who ran Event Ocean Safety and in process was in charge of training a cadre of local watermen to be a Rescue team. That local team was headed up by Vince Broglio. It was a big and perfect day. Possibly the biggest, best surf, ever paddled into for a competitive event. The quote is something Shawn said in one of our project groups this week. And I immediately turned it into an Oceanlovers Blue Note. Blue Notes are wisdom gleaned

The Cove

          I was reading my daily dose of Seth Godin today, and his words on initiative, really struck home for me. Coincidentally, last night was Linchpin night here in Ventura. The Linchpin meetup is  an event Seth innovated, where self starters and doers, get together, network, have fun, and sow the seeds of creative fulfillment. We had met at the Watermark, a rather ambitious restauranting endeavor. For our podunk little town (Ventura, Ca), it is what one would call an upscale establishment. I think I must have left the meeting of bright linchpin lights pretty wound

Two

This is the second installment in this series on many loves. It is about Surfing. Not many people know exactly why they surf. It just is what they do. Surfing  gives a lot to the participant. It often gets to the point of  seeming to be a greedy avocation. The more you get, the better you become at it, the more that it drives you. I have surfed all of my life. My Dad tossed me in a pool at 4. I swam. He then taught me to bodysurf. I never looked back. Only forward. It is still that way

Modus: Light and Water

“How many shots did it take to acquire this one?” It is a good question. I hear it a lot. Here is how it works… Learn your craft. Buy the right camera and lens setup. Build-acquire the housing. Figure out optics in water. Watch weather.  Select a swell, tide, surf break, weather pattern with the correct potential combination. Wake at 4 am, Prep your gear. Have a little coffee, but not too much because you do not want to pee in your wetsuit during morning feeding hour, and sharks feel the charge from your camera body and sometimes come for

Categories

Things You Should Know

I was down at California Street the other night to capture a few images of Malibu Surfer Brooke Carlson, the newest member of “Team Betty” for my wife’s company Bettybelts, when I saw someone headed into the water with what

Earth Day: 2016

I am not a huge fan of the entire Earth Day movement. I see it as a politically inspired facade where people masquerading as leaders, do and say stupid shit, and pretend they care about you and I and the

Bali: Dispatch 2

When I land in a country, my modus typically consists of a calculated scramble to develop and capture content. It is rare to know in advance whether what one experiences right off the jet, is going to be a non

Samsung NX1: Modus Augmentation

Long time friend, and sage photo editor Jeff Divine, once put this question to me after pouring over a seasonal submission of imagery. Pages of 35 MM slides encased in Vis a File plastic sleeves, were stacked on his light

Ocean Ohana: Guardianship

The other night my wife and I were at a friend’s home in Ojai. A bunch of us regularly get together and cook for each other. An eclectic mix of artists, musicians, scientists, researchers, doctors and ex or current military

Why

Everyone has reasons for the things they engage, which by their actions define that person. The sage old adage of “It must work for them” really does not cover the reasons why people do things that well. I thought about

Risk Perception

The image above was shot during the 2010 Maverick’s Challenge where I worked as support and Photographer for K38 Rescue, who ran Event Ocean Safety and in process was in charge of training a cadre of local watermen to be

The Cove

          I was reading my daily dose of Seth Godin today, and his words on initiative, really struck home for me. Coincidentally, last night was Linchpin night here in Ventura. The Linchpin meetup is  an event

Two

This is the second installment in this series on many loves. It is about Surfing. Not many people know exactly why they surf. It just is what they do. Surfing  gives a lot to the participant. It often gets to

Modus: Light and Water

“How many shots did it take to acquire this one?” It is a good question. I hear it a lot. Here is how it works… Learn your craft. Buy the right camera and lens setup. Build-acquire the housing. Figure out