No Bro
I went to the crowed spot in New York today, Lincoln Blvd, It was the home of the Quiksilver Pro New York last year and is always full of surfers of all kinds. I actually enjoy surfing their despite the amount of people, usually it’s just the bro hang out. Good Vibes, cool people and a lot of hooting and heckling. I’ve surfed everywhere in the US but these mushy brown waves is where I will always call home.
I gave out a crazy amount of business cards (actually ran out for the first time) so I have to say “sorry NO BRO” cause I do not post everyones photos and yes I WILL CHARGE YOU but I did take close to 1000 photos today so message me if you want your photos (read the contact section to help me out). If you didn’t think I was working out their today, you don’t deserve your photos haha. That being said thanks for checking out the site and I’m really a nice guy… most days.
Seriously if NY didn’t start getting some size I was getting on a plane asap. Thank you hurricane season
Literally 3 people told me to watch this guy, thanks for the suggestion, how about you worry about you and I’ll do me (no one has ever told me to shoot someone else). He could rip but he was a master of the the “one big punt” and it’s hard to shoot guys that pump down the line looking for one killer move… never know where they are going to throw it?
Was stoked to see women in the line up, this girl ripped harder then most guys today. She was the only one that intelligently commented on my water housing set up… Maybe has something to do with the logo on her board. Try harder guys
Take another lesson boys, she was out longer then everyone… Except me haha
Always giving credit to the stoked old guys, maybe cause I’m 28 and I hang out with 16 years in the water most of the time?
This dude wins the award for best wave selections of the day, didn’t ride the most maybe not the biggest but every long workable wave this guy was all over.
And if you want to see your photos make my blog, surfer harder! Aloha
A Gift of Love
On January 20th I got an email from someone that randomly came across my blog and wanted to buy a print. It was a photo of my buddy Rez at Ho’okipa, Maui during a sunset session taken a few days earlier. He wanted to buy it for his girlfriend for her birthday. I knew he wouldn’t use it for commercial use because of the tone he had in his email so I told him I’d sell it for the price of a 6-Pack. I told him I’d love to have a picture of him and his girlfriend with the picture (a tradition of keeping pictures of mine that people have printed out). I was waiting to share that 6-pack with Rez as soon as I got that photo. 9 Months to the day he sent the picture and I couldn’t be more stoked.
The Definition of a Surfer
Any surfer will tell you riding waves may be the act of surfing but being a surfer has many meanings. I am not the same surfer I was when I was 12 when I got my first board and I won’t die being the surfer I am today.
I’m back in NY after a lengthy North America tour and a high school friend wanted to get some surfing pictures of her and her 10 month old daughter. It was hard for me to prep myself conceptually for this photo shoot only because the elements would be greater then the surfing (lighting, angles, distance, crying babies). I decided that early morning light would be the best, an East Coast summer sunrise has this crisp almost blinding light that seems to skim across surface of the ocean and I knew it would add to the youthfulness of this shoot.
Now my friend neglected to tell me that she has never taken her daughter surfing before so my ideas of close ups, capturing joyfulness excitement of her child riding waves turned into watching the bond of a surfer/mother take the first steps into a whole new world. I realized I needed to swim further away and give less direction and not even continue our conversations. They were both justifiably nervous and both of them didn’t really know what was going to happen. I watched as their moods changed and the elements that I was so focused on faded away. I could tell my friend was realizing that a new chapter of her surfing life was starting to happen and even though she might not want to give up her old surfing life,she was ready to make this work.
The range of emotions that flew by were powerful enough for me to be stop in my tracks
You wouldn’t think paddling out on a two foot day would be challenging, until you realize that it’s the first time you’ve ever done it this way
the initial relief of making it to the outside was washed away by the realness of the moment and the striking realization that this was really happening
My favorite photo: the wave passing by with neither of the heads turning, as if it didn’t matter
and the exact opposite: the mother watching what she would love to be doing while holding her daughter tight
On this day no waves were ridden but we welcomed a new surfer into the world. Aloha
Hometown Breaks
I’m a New York Surfer, I grew up on Long Island. This is a statement I had to defend my hole life. Now I’d love to show you how epic the waves can actually get In NY but it’s not going to happen in this post haha. I’ll be in NY till september so here’s to hoping for an early hurricane season.
I went to the beach today with my friend and his family, I was hoping to get shots of him and his daughters surfing but I forgot that none of my friends can surf and they all got Old and Lazy (they would be the first to admit it). So I got some shots of some local surfers and a few shots of us messing around in the shore break.
I know it’s not Hawaii or any other amazing breaks I’ve shown in my posts but its home. No matter how far I travel, my root grow out of nasty brown water and I’m proud of it 🙂
As my friend stated watching me take shots “TAN SHIRT KID IS KILLING IT”
Learning on small waves will make you scrappy!
My buddy wanted to try taking shots of me, but he didn’t feel comfortable out in the break so we hung out in the shallows. This is the best shot he got of me, it’s harder then it looks isn’t it
but he did get a great shot of me getting pounded by the white water… Thanks
Before we left I went out one more time while he caught his breath and had a cigarette break ( I wonder why he need to catch his breath?)
this guy asked for a business card, so even though it not an amazing shot. Everyone is stoked on getting a surfing shot so, I hope he likes it.
O yeah, heres my friend being sexy on the shore
South Florida Air Show
Today I got to check out “South Florida Surfing Air Show”, since the waves were only 1-3 feet they used a wench/rope-pull to propel the surfers into the waves. There were some great crashes, a few airs and a bunch of fun.
But the best part of the event was seeing the community of surfers here in Southern Florida coming down to the beach, bring their families and spreading good vibes. At the end of the day it didn’t really matter who won, everyone had a great time.
If you have never seen a Huck Jam this should explain how the surfers were propelled into the waves
Now for some AIRS!!!
This was my favorite part of the event, the guys waiting for their turn on the rope and everyones families were sharing these little waves and hooting & hollering, having a great time…
My Favorite crash of the day
Share the Stoke Foundation
A few days ago I had the pleasure to meet Kelly Kingston in the ocean at Lake Worth Beach, FL. She runs a foundation here in Southern Florida called Share the Stoke Foundation (http://sharethestokefoundation.org).
“The Share The Stoke Foundation, Inc. is a charitable organization based in South Florida and is dedicated to donating surfboards to kids and teenagers in need in an effort to keep them off the street and in the water.”
Since today was the highest generated traffic to my site due to the fact I made it on the HOME page of Wordpress.com (freshly pressed) I thought I would try to pass some of that good fourtune onto Kelly and the foundation she cares so much about. If you can help in anyway or just want to tell Kelly how amazing she is you can email her @
Info@sharethestiokefoundation.com
Kelly surfing yesterday at Lake Worth Pier, Florida
Grab Bag
Here’s how the Grab Bag works… I realize it’s rare that a water photographer shows up and gives away a bunch of shots without crazy annoying logo’s across the middle. Personally my blog is not designed to showcase everyone and anyone. But since I’m here visiting and not here to generate business, I thought it would be nice if everyone got the hook up. So pass along the URL if you see your buddy’s photo and do me a favor remember that you are a community, despite the fact surfing is an individual sport.
If you didn’t make it into todays other post or the “Black and White Series”… Surf harder…
AND if you really want your photo without the logo and better quality, email me. danielwilliamfryer@gmail.com or maybe just want to say thank you… Aloha
Humble Beginnings
Ok, if you haven’t been following me or new to my site, this was my effort to cover this winters surfing season in Hawaii. I had never taken a professional water angle shot before in my life and had no clue what I was getting myself into. I’m the first to admit I was way over my head, but it didn’t stop me from going for it.
This is the start of my re-edit of my photos from this winter. After reviewing my photos I’m amazed how far I came in 3 months. It just goes to show if you put your heart into something and tell yourself failure isn’t an option you can accomplish your dreams. These are my photos from the first 3 days with my water-housing (november 9,10,11). It’s not as easy as point and shoot haha.
How bad it this hahahahaha, it’s Gavin Gillette but It’s so blurry If it wasn’t for the logos on the board I couldn’t even identify him
I was so afraid I was going to drowned, I keep myself soooo far away from the action. Hawaii waves are more powerful then anything I have ever encountered. Humility was the best lesson I learned thins winter
Not only being too far, I didn’t understand how to frame a picture. I was unconfident in my abilities which led me not to even look thru the view finder I would just hold my arm out and hope for the best. Man I’m a kook
I must have taken 5000 photos into the sun before I figured it out. Here is my first attempt.
I’m sorry you have to look at such crappy photos but it’s important to me for you to realize how far I came. Here is a picture of my first sunset on the North Shore, (notice the lack of people and all the sand that was on the beach during the beginning of the season).
Goodbye Hawaii
Surf photography isn’t my career it’s a passion… I traveled to Hawaii for the last 3 months on my own expense to capture images that inspired me. I’m so thankful I have a life that allows me such an epic adventure but more then that… I’m thankful for the people that encourage me everyday. I really appreciate all the likes, Comments, Questions I got these last few months and I’ll miss being able to deliver the amount of content I had time to produce.
I live for my winters, it’s my time to frivolously live without limitations. I work on the road for 6-10 months a year straight managing Mobile Marketing Tours around the country. I’m thankful for a job that will be starting in a few weeks but I sad to admit that I will only be on the coast for a few weeks in the next 6 month. A crushing blow for anyone that loves the ocean as much as I do.
I only explain this because I never had so many people tell me what I was doing inspire them, that my photos gave their day just a little more excitement. There are people out there that have read everything I wrote and looked at every photo I’ve posted for the last 90 days. People that don’t even surf or live near a coast or even know me…
I don’t want to let you down and I won’t… I don’t want to lose sight of that “Dare to be Great” adventure I got to live the last few months. The content might be a little different and a little more DRY but I’ll never stop looking for those moments in live worth capturing.
Thank you,
Daniel William Fryer “The Surfing Photog”
Pavilions Hookipa part 1 (Donkey Show)
Pavilions is the East break at Hookipa beach park, it’s also the most localized spot on the beach. Knowing what you are doing and watching out for deeper surfers is Key at this spot. I’m only stating this because as a photographer I have no right to tell anyone to watch out, I’m just a peaceful observer. But I was dodging Long Boarder’s and kooks for more then half my session, Kind of a pain in the ass when you are focusing on a surfer that clearly has the peak and someone drops in on them and right in front of you.
Maybe I’m bitter or maybe I spent the last 2 month at Rocky Point on the North Shore of Oahu and saw people get beat down for putting peoples life’s at risk.
I personally feel the same way as this girl in the photo flipping the bird…. This guy should have got booted
This happened so many times I decided to get a shot of this donkey bailing his board. He bail his board after dropping in on the surfer on the wave and didn’t even try to hold his board. It’s dangerous and personally I think it’s a sign of disrespect.
And I’m not one to get to gang up on someone but this girl didn’t give a shit. She must have thought she was at Waimea Bay . With that huge red board, acting like this is a local share waves… She got barked at and did it again…
This is my favorite Donkey 1 Trips Donkey 2….
Really Fine Art
I had the pleasure of working with my friend Val on some Fine Art shots. After her duck diving shoot (https://thesurfingphotog.com/2012/01/10/duck-diving-photo-shoot/) she put on a tight white dress and swam around. It was a lot of fun and we just ran with it, no real direction just having fun. I hope you like it as much as she did.
And here was just an outtake that I really liked. I told her to point her feet and look graceful I think I just accidentally captured her practicing
New Island Maui
So I moved to Maui at the end of December thats why my post have been slow lately, I love the feedback and the comments I have been getting and it’s weird but I feel an obligation to keep posting. So there are two back to back swells coming the first week of the new year and I promise I will start blowing up thesurfingphotog.com again.
Mahalo for visiting. My new place is down the street from Ho’okipa so I’ll start showcasing the local rippers soon
WaterProof Long Exposure
So when I first got my water housing I wanted to see how far I could push the limitations. If have you never seen a water housing it has very limited controls (more access, more points that could potentially leak). So a lot of planning needs to takes place before you start trying a long exposure in the ocean. It’s not like you can just stop and readjust, water is bad for cameras. Here is the first attempt ( Click here for first attempt), I went out a little earlier this time to get the sun as it was setting. Turned out OK but I still have a lot of conceptualization before next time.
An underwater sunset, the blue strip down the middle is actually a channel thru the Reef, there is a sand path and since its lighter it picks up the reflection of the water better then the reef (HOW COOL IS THAT!!!)
I tried to Un-Focus here to make the illusion of standing in clouds, the shore waves weren’t that strong so it picked up the refection, otherwise it would have looked like vapor.
Add a light to this one to show the color of the water as a contrast against the red sky (it’s been raining the sky has a reddish purple hue)
And here is just a picture of the house on Rocky Point, I use it everyday as a reference point while surfing and shooting so I’m always thinking about it. (reference point: positioning point on land so you can line yourself up in the water to be in the best spot for the wave)
Turtle Bay Resort
So the waves are very small, so I deiced to go on down to Turtle Bay Resort and take pictures of Tourist. I figured I could make a few bucks or just have fun watching people learning how to surf. Trust me it takes years to gain style and everyone (myself included) looks like a kook when they first start. I had a blast and so was everyone in the water. It’s on the North Shore but there aren’t any local here that want to beat you up. People are just happy to be in the water. I meet Josh Kerr today surfing with his daughter, really sweet girl that wanted to know what I was doing, Josh told her I was talking her photo. He thought I worked for the hotel, I guess all the photographers he knows wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that hahaha. But I got his information and I told him I’d get him the photos and NO I WILL NOT CHARGE JOSH KERR FOR PHOTOS, HAHA (if you don’t know who Josh Kerr is check out his website http://www.kerr-azy.com/)(I think he’s currently ranked 6th in the world)
Kind of funny to see Josh on a long Board
And there was a cool turtle that was hanging out in the line up. I didn’t want to bother him to much but I came close enough to snap a photo
New Business card tomorrow!
So I people kept coming up to me in the water and asking my website or tried giving me an email address, or asking my name so they could find me on Facebook. I decided to make this easier for everyone and just get business cards made. Plastic so I can take it in the water and I was thinking about turning the top into a wax comb, the only thing that is going to suck about that idea is that I will be the one cutting all tops. I need an Intern haha. Here is the basic Idea, all the white area will be clear. I thought it would look cooler see thru. I guess we will find out tomorrow.
Here is the Proof the company sent me.