Drop Everything
There will come a time in every young surfers life when he has to start missing Swells for work, birthdays parties or hangovers. But there are days (especially during a wave drought) were you have to “just get to the beach”, this Sunday was one of these days, not the cleanest but the biggest we have seen in some time. I’m not going to name this spot (please don’t post locations) but it was prime for this crazy cross island swell. The people informed were ripping and everyone that stumbled across it were struggling to keep up (myself included).
I’m the not biggest fan of empty wave shots, they lack perspective and are sometimes UN-rideable but these perfectly illustrate the intensity of this swell. *none of these are fisheye shot, I was using a 17-55mm, what you see it what I was dodging all day Sunday.
This one is blurry but the size of this pit needed to be shared.
Best Turn of the Day. He had crazy speed going into it
Winter is Coming
The cold water has arrived and with it has come some serious waves. This is the time of year in NY when all the kiddies that thought it was “so radical” to take up surfing for the summer go away and the cream of the crop rises to the top. When you realize that this isn’t just a warm water hobby but a serious addiction that is only satisfied by the cold heavy hand of mother natures raw force.
Let the fun start
Wished he made this massive air drop but you have to have a serious pair to try
It was so hard to stay in position, Would have love to be able to shoot fisheye in the pit but when your swimming against a raging current my 17-55mm lens is money.
A lot of surfers where out, but you could quickly tell the one’s treading water and the one’s charging
Days like this I don’t even mind that they are devoid of color, waves like these aren’t pretty, deal with it.
Doom and Gloom
The days of warm water and pretty sunsets are gone, bring on the nasty funky Fall power. It was grey today, the ocean, the sky and the people but who cares? There were waves and that’s all that matters. I’m going back down to the beach in a few hours so I will save a verbose blog post and rely on photogenic magic.
Representing Long Beach, NY @ Lincoln Blvd
Here’s Drew, the best photo of the day because he has enough Balls to get down to the beach before sunrise and kill it in the dark, where were you? Sleeping, that’s why Drew Rocks!
Didn’t matter if you were shooting towards the sun or away it was all muted greys
Here’s Drew’s Buddy, he rocks too but he fell on this wave and it made me laugh, sorry drew’s buddy, email me and I will give you all your photos for free.
Here’s Drew dropping in on his buddy, but it’s totally ok because my business card is in his mouth and he held on to it. So sorry Drew’s Buddy you got dogged twice today. That also makes me laugh, sorry just being honest.
Here’s a guy named Dan, That’s my name too. “Rock on” Dan’s of the world
Yeah we are happy to be in weather like this if it means we get waves.
I didn’t get the memo, it’s bootie season now, 3 hours of shooting, I could barely feel my feet, please dress according from now on, but if you wear Gloves until I say it’s cool, you are a kook and I will make fun of you too, that go for removable hoods also, grow a pair it NY
Before Dawn Patrol
AND THE LIGHT SHALL SHOW YOU THE WAY!!! Got together with my buddy Neal before work on Monday 9/30 in Long Beach, NY. If you not up on current events, the North Atlantic is currently in the middle of the weakest Hurricane season in the last 100 years (maybe I’m being a little dramatic). We are waved starved and will hump an glimpse of swell we get. In effort to squeeze a couple of more rides out of the swell, we got to the beach around 5:30am, a solid 45minutes before first light and an hour before sunrise. Easy enough for Neal he’s just got to ride the wave, I have to focus on a moving target in the dark while bobbing up and down trying to get a usable image. The only way I can get a usable image in “no light” is with a flash, luckily I have a waterproof flash housing to go along with my Camera.
I didn’t get too many usable photos when it was pitch dark, but this one some how was crisp as day light. You can tell by the blur of the light in the back ground that there was more then a little movement going on. Aperture 40, F-Stop 2.8, Flash 1/8Â ISO 500
You can tell by the difference in light from the first photo that I must have spent 15-20 minutes without getting another usable photos and this one is a little shaky
I was getting great color shooting into the sun but positioning myself close enough for the flash to be affective was a little tricky
I have to give credit where it’s due, imagine get flashed at 8fps (frames per second) in the dark and keeping your cool to pull off style like this
It stunk that we had to go to work so early but you do what you have to get waves.
Doing What I Do Best
I take photos, I imaging I also do a fair bit of marketing myself as a surf photographer, Exhibit 1: This Blog. But I struggle with the conflict of doing this for fun or doing it for money. I was approached by SURFLINE.COM to be listed as a “Local Pro”. Meaning they do a small bit of advertising for me personally and I generate site traffic for them and their advertisers by directing them to where they can see my pictures. Fair trade off I guess, just being listed as a “PRO” on their site gives me creditability that would be hard to generate on my own.
But I guess I’m just stating that I’m not doing it for the money, they have a section where you can buy my photos but it’s not about that. Surfline.com is the largest surf forecasting site on the internet and to be associated with them is an honor. I will always take my own type of photos (I’m not into “Sports Photography”) with an artistic approach.
So I hope you also go to their site and see my photos but you’ll never have to worry about “The Surfing Photog” going away, this is my home and it’s what I do best. So less words and more photos, Aloha
Lido West, NY FRIDAY THE 13TH
this guy almost cut back into my face, I felt uncomfortable how close his ass got to my face lol
Around 6:30 the sunrise came up but there was so many clouds that the light didn’t really get good until 7
The blur on this photo made it cool but the guy throwing the double shaka make it AWESOME!!!!
GREY, THE NEW COLOR
Scored an epic day in Long Beach, New York on the 22nd of April; It unfortunately didn’t come with any sun. When it’s overcast windy and heavy not many people throw their 5/6 mm wetsuit on and come out for a photo session in 50 degree water temperatures. Luckily I can always count on my Buddy Neal to charge for awesome photos.
All the photos are grey today but I bet they still get your blood pumping for surf. Broke this post into my favorite sequences and left a bunch a single shots for the end. Aloha
I’m really a fan of this angle, it usually leaves me totally exposed to get hit in the lip with the wave but I can’t wait till one day when the wave chandeliers over my head and I get a backdoor barrel shot.
Same angle as last but I was a little too inside and the wave didn’t really open up, Neal really threaded the needle though and busted threw the backdoor on this one.
Here are just a few single shots that I really liked
Old/New Movtivation
Me and the ocean just took a serious break from each other. It’s never planned but in my pursuit of waves searching I’ve had to go in land to produce funds for my traveling. It brings me back so hungry it’s almost all consuming. In a few days I’ll get the first chance to surf/shoot in the last 3 months. I’d like to tell you I’m returning to a massive swell with perfectly groom off shore winds but I’ve never been a good liar. I’ve checked the reports so many times in the last week at this point I could by the minute tell you the meteorology data for all of the Northeast. But rather then bore you with jargon, I present to you some found beauties that were over looked in my first edit of my NY fall season.
The best Motivation I know is to re-edit old sessions and find sparks of fire I missed the first time. Mahalo for viewing them.
A Bath of Fire
The sting of the sand blasting against your face, the almost creepy silence of the beach void of all sounds except the crashing of the waves and the burning sensation of the brisk 40 degree water temperature sizzling the small amount of skin that is not covered by thick neoprene. This is the price we pay for empty barrels in the dead of winter. It’s an addiction that saves us from the insanity’s of life.
Do you have what it takes to be here?
Go into a surf shop and put on a 5/6mm wetsuit and try to touch your toes, the extra power you need to stretch to normal limits is ridiculous. Now try pulling into a barrel… Neal making it look easy
If you are a regular visitor to my blog you know how addicted to color I am, but there is a solace to a grey overcast days with brown waves. It’s raw, not pretty and real. This is surf photography for people that have so much love for the ocean it literally hurts.
Step into life without fear and be rewarded by the things that scare you.
the BIG apple
NY surf comes alive during the fall, the beach empties out, we dust of our wetsuits and we charge. Waves here are few and far between and on a good swell you can tell that half the guys in the water have called in sick. That type of hunger represents NY SURF, paddling until your shoulders are burning and saying 1 more wave, 30 times. I surfed until my arms were tired then shot till my legs were burning then did it again.
I love surfing… maybe too much?
People where getting annoyed this guy was catching too many waves (those people sucked at surfing), this guy was killing it all day. So much style and form… take as many waves as you want, I got your back
The wave would jack up right above the jetty, I couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t lined up there? Me and this guy shared the peak the whole time I was surfing there. (rock jetty you can notice in the bottom corner)
This dude told me he was 40 years old! I really wish I can still hack like this at 40.
There were some barrels to be found but you had to ride them into the jetty. Mostly close outs but in NY we are not afraid to go for it.
The amount of people started to shrink as the day got closer too noon, maybe people took a half day or just maybe they got tired from surfing amazing lefts all morning.
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
New Color
I’m in love with color, mostly the vast arrays of changing light during sunrises and sunsets. The light skims across the surface of the water and the hues of the sky become alive. Unfortunately clarity is an issue as the light fades, I recently purchased a flash for my water housing so I can better illuminate my subject in the failing light. It adds another 2LBS Â making the totally weight around 7-8LBS and it’s not arrow dynamic cutting thru the water so, I feel like my balance is off and I’m struggling to maintain a horizon because its top heavy. Here was my first attempt on a super glassy 2-3 foot day at Robert Moses State Park. Many Mahalo’s for my friend Neal for staying in the water extra late to help me practice.
There was enough light when we first started that the flash wasn’t needed, Plus I need to understand range of my Flash (check out the moon)
Normally he would be a silhouette shooting into the sun but the flash added just enough color to make this shot
Too Far away and the flash doesn’t even matter.
The Flash actually made this too colorful and its was super red and over exposed so I bumped up the contrast and made it black and white, around this time I was having issue with focusing, the camera couldn’t find a focal distance in the dark.
This obviously wasn’t the best shot but it illustrated perfectly the concept I was going for, Perfect clarity in almost no light.
In between sets and at the end I wanted to try to get a few beach break barrel shots. But it was really hard to turn my arm with the extra weight to position my camera perfectly
The Places We Call Home
I went surfing all day today, it feels so good to be able to say that since it’s been flat for weeks on the East Coast. I met up with a guy I randomly met in Hawaii this winter that ended up living 3 miles away from my childhood house. When we met neither of us knew when we would go back but it’s nice to reminisce about the small details about the places we called home. He lifeguards at Robert Moses State Park and I was excited to see a semi clean sand bar at a beach I never went to while I lived here. Hidden gems I guess.
When we surfed in Hawaii we only rode shortboards so I was stoked to see that Neal had skills on a longboard
My Favorite shot of the day! There is so much style in this photo its crazy
A few of his lifeguard buddies snaking each other and having a blast before their shifts
He offered to let me try his soft top but I declined, Not my style but he made it look good
I loved the fact it wasn’t crowded but there were a few locals ripping it up
The water quality is so much better out east, I don’t think I’m surfing closer then 30 miles from NYC any more
Neal offered to take photos of me and since I really don’t have any professional quality shots from the water, I was excited to let him try with my camera, I told him he had to take his photo getting hit by the wave, I do it ever session as a gag, funny to see someone else do it.
His best shot of me, don’t blame him I really wasn’t catching good waves on my shortboard plus I got up at 4am to try my new Flash for my Water Housing… I need more practice with it
I need someone willing to wake up at 5am to get to the beach by first light, cause with my new flash I can capture so much amazing color. For now you just have to look at my head haha
Entitlement
Somewhere along this journey I started to do more then just take pictures, since I travel so much I get to document each local surf scene I travel too. I’m lucky enough to have another job so I don’t need to make money selling surfing pictures. This has it’s plus and minus, I take the pictures I want too and if you want to buy them more power to ya.
On this day I went to the old mans longboarding beach “Gilgo Beach”. It’s a “town beach” and if you don’t know what that means: it means it’s operated and run by a town so they can do anything they want with it (kind of like a country club). If you aren’t a resident of the town it cost $40 a day to park, there is no public transportation and they really don’t want you there. I wanted to document the old man scene that I watched growing up when I used to go there as a kid. I wanted wide angles of the gracefulness and close ups of the technical nose-riding. I forgot that even though I enjoyed watching this type of surfing, this is not my favorite type of scene to be in.
Old dudes on Long Island are crabby, they usually hate their job have a bad back and think they can catch every wave. Thats all well and good but surfing is supposed to fun. Most of these guys are the epitome of a hard core surfer, cold weather, dawn patrol before work and they will never stop surfing. It’s something that I respected growing up but never understood that tough guy, weary of outsides, this is my beach attitude. All of them will deny this, but none of them even payed attention to the young surfers or short boarders in the line up. I didn’t stay long and I won’t post the negative attitude I witnessed but just remember have fun, it beats working any day.
Even thought I think I got some good shots I’m not going to speak about the photos individually, they are happy in their little pack and I’m just going to let them do their own thing. Maybe one day when I’m old I’ll understand but I hope not lol
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
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