It Was Marginal At Best....
the ol', Ohhh fricken great, here comes the duck diving practice, moment
It was one of those west coast arvos where everything should have aligned, it could have been just handling, the bank in question certainly had held a swell like this in the weeks prior. The carpark froth was at an all time high. Well that might have just been me, I was determined to swim out with the water camera, amping, but that little annoying niggle of logic kept niggling.
West coast tradie 'site meeting'
It's the eternal balancing act all surf photographers have to deal with; shoot from the water, reducing your hit rate dramatically, but maybe getting that banger. Or opt for the safety of the big lens and the tripod on the beach. Not as dynamic images, but a far higher hit rate. Can you swim out? Can you stay in position with the rip? Are the sets breaking in a predicable place to even line up? My default is ALWAYS try to swim.
This day logic won out. I doubt I could have made it out into the line up with the camera in tow. And then the ridden wave count was so low, it would have been next to impossible to be in the spot to be lined up with the rider. I opted for my favourite rock perch with the tripod and big lens.
Luke Cederman found a few diamonds in the rough
Post surf debrief, we figured out the swell pulsed that evening. That combined with an incoming tide, meant more energy pushed over the outer banks. Instead of the incoming tide helping the inner bank hold the swell, it maxed it out, making for some dodging, weaving and carnage.
Dune Kennings finding his way through a froth monster
Luke Cederman between wash throughs
Kye Bedford was on mission, he won the heat for sure
Kye, that'll win it
happy to be on firm ground?
eject, eject, eject
Luke expressing his full stoke and admiration of the conditions
Surfline used a couple of the shots last week, the lads got a run. Worth it!
AND DEEEN...
Leia Millar was pretty stoked with her feature in the new book NZ Surf Windows The Gundy/Millar clan were in fact the very first delivery, the first customers to see the book.
After 6 weeks...6 WEEKS!!! Of shipping delays, the new Warren Hawke book NZ Surf Windows is finally here. The last 5 days have been consumed with packing and shipping all the pre-orders and surf shop orders.
I was going to gloat about the tons of books that have been moved since last Friday. Then I worked out that it was only about 600 kgs, the same 600 kgs handled multiple times, divided, repackaged, collated, shipped, but I dunno, it just doesn't sound like that much aye?
Of course I'm not the only one handling the book sales, the other 2.5 tons of NZ Surf Windows have been shipped to book stores nationwide by our Book Representatives. About half of that 2.5 tons was pre-sold to the bookstores. You can view more of the book and secure your copy HERE