good morning. it’s that time of year for my north shore debut. yeah, every year for the past 25 years i’ve been taking the long drive, nervous, and anxious. 50 minutes driving in the dark watching the sunrise, watching the perfect waves, and walking on the cold sand down to the shoreline. i put on my leash, jump in, and i’m wide awake. the butterfly’s go away, i’m focused, and my north shore season has officially begun. am i excited? heck yeah! every year it’s the same thing but the excitement factor goes up and up. i’m almost pissing in my pants right now thinking about it.
the other day we did the tv shoot, i was tuning up my camera. yeah, as you know, i’ve been too busy to shoot photos recently. so dusting off my lenses, sealing my water housing, and charging my batteries is the first step. then before i start my shoot, i set my camera to manual, i look at the lighting that’s provided on that given day, set my aperture, set my shutter speed, set my iso, and take one test shot. alyssa just happened to be standing near me so i asked her to hang on to the pole. here is my first shot. what do you think? with the sun in the back, a normal camera would be totally backlit. i guess i didn’t totally forget how to shoot photos. and it helps to have a great model like alyssa as the subject. model, sun, camera equals a good photo. stoked!
yesterday evening i checked the waves, the forecast, the winds, the buoy, and everything that comes into play for a pipeline/backdoor day. before i slept, i already knew that today was going to be the day. i may be right, but i may be wrong. either way, i’m going!
this is backdoor. one of the most perfect and dangerous waves in the world. i’ve caught so many good waves out there but i just want more and more. i will never forget this day as i was out there waiting and waiting, then i seen the biggest double up wave coming in fast, i turn, paddle, take off, bottom turn, and couldn’t believe what i was going to pull in. this day was like paradise. and i’m hoping to get more of these perfect waves this season. i know i can’t go out there everyday like before so when i do get the chance, i’m going to be hungrier than ever. i better get going. have a wonderful day!
