I’m not much into the holidays. I remember my distaste for them starting when I was young. Life was going along so merrily then suddenly there was an interruption, an intrusion, a holiday. It was Christmas, I couldn’t just spend the whole day doing whatever I liked. .no this was a ’special day’ meaning that there were certain things that HAD to be done and most likely my friends HAD to be somewhere doing something as well.
This holiday feels different. I’ve spent the last 4 hours alone in my house working on the computer and thinking about life, especially the photography part of it. I’m working through what could be called a growth phase, spending lots of time trying to define what I want most out of this photography obsession. I’ll post more about this soon. But now I’m just reminded how great it is that the obstacles I’m working to overcome are things like trying to decide whether I love to shoot aerials or outdoor adventure photos better.
Today is thanksgiving. I have a LOT to be thankful for. Here’s a few things that come to mind: Good, no make that great, health. Ability to pursue my photography passion not just for fun, but for a living. That stuff you might have heard about it being a bad idea to make your hobby your job, my experience has been the opposite, go for it! This last summer was dreamy, traveling around Alaska shooting photos without a schedule. Surf trip to Yakutat, Alaska in October. Financial security, I’m not wealthy per se, but I don’t have any real money worries. Each day I wake up whenever feels right, and see what the day brings. My office is 20ft from my bed, and the kitchen is nearby. Today’s visual thanks goes out to surf, and my surfing buddies, two special parts of my life. Yesterday we had some good waves, and great times. For thanksgiving dinner I’m heading over to a surfer friends.
I’ve heard that being grateful for something brings more of that into your life. So, if that mysterious power is listening: I am thankful for every wave and if there are waves tomorrow I’ll be thankful for those too.
Hope you are well. Here are a few recent surfing photos from one particularly enjoyable day in early November 2008.
A little self portrait, a little distorted but it still brings back some good memories.
One of the best things about surfing in Alaska is the great spirit out on the water. Some would say it’s because misery loves company. Whatever it is, we make quick friendships sitting out there in the water, freezing together as we wait for that perfect swell. It might be just because there are so few of us that we band together due to a preservation instinct. I think there is also an element that comes when you are in the water shaking with hypothermia, you definitely hope that anyone around is your friend, and will help you get out of your wetsuit if you are too cold to open the zipper yourself. We still call each other when the waves are firing, and try desperately to get at least one other person to share the experience with us. I must say though, I’ve heard rumors of crowds in one surfing spot in southeast Alaska.
For a few winters I’ve been throwing the camera in the car on my way to the beach, and until last winter that’s mostly where it stayed. It’s difficult to surf and photograph on the same trip to the beach. If I go surfing first, then my hands are numb, my body shaking, and the only thing on my mind is a hot shower. If I photograph first, then I get too cold standing on the beach and the last thing I want to do when I’m that cold is jump in the water. So needless to say, a lot of amazing surf sessions passed undocumented. This last winter though, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I was finding myself out in the water on picture perfect days wishing I was on the beach with the camera. It can just be so overwhelmingly dramatic surfing here sometimes that I had to do something about it. So this winter I started leaving the surfboard on the car and just photographing. I think it paid off, though I missed some great waves, I’ve got photos to show how nice they were. And I’ve got some happy surfing buddies. Sure they missed my company in the water, but nobody minds seeing a photo of themselves getting barreled outside the ice pack with snow covered mountains in the background. (Thanks to Donna Rae Faulkner for the photo of me photographing surfers on the icy beach)
This last winter offered some great surfing photo opportunities with lot’s of ice on the beaches and some really nice waves. I spent most of the best surf days standing on the beach bundled up wearing a fur hat with holding frozen cameras. These photo shoots are not particularly technically challenging, it is mostly about being there at the right time and knowing the subject. The photographic challenges mostly involve keeping the cameras warm enough to operate and having enough batteries to make it through a good session. Mostly when I’m photographing surfing in Alaska I try to focus on what makes this special. People are surfing gorgeous green waves the world-round, so what makes Alaska so special? I try and show those elements that make surfing in Alaska unique – ice, snow covered mountains, snowy beaches, uncrowded breaks . . .
