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A California Opus

Chapter 5 in the California Series. I have not always lived in California. My Dad was going to college on the GI Bill in Milwaukee Wisconsin, at Marquette University. I had never asked him why, being from Hawaii, he chose the Mid West. He met my Mother there. That was where my two Brothers and I were born. We were sick a lot as infants. The family pediatrician had told my parents that our Hawaiian genetics may have been to blame, as we did not tolerate the cold of  hard, Midwestern Winter very well. In fact, I ended up in

Two

This is the second installment in this series on many loves. It is about Surfing. Not many people know exactly why they surf. It just is what they do. Surfing  gives a lot to the participant. It often gets to the point of  seeming to be a greedy avocation. The more you get, the better you become at it, the more that it drives you. I have surfed all of my life. My Dad tossed me in a pool at 4. I swam. He then taught me to bodysurf. I never looked back. Only forward. It is still that way

Sliding into 2011: Year in Pictures

Golden Reflections This link is to a new piece by Zuri Star called Keep Holding on. It fits the New Year quite well. It seems that all around us this past year there was friction. In fact, I found myself enmeshed in three massive battles, all at the same time. I did not author those. I simply said “no” to three entities I saw as abusive of my fellow man, community and Ocean Environment. friction |ˈfrik sh ən| noun the resistance that one surface or object encounters when moving over another : a lubrication system that reduces friction. • the

Fall

We don’t get seasons here in California in the classic sense, where each turn of the page has a huge and definite tone, as in latitudes further North or South. But in spite of a more balmy and temperate nature, we have certain aspects that Californians come to expect, each Fall. As the artist Robb Havassy and I sat with long time waterman, fisherman, and surfboard industry icon Reynolds Yater recently, I thought to ask Rennie about this Fall and whether he had ever seen anything like it? His answer? “Never” That said a lot to me. Weather is one

Non Artistic Interpretation

It was only a year or two ago, when I realized that I am an “artist”. At a very young age I painted. My Father and Uncle were both painters. So as any child would, I simply took for granted that painting and drawing were normal endeavors. At 12 I had learned Photography and studied Philosophy. It was what was going on around me, and being inquisitive, I learned. So does a bird realize it is a bird? Of course, flying would not be so special to him. But to someone without wings, oh to soar! I had a request

Swell Five and the Marathon Man

It was o dark thirty on the second day of swell event number five on the Gold Coast, in the middle of the El Nino 2009-2010 season. I was gingerly working my way down the spiral stairway which leads down from the aerie which is the loft bedroom that overlooks one of the beaches I shoot all of the time. Under my left arm was my Macbook Pro. In my right hand my cel phone. Quietly, carefully, I padded down the bamboo shod steps, and my right hand exploded in song. Deftly I snapped the cel phone open. Chuck Patterson

Swell 4

The latest in our wave makers arrived innocuously enough with a soft and barely perceptible pulse arriving late in the evening. I had watched the shoulder high lines stacking up at California Street at last light, under yet another masterpiece sunset. Yet not much pulse showed on the weather buoys. The next morning at 3 am saw the East Channel buoy climb 3 feet in the interim before dawn. A straight West swell, and not too big. It was the proverbial Goldilocks and the Three Bears storybook combination of swell angle, size and weather for the Gold Coast’s multiple breaks.

Swell 3

Just when we all thought we were safe and no more responsibilities would be shirked, the life of the California based surf community turned on it’s axis from the arrival of swell three of the 2009-2010 El Nino Season. The storm which spawned our most recent pulse, began in similar fashion to the prior. It was another early season storm. It began life as a series of somewhat unimpressive low pressures, which were all affected by a series of high pressures. The storm initiated at a latitude that gave it an ideal fetch angle for a 290 degree WNW swell

Rinse and Repeat

I have had to watch weather a bit more closely than I usually would this season, because Garrett MacNamara, K38 Rescue, and a few other pals of mine are involved in big wave events and have sort of sucked me into the preparation that goes into being in the right place on the right day. We are in the midst of an El Nino season. No doubt about that now. So when the murmers about a potential swell maker began to filter through, I forced myself to take a close look at available weather telemetry and began my process of

A Fall Fantasy

Nothing deep to share. Or is there? The past weeks have allowed me a lot of time and effort to delve into what many consider to be my forte, which is shooting surfing, nature,  beach culture and lifestyle. So this blog is devoted to showing a few of the sights seen this last several weeks of Fall. It is a teensy sampling of over 1200 final images collected. The culmination of a huge number of commercial, editorial and personal interest projects. Thanks to the beautiful place that I live in, and all my wonderful friends, commercial clients and publications for

Categories

A California Opus

Chapter 5 in the California Series. I have not always lived in California. My Dad was going to college on the GI Bill in Milwaukee Wisconsin, at Marquette University. I had never asked him why, being from Hawaii, he chose

Two

This is the second installment in this series on many loves. It is about Surfing. Not many people know exactly why they surf. It just is what they do. Surfing  gives a lot to the participant. It often gets to

Sliding into 2011: Year in Pictures

Golden Reflections This link is to a new piece by Zuri Star called Keep Holding on. It fits the New Year quite well. It seems that all around us this past year there was friction. In fact, I found myself

Fall

We don’t get seasons here in California in the classic sense, where each turn of the page has a huge and definite tone, as in latitudes further North or South. But in spite of a more balmy and temperate nature,

Non Artistic Interpretation

It was only a year or two ago, when I realized that I am an “artist”. At a very young age I painted. My Father and Uncle were both painters. So as any child would, I simply took for granted

Swell Five and the Marathon Man

It was o dark thirty on the second day of swell event number five on the Gold Coast, in the middle of the El Nino 2009-2010 season. I was gingerly working my way down the spiral stairway which leads down

Swell 4

The latest in our wave makers arrived innocuously enough with a soft and barely perceptible pulse arriving late in the evening. I had watched the shoulder high lines stacking up at California Street at last light, under yet another masterpiece

Swell 3

Just when we all thought we were safe and no more responsibilities would be shirked, the life of the California based surf community turned on it’s axis from the arrival of swell three of the 2009-2010 El Nino Season. The

Rinse and Repeat

I have had to watch weather a bit more closely than I usually would this season, because Garrett MacNamara, K38 Rescue, and a few other pals of mine are involved in big wave events and have sort of sucked me

A Fall Fantasy

Nothing deep to share. Or is there? The past weeks have allowed me a lot of time and effort to delve into what many consider to be my forte, which is shooting surfing, nature,  beach culture and lifestyle. So this