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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

Surfing is for Everybody

William Orbit gets it. Click on this link if you want a soundtrack for this blog Had a gal come by yesterday who was working on a College thesis at Syracuse, and had asked if she could interview me about the changes that I had seen on the coast in my lifetime. Wound up talking about how, in spite of the ocean doing pretty well, (My homestretch of coast used to be littered with innumerable oil piers which were dark, pitch stained fingers, laying across the bright blue of surf lineups. They are all pretty much gone now. Removed.) that

Life Channel: Family Photo Album

It was not so long ago, that I shot everything on film. The reasons for that are mostly archive based. Film provides an analog image which can be scanned to whatever resolution and file size a client requires. But then the 5D Mark 2 came along and with a parallel arrival of imaging program technology, it became possible to equal and in some ways exceed the imaging potential of many films. Even in motion picture. I have an amazing amount of work sitting in image vis a files and huge binders. My sons have both worked scanning those into my

The Lineup

The image above is a tight shot of the crowd in the lineup at Pipeline one day a few seasons back. Pipe is located on the North Shore of the Island of Oahu. Generally, a lineup is a pretty near perfect example of a social and cultural hierarchy, and how those tend to stratify according to ability, dominance, and-or reputation. So surf breaks in a manner of speaking, are analogous to society at large in many ways. And just like in land based cultures, someone always seems to come along that no one gives credence to, who through persistence, talent

Hawaiianism

idealism |īˈdē(ə)ˌlizəm| noun 1 the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, esp. unrealistically : the idealism of youth. Compare with realism . • (in art or literature) the representation of things in ideal or idealized form. Often contrasted with realism (sense 2). We all judge everything and everybody. We really do. It is in our nature as independent beings which, due to our manifest destiny, were created to be able to function autonomously. My perspective on life is very Ocean Centric. It is in my DNA, in the ancestry from which I descended, and is a part of the heritage

Why

I watched as the big white gull hopped frantically around in the sandy beige rocks of the beachside jetty that runs along Coast Highway 1. Slowly I approached the obviously injured bird, not wanting to create any additional panic for it. As I peered at the damage, it tried to sequester itself deeper into the jetty shadows which grew blacker as the sun rapidly disappeared. Both it’s wings hung askew, broken at the shoulder hinge. Having raised birds, I knew what this meant. The animal was in shock. Maybe a car hit it. Not sure. But it was looking at

Elephant Hunting

The last time I passed through customs, I was on my way home from Bali. No matter how wonderful the travel destination and experience, I always relish the return to American soil. There is something very comforting in speaking with a Customs Officer who I know is not going to charge me a tout (bribe paid as a form of tax, on something that should be free anyway) and who appreciates the price paid for the soil on which he stands, and protects. As I said my hellos and thank yous to the same guy whose line I had been

A Linchpin Sonnet

As my little ocean flavored world, rocked with continued news that only seemed to worsen, I watched and listened, as response from Government and Environmental groups created what amounted to an untenable clamor. Finger pointing, conflict, polarization, but no success, occurred in fixing the massive calamity of the Horizon well head blowout. Enviro groups squared off and did what they do: point fingers. Oil Execs circled wagons. Everyone calling for Justice. There was a hole in the Gulf seabed. The Ocean was dying. Then Seth’s note popped up, about creating a meeting of our peers. A Linchpin meeting. It was

Modus: Light and Water

“How many shots did it take to acquire this one?” It is a good question. I hear it a lot. Here is how it works… Learn your craft. Buy the right camera and lens setup. Build-acquire the housing. Figure out optics in water. Watch weather. Select a swell, tide, surf break, weather pattern with the correct potential combination. Wake at 4 am, Prep your gear. Have a little coffee, but not too much because you do not want to pee in your wetsuit during morning feeding hour, and sharks feel the charge from your camera body and sometimes come for

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