I have recently  upgraded my camera body to a Canon 5d Mk4.  It shoots at 7 FPS, which is perfect for wave shooting. 

Here are some recent shots taken with the new body

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The other new toy that I picked up was the GoPro Karma drone.  I have been waiting to purchase a drone until this came out.  Not that the Karma has all the functions of some of the other drones, but the versatility of the Karma is why I chose it.  The fact that it uses a GoPro (Black 5) and I can take it right from the air, to put on my housing and into the water makes it just what I wanted / needed.  Also the fact that the Black 5 shoots in RAW makes it much better to editing photos.  Here are a couple of examples so far:

GOPR0228.jpgC:\DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0228.GPR GOPR0151.jpgC:\DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0151.GPR GOPR0154.jpgC:\DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0154.GPR GOPR0166.jpgC:\DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0166.GPR GOPR0130.jpgC:\DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0130.GPR

I hope you enjoyed these new images, and would love to know what you think down in the comments section..

Just in case you haven't already, you can also signup for my mailing list.  You only get one email a week, which will include an image not previously released as well as discounts only available via the mailing list.  Click HERE to signup

As I have said before, life sometimes gets in the way of my passion for photography.  That is what led me to this latest extend time away from the blog.  As some of you know, I moved to the Tampa Florida area back in June.  Since then, it has been about adjusting to my new area, my kids new schools, working remotely for a company in California, and the list goes on and on.  

I have, however gotten my camera back in gear and have started to explore my new surroundings, and I have to say, I am really liking it.  The waves are not like I had in Southern California, but that just give me the opportunity to try new things and have fun playing with landscapes.  Here are just a few images that I have taken in Central Florida...

I created the above image at a place I just randomly saw on my way to my father-in-laws house.

Here a view from outside my front door..

By far the most difficult thing about this move has been finding waves in the Gulf.  I have been lucky so far, but you really need to search for them here.  

I hope you enjoyed a look at some of the images I have taken so far here in Florida.  You can see more daily images on my Florida feed on Instagram (@Ronald.Hons).

I have done a few portrait shoots that I would wanted to highlight.  Depending on what the client wants, I do still like to incorporate both water and landscape into my shoots.  Living on the coast, you really can't help not to.  Here are some of my favorites from recent portrait shoots...

The first couple of shots were from a SR portrait shoot that I did.  The client really wanted to be have a nature / beach feel to the images.

The next shoot was for a bikini company...

This shoot was for a fitness blogger to use for her website and social media outlets.  

This shoot (my most recent one) was for a yoga teacher who is blogging for the SUP paddle board company she is working with.

I hope you enjoyed these images.  

If you liked the look and feel of these you can always book a shoot with me by emailing me at rh@surfingeye.com.

You can also view more of my portrait work in my FACES gallery.

Follow me on Instagram where I post a good majority of my work (@Ronald.Hons).  I have recently started a new feed there (formerly @hons24)

Life has been a bit busy for me since the summer.  My normal 9-5 got super demanding and baby #2 arrived.  But, I am back and hope to be able share more of my recent shots since then.  

First, lets start back with a shoot I did from the air.  I went up during sunset during a fall night in San Diego and was able to come away with some images that I was very happy with.  It actually spawned a new gallery on my site.. 

Take a look:

As stated above, I started a new gallery for my aerial photos.  Go to: http://surfingeye.com/birdseye

I would love to know what you think in the comments section.

So stayed home, I went to one of my favorite spots on the cliffs in La Jolla to get some shots of the fireworks…

Here is what I came away with..

While it was cloudy all day, the sun did manage to peak out for the last few mins...

A little 60 sec exposure before the light show started...

These were not the fireworks I came out to get, but I did like these much more than the actual La Jolla show.

Here is a closer shot of the fireworks that were going off on Mission Bay.

I was a little sad that I didn't have my 300mm with me for these shots...

Hope you enjoyed these.  More blog posts coming soon.

Thanks,

Ron

That night, I stayed in Newport specifically so I could go and shoot at the Wedge in the morning.  I got up, hit the treadmil at 5am and was then at the beach and in the water by 6:15.  One of my better sessions at the Wedge.  I didn't use my flash, but I did use my 17-40 lens, a lot of the time at 40mm.  Here is what I came away with:

I really liked the angle on this one..

I hope you enjoyed...

This year didn't have that kind of swell, but it did rain all morning long.  Not hard, but consistent.  I knew I wasn't going to get in water for a couple of weeks so I thought I would make the most of the situation. 

My buddy, photographer Jeff Vasko and I met and checked a couple of spots.  We settled on Marine St in La Jolla.  It is one of our favorite spots and we were the only ones out because of the rain.  I was playing with different shutter speeds, different zooms and mostly trying to catch water bouncing off the ocean...

Here is what I came away with:

These are some of my favorite types of shots.. I will tell you even though these are smaller waves, I take a bit of a beating gettng them...

Its always fun to play with shutter speeds...

The textues that the rains create on the water were awesome!

This was one of my favorite shots.  I was able to get the drop perfectly in focus!

My focus was on point on this wave.  I loved all the texture on this wave.

I know gloomy waves are not the as pretty to look at as waves with perfect sunshine, but it is always good to change things up..

So me and a buddy, photographer Jeff Vasko, decided to take a ride up to Laguna Beach to do some shooting.  The morning was cold and gray, but the waves were pretty good so it made it okay..

After we were done in Laguna, I had heard the Wedge was hitting at a pretty good size, so I decided to make my way up there.  There was a lot of water moving around and at least 100 people in the water between Wedge and Cylinders.  I did some shooting with my 300mm from the jetty and liked what I came away with…

From the Wedge...

This shot had nearly 40K views on Surfline.com

I hope you enjoyed this look from the Wedge Jetty.  Take at more in my recents gallery. 

Tortuguero which is located in the Costa Rican rain forest.  This was so off the beaten path that the only way in was by boat or by plane. 

We then went on to Arenal and stayed at one of the spas below the Arenal volcano.  After trekking through the rain forest, this was a nice change of pace. 

After Arenal, we then went on to Monteverde.  This was one of my favorite places.  The hanging bridges in the cloud forest was by far my favorite places that we went. 

Lastly, we ended our trip in the beautiful beach town of Manuel Antonio.  This was a nice relaxing place to end our trip with warm pacific water and calendar quality sunsets. 

Here are some of the images that I took while in this wonderful country.. I hope you enjoy!

We were on the boat going towards the our hotel in Tortuguero and I looked back and saw a few mini waves breaking...

A 3 toed Sloth just hanging out...

This was the view walking down to the lobby at the spa we stayed at in Arenal.

The hanging bridges in the cloud forest lived up to the hype..

The beach at the end of the hike in the Manuel Antonio national park.  Kinda like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

This was the view from our hotel in Manuel Antonio

Who me?  These guys were all over the place everywhere we went in Costa Rica.

I hope you enjoyed these images.  All images as well as those in my Costa Rica gallery are avaliable for print purchase.  I would love to know what you think of the shot, so please feel free to comment!

When looking at all the great photos and the skill of some of these photographers, young aspiring photographers can sometimes get intimidated about the images that they share.  What I want to do is to show you, that nobody is perfect.  Even with the digital age that we are in, photographers miss shots for numerous reasons. 

This blog is not meant to tell you that I think I am a great photographer by any means.  More to show you, that even someone that posts the occasional good photo still requires a lot of trial and error to get that one good photo to post on social media, or my website.  With using digital it is a lot easier to shoot as much as you want.  My theory is to shoot 50 image to get 1 that absolutely stands out.  If I do that, then I fell that I have been successful.  

To back that point up a little bit.  My last time in the water shooting shorebreak was last week:

• I shot 538 picturers 
• I deleted 120 off of my camera.  The rest were imported into Lightroom.
• I then deleted another 201 images after seeing something in the image that I didn't like (waterspots, really out of focus, etc.) 
• Of the final 217, I edited 74 images.  
• Of the ones I edited, I exported 49 images out of Lightroom.
• Of that, only 2 images will be used on my website.  The other 47 will be used for various posts on social media. 

Here are some images that would otherwise have been deleted off my camera or would have never made it out of Lightroom…

This image i thought would have been okay, however I missed my focus point using my 50mm at a low F stop.

I think I had some water spots on my port which messed up about half of the image.

I whipped my camera around a little to quick and missed the back of the wave...

This one was just way to over exposed.  My focus point is a little off as well..

On the other end.. this one was a little under exposed.  This is sometimes tough when shooting from the water with flash because you can have everything exposed correctly, until about this point of the wave, and then your exposure is a little darker than I would like it..

I was shooing at a lower F stop on this shot.  I would have liked this a little more if I was shooting at a little higher so more was in focus.  Or if I had my focus a little deeper in the barrel.

Water spots are a water photographers worst enemy..

I would have really liked this shot, but I had my flash to high and the water is to bright for my liking.

I hope this gives people a little glimps of things that would never come out of my lightroom.  I hope you liked seeing this little BTS.

Here are some of the images showing off the clarity….

I really liked the detail on this upclose vortex.  

You can view more of these images (in larger size) as well as others showing the clarity from these days in my Recent's folder.

The first two days I was back in the water, the clarity was off the charts.  Some of the best that I have seen not just in La Jolla, but anywhere.  Here are some of the shots from those mornings..

This was one of my favorite vortex I shot up until this time.

This is my buddy Jeff behind the wave.

Here is a little sequence that I shot... You can see how I am positioned in the water and the amount of frames I get in a given wave.  Thats why the knowledge of the water is so important.

I loved the contrast in this image...

If you would like to see more from my first two days back in the water...  Go to http://surfingeye.com/recents and take a look at some of my better shots from these two days... Hope you enjoy!

I tried to go a few different places around San Diego while working on this. 

My gear for these shots is:

·         Canon 5D mark3

·         Canon 17-40 f/4 lens

·         Hoya 4 stop ND Filter

·         Manfrotto tripod

I don’t use a remote trigger (although I do have on) for most of my landscape and long exposures.  I normally will change the camera to a 2 sec delay after I click.

I would love to know what you think of these shots in the comments section..

You can see a few more in my "Recents" gallery...

Lucky for me, that is all I did.  No surgery, but also no water activities either…  I have about 3 more weeks to go before I can get back in… and I am counting the days… 

Here are some shots that I took from the water prior to the injury…

You can see more in my “Recent” gallery as well… ENJOY!

Don't forget, you can still get 20% off all canvas print orders from now until the end of the year... Use "Holiday14" at checkout...

Here is a little shot sequence...

.

This was the wave that I hurt my knee on.....

I was lucky enough to get to spend the better part of six days on the island simply to do photography.  My goal was to break out of my comfort zone of wave photography and try to take different sorts of shots other than just waves from inside the water…  I wanted to highlight the beauty that I saw while I was there. 

I spent most of my time on the North Shore, but did try to do some exploring around the island.  I am going to share some of the images here, as well as my new Oahu Gallery.  I hope you enjoy…

You can check out more of my favorites from these shoots at: http://surfingeye.com/oahu2014

Sunsets from Sharks Cove look good...even underwater...

More over/under sunsets from Sharks Cove

I went to the beach to shoot with the big green sea turtles on this morning.. so I just tried to find something else to shoot..

All the these waves shots were taken while on the North Shore.  Summer is traditionally very flat from a wave standpoint... so I was a little lucky to get any waves that I did...

This was the view I got to wake up to every day out side my rental on the North Shore...

More from Keiki's beach...

Just some of the images that I took while roaming around the Island...

Can't go to Oahu without making a trip to Sandy's beach...

While shooting from the water is fun at Sandy's, it is always nice to play with new angles...

I love playing with Big Green Sea Turtles... 

Lastly, while waiting to board my flight in San Diego, I saw my friend and owner of SPL Waterhousing (who I use) Sean LaBrie.  Him and met up a few times to shoot waves and turtles.  Sean was testing out his custom housing for his 1Dx.  Good times!

Remember, if you like what you have seen here, make sure to check out my Oahu 2014 Gallery...

Thanks...

What do you think on these shots?

This final shot was something I was testing out the ISO on my camera.  Shot at 1/500 sec, at F/4.5 and 1250 ISO.

More shots from this new port test can be found at http://surfingeye.com/recents

Look for more from Oahu coming soon....

I woke up at 3 am on Sunday morning to make the trip up to The Wedge to be there before sunrise.  When I got there at 4:50am it was still pitch black out.  I open the door to my car to walk down to the beach, and for those who have never been to The Wedge, the street is a good 300-400 yards away from the beach, and can hear the waves break clear as day.  When you hear that, you know it’s big..

After walking down to check the surf, then going back to get in my car to get ready, I head back down to the beach.  Housing (w/ flash) in hand.  I get in the water and notice immediately that the current was strong… Stronger than I have felt in a long time.  That coupled with how steep the beach was with all the water rushing back from the waves that just broke, and it was making it very difficult for me to stay in the position that I wanted to be in… 

After getting tossed up the beach more times in an hour than I have in the last 2 years, I realized that Sunday was not my day.  So, I changed out of my water gear and headed back to the beach.  I was really happy though with the stuff I got from land…  Hope you enjoy..

This was one of the only shots I got from the water that was worth keeping...

This shot currently has more than 10K in views on Surfline.com

You can see more from this day on my Surfline Local Pro profile.  

As some of you know, I recently upgrade my setup.  I am now shooting with a Canon 5D Mk3.  I am still shooting with the same fisheye (Canon 8-15 f/4 L Fisheye).  I also had to upgrade my housing.  With that, I had a custom black SPL created.  

With the new setup in hand, I have actually been getting out on a regular basis shooting the June Gloom waves and lack of sunsets.  Here are some of the images that I have taken thus far with the new setup.  We have a good swell coming through on the holiday weekend, so look for more and more new shots…

And Yes....I still have the Flash going....

There will be lots of shooting this 4th of July weekend so look for new shots soon...

Thanks....Ron

I recently switched jobs and am in a completely new industry.  So trying to learn everything that goes with that has been very time consuming… However now that I am getting a grasp on that, it is freeing up some of my time..

As far as photography related activities…I am still working on my “Art” of Surfing project and will have some announcements about that soon.  Other than that, I have getting out as much as I can, trying to shoot different things with different people and different lens and different situations.  

I got a Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens a few months back to use for portraits but I have also been using it quite a bit with from the water, and am loving the results.. Here are some of my more recent shots using that lens over the last couple of weeks…

Hope you enjoy!

During the time that I have been shooting surf, I have had the opportunity to meet many fantastic and talented people from all over the world.  Surfers, videographers, photographers, sponsors, artists and the list goes on and on.  When talking to these people there is always one thing that is constant.  They all have love for the ocean and the surf culture. 

While I was on the North Shore of Oahu last winter, I was talking with a few people and I started thinking to myself how much I love hearing about how the surf culture inspires people.  That is when I started to think about how I could do a photography project with that premise in mind.  I asked myself how people convey their love of the ocean and surf. The answer was simple.   Art! 

It was then I started to think about how people perceive surf related art.  What most people consider surf related art is in photographs.  While that is right up my alley, I wanted to think a little more outside of the box.  Carvers, painters, shapers.  Thus, ‘The “Art” of Surfing’ project was born. 

I wanted to bring more awareness to fantastic surf inspired artist.  While I am particularly grateful to the artists that have agreed to be part of my project, I wanted people to think about other arts besides photography with this project.  I have been conducting various “behind the scenes” type shoots with each of the artist.  At the end of all the shoots, I would like to do a couple of showings (one is San Diego and one in Orange County) where the artists will have their piece on display as well as showing some of our favorite shots from the sessions.  That is where you come in…

As of today, I have launched a KickStarter page to help us out with some of the funds needed to do these shows.  Take a look at the link below to read more about who the artists are, more background about the project and some rewards for helping us out. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1358505049/the-art-of-surfing

On behalf of all the artists that are participating in the project and myself included of course, thanks for taking the time to read this, much longer than normal, blog post and consideration for helping out with the showings. 

Here are a few shots that were taken during the first few shoots… 

While I have a huge backlog of shots to share you all, here are some from the past good swell that hit La Jolla a couple of weeks ago.  These are the ones that didn't make the final cut for the website...

To see what did make my site... Check out http://surfingeye.com/recents.

More shots coming....

Since it was my first time there, I got the chance to do a lot of different type of shooting.  Pipe Masters, Shooting with the turtles, playing in the shore break of Waimea bay. 

One of the other cool things I got to do was shoot with local up and comer named Zoe McDougall. 

I first learned about Zoe on my walk down to Lowers during the 2012 USA championships.  I started to have a conversation with a nice lady talking about her beautiful niece who is from the north shore and is the youngest person in the contest.  Zoe McDougall.

So I made sure to keep an eye on her in the U12 finals.  While Zoe wasn't able to catch a lot of good waves in that heat, the ones she did, you could see the talent was there.

After the comp was over I emailed Zoe's mother, Joy, letting her know who I was and also sending her the shots I took while at the contest.  Since then I have kept in touch with Joy and shooting with Zoe any time she is in the SoCal area.

When it was time for me to look at booking my trip out to the North Shore, I contacted Joy and let her know I was planning my trip. 

Upon arriving in Oahu, I was finally able to meet the family that I had talked with so much over the years. 

While I was there, I got to shoot with Zoe a couple of times.  Once at the famed North Shore break known as Gas Chambers.  The 2nd time was at Zoe's home break of Sunset Beach.  It was great to see just how much better she had gotten in the year since I had last watched her surf.

It was also really cool to see how she surfed in her own element.  The previous sessions I had watched her were in the not so big summer waves at Lowers.  The day I saw her surf sunset, was at least overhead and some sets were double.

Here are some of the shots I was able to get with Zoe during my trip.  You can see more from our sessions including some of my first shots with her in her gallery on my site.  You can also visit her site zoesurf.com

Checking the sets and getting ready..

Pre-sunrise surfing at Gas Chambers..

Thought this was a fun little sequence...

A nice little hack...

Making the drop at Sunset Beach

Not many people Zoe's age would want anything to do with the size of waves she was in on this day...

It is all about scale...  

I can't wait to get the opportunity to shoot with Zoe again either in SoCal or on the North Shore where she is very comfortable riding small and big waves alike.  
 

Let start first in North County.  Here are some shots that were taken last week in North County San Diego…

More from this day can be found at http://surfingeye.com/recents.

Hope you enjoy...

The winner will recieve the following:

1. A FREE 8x10 of the image
2. A FREE 2014 SurfingEye Desk Calendar
3. Naming credit on my website for the image (ex. Named By: Jon Doe)

Rules:

1. All name submissions must be in by midnight of 12.19.
2. Names must be three (3) words or less
3. Names must be clean in nature

Be creatative and fun.  

Forget the fact that it was December and the air temp while I was there was between 78 – 85 degrees.  Also forget the fact that it was the first time ALL YEAR that I was able to go in the ocean in just board shorts (Water temp was around 79 degrees).  

I spent all five days on the North Shore of O’ahu.  It was my first time being there, but I assure you it will not be my last.  The beauty that this part of the island has, is un-parallel. 

Just being able to experience things like, sea turtles brushing past my leg as they swim by, walking up to a beach only to see Clark Little (one of my favorite photographers) getting in, witnessing my first (and probably the most epic) Pipe Masters, and also (and still cool and humbling at the same time) walking into the water at Waimea Bay to shoot, only to be asked “Are you Hons24? (My Instagram handle).  It was in a word…Awesome!!

Anywho, I will stop babbling and get to why you clicked on this.  Here are just some of the shots that didn't make my gallery…  

2012 ASP Title holder Joel Parkinson out for a morning ride at Pipe

To see the ones that did make it...You can click on: www.SurfingEye.com/northshore

Hope you enjoyed!

Get a 2014 SurfingEye Wall calendar (with or without boarder) and receive a free 8x10 print.

Simply go to surfingeye.com/holiday

Choose the package you want...

Select the calendar you would like...

Then select the picture you would like in an 8x10 and check out...

I have included some never released images.  However, if you have seen a picture that I have previously posted on social media that is not in this gallery, simply let me know and I can have it added.

Hope you can take advantage of this great deal..

Here are some of the images that are within this gallery for your choice for an 8x10..

Now, when you go into each gallery for the calendar you want, you will find one image.  It contains the cover of each calendar and the images that are contained within each calendar. 

The La Jolla Calendar

Waves of SoCal Calendar

The Sun Calendar

On the right side you can see the options you have for buying..

Wall (No boarder) - $19.95

Desk Calendar - $10.00

Wall (Black boarder) - $19.95

*Prices exclude shipping

Select one of those options and continue with the buying process.

Sorry for any difficulties from before…Have a great Thanksgiving week ahead

That is why you have not been able to order new calendars for the last week.  With that said, I have made the updates that were needed and Calendars can now be pre-ordered directly from my site.  Calendars will ship to those who pre-order no later than 12.12.13.

They will then be available on my site until the end of January.

A couple of changes.  You can get both bordered and non-bordered calendars.  As well as the ever popular desk calendar.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  Hope to see your orders soon!!

To order yours…go to:

http://surfingeye.com/2014calendars

Here are a few of the images you will find in the various calendars that I am offering this year....

The cover this years calendar..

"Sand Man" - Available in the "Waves of SoCal" Calendar

"Golden Nuget" - Available in the "Sun" Calendar

I teamed up with Tidelines to do my calendars this year, which will offer a cool new feature.

Adding the tides forecast to your calendar.  You can see the example below on what it would look like on the actual calendar. 

I will also be offering your choice of 3 different calendars this year…

1.       La Jolla Calendar

a.       This calendar consists of images taken from both land and sea around La Jolla’s great beaches.  

2.       Wave of SoCal Calendar

a.       This calendar consists of images taken from land and water in some of the best shore-break areas that SoCal           has to offer

3.       Sun Calendar

                a.       This calendar consists of images taken from both land and water of some of the best sunrises and sunsets that you                            can see in SoCal.

Calendar prices for this year are:

1 –          $18.95

2- 9 -      $17.95

10 + -     $15.95

** Plus shipping

Hope you enjoy this year’s new options and look forward to seeing your order soon….

**NOTE** When placing your order, please make sure to select 2014 as your calendar year.  It is defaulted to 2013.

The email was very complimentary and talked about how they were revamping the way they showed photos on their site.  They were introducing a new “Local Pros” section.  They were looking for photographers that shot their local breaks, regardless if it was waves, lifestyle, surf, etc.  I was stoked to be asked.  Since then, and as with all my other sites though, I have been terrible about uploading shots there, and even doing any advertising of it.  However, I made a point to get some galleries uploaded over the weekend.

I am going to start posting sessions here.  High Res image downloads are for sale here for a very reasonable rate.  I will begin posting my sessions here going forward.

Take a min and check it out.  If you are a Surfline user as well, don’t be afraid to follow me there…..

Click the logo to go to my profile....

Hope you all enjoy....  Look for my next post about my trip to the Wedge from this past weekend.

We made a few stops along the way and did a lot of touristy type stuff, but it was a lot of fun and it was actually the first time my son was on both a plane and a boat.  Here are some of the shots that I took on this trip..

The good old iphone shot of the wing... A little 30 min drive outside of Portland and you will find Multnomah Falls. Worth the drive..

The good old iPhone shot from the plane...

A little 30 min drive outside of Portland and you will find Multnomah Falls.  Worth the drive..

It might look the same, but the one on the left, high shutter, the one on the right a lower shutter to create the blur of the falls..

Wider angle of this fantastic place..

Another little stream I found on my way back from the falls

Seriously, what else are you going to eat in Portland... 

Best maple bacon donut EVER!!

The road less traveled is usually really beautiful...

Canon Beach in Or.  Even in the fog it is really something to see...

If you were a kid in the 80's, you might know what movie this is from...

Very East Coast look...

This was just a random road I saw on the way back from Canon Beach...

Above is a little iPhone panorama that I did on our last day in Portland while eating b'fast with my family...if you look to the left, you can see my wife holding my son doing the same thing...

On our way to Seattle, we decided to swing by Mount St. Helens.  Only problem is it was completely fogged in and couldn't see anything...

One of the visitors centers on the way back to the freeway had some really cool looking hiking trails..

Here is another view from that same trail above...

Probably the 2nd most touristy thing we did....I will get to the first..

Our first day in Seattle, the family decided to take a little boat ride around the harbor...It offered some nice views..

The Seattle Skyline.... Not bad..

Want to see some fish being tossed around..Go Here..

Inside Pikes Place Framers market

One of the most touristy things....The first Starbucks.  And what do you know..they actually make good tasting coffee in this one..

A view of downtown Seattle from atop the Space Needle...

The number 1 most touristy thing we did... We actually found this by mistake after my wife's Apple Maps got us lost...

Space Needle by night.. And full moon..

Right next to the Space Needle is the Pacific Science Center.  We spent our last day here, and it was by far the most fun my son had on the trip...

The customers are long gone but the place is still really cool...

Playing on the waterfront..

Here is another view of the water front.  You can see Centry Link field in the background...

I hope you enjoyed... If you would like to purchase any of the shots for prints simply let me know in the comments or with an email...

My last trip however, I was rewarded.  It was as if the surf gods said… “Since you have been so committed to come all this way…we will give something back..”

What I got back was about an hour window of one of the best sunrises I have seen in a long time.  Here are those shots from one of my favorite sessions in a long time…

In the water by 6 am when the sun is supposed to come up at 6:20

My rig tends to get a little off angle in waves that are as heavy as this...

A little two shot sequence (above)

I really liked everything about this one..

Looking north before sunrise..

Another monster as the sun is coming up.. If you look, you can see famed Wave photographer Robbie Crawford getting the shot too.

Deep in it..

Walling up and frothing over..

I say it a lot...First light is the Best light!

Here is another monster about to break

One of the things I dislike about the flash is the motion you get...More so when you don't want it..It might be user error, but this a journey, so I will look to figure it out..

I love my hobby...

This is one of the images that I think best illustrates how awesome the sunrise was on this day..

Turned off the flash...If you look where the wave is breaking, you can see Stan Moniz about to get the shot

A very narrow barrel on this wave...

Looking north again...after the sun was out...

I just liked this one...

Surrounding the sun....

I turned the flash back on for a couple of other waves...I called this one the "Confetti Barrel"

After getting out of the water I remember thinking I couldn't wait to see this wave...This was the last click of what SHOULD have been and epic sequence...

Hope you enjoyed these shots...While I feel some are good, I have saved the best from this shoot to be released later...  I will put out another post once those are out on my site..

Thanks,

Ron

If you remember back to my last post and how I categorize my shots, these are examples of shots that would fall into the my “IG” and “FB” folders.  Nothing for the “A” folder here… 

No sun rise...no problem...

Lots of sand in this wave...

More June gloom in Aug.

The next frame is the really good one..

Wider than expected...

This guy had some size to him...

This one I did really like...and may end up in the A folder..

Trapped on the inside..

I would have liked this much more if not for the water spots..

Gloomy Glass

The 2nd to last wave I shot...

Another that might end up in the A folder..The next frame was not only the last click of the day...but my favorite shot of the day...

Hope you enjoyed...

However, there are TONS of images that usually never make it off my camera that are in sharp contrast to this. 

I have a three stage process for going through my images after a session…

Step One:

When I get out of the water, I open my housing and start going through all the pictures that I have taken..  Anything that I see that I see that I don’t like…I will simply delete right there…

Step Two:

Once I have all the of the known crappy shots off my memory card, I will upload the rest to my computer and import into Lightroom 5.  From there I will go through all my shots again.  If I see any that have a lot of water spots, the color is crap, my focusing missed…I will then delete as well. 

Step Three:

Lastly, I will edit the rest.  I have three different categories that I will actually export to after editing.  First is my “A” shots.  These are the 5 star, what I consider my best from each session.  Next is my “IG” shots.  This is the next rung of good shots.  I consider them to be good shots, but nothing really special about them to bump them up into the “A” folder. The last folder is the “FB” or Facebook folder.  These are shots that, like my IG folder, are good…almost A quality, but just didn’t make my cut.

As you can see, I have an extensive little process after a shoot.  I like to let you behind the current of what I do sometimes…  With that, I would also like to show you some of the shots that are usually weeded out in my editing phase…

Water spots and so much blur...

Tucking under just a slight sec to early

Same as above, however there is something about this one that I still like.

I think you can see why this one would be deleted...

A shot right down the pipe of young photog, Clayton Burns...but to many spots for me to deal with.

My angle was a little off on this one as well as the water blur.

Another with my angle being off...

Water spots...going under too soon...you name it...

Got my camera around a little to quickly...

This a look at what gets deleted....later this week, will be a look at some of what I considered were a few of the best from this shoot..

In my relatively short time of shooting surf, I have not seen a dry period like this… 

Even with the horrible conditions, I was so starved for some water therapy, that I decided to hop in.

While the waves were still nonexistent, the water clarity was insane.  Here are some shots I took from the water as well as some after sunset..

Little Glassy Barrel to start my night off.

Almost got a really good one here..

Again...super glassy

I don't like shooting behind the waves to much, but when you have water clarity like this..it is hard not to

Looking up from the depths..

Another from behind..

It is not HI clear...but it will do...

Sunset lines...

Peaceful...isn't it!

My home away from home...

Steps I have used 100's of times...

The last click of the night....Took 5 mins

Hope you enjoyed a look at my Friday night.  Look for some new shots with some beautiful San Diego models coming soon.

My first trip back to the water…I decided to up to Newport for my early morning wave hunting.  I am always hunting for that awesome sun rise that you can at the Wedge.  While I didn’t get what I was hoping for from the sky, the waves were still really good.  Here are some of the shots from that session… So glad to be back in the water!

First wave of the morning

Linking up with my buddy Shaun

More motion with the flash

Another link up..

I remember telling my buddy that this could be one of my favorite shots EVER...while it didn't live up to that billing...I do still like it..

My buddy Reed who made the trip with me getting the shot!

I remember thinking that this wave was going in slow-mo....

Also one of my favs from this morning

Deep in a Big Cave

The overcast was so heavy on this morning...I shot flash nearly the entire morning...

A 3-4 ft day at the Wedge is unlike any other 3-4 ft day ANYWHERE else in SoCal..

Another of Reed getting the shot

Last cave of the day...

Hope you enjoyed!

Look for more from the water soon...

Daughter of the professional tour surfer, Chris Ward, Malia seems to be a chip of the old block.  I got the chance to meet up with Malia to shoot up at Lowers recently.  Here are a few of the shots from our shoot…  

Ending the shoot with a smile!

You can see more from our shoot in Malia's galley (www.surfingeye.com/malia_ward)

Look for more shoots with Malia soon!

One such person is Michael at Ordean Surf.  I first got to know Michael and the guys at Ordean about 6 months ago when they asked if they could feature me in their photography section on their site.  Since then I have done a few different product shoots from them of which, some of those shots can be seen on their website (www.ordeansurf.com). 

One of the coolest things that I have been able to do with Ordean, is help create and design limited edition T-Shirts using one of my images.

We used the image “Liquid Steel”

I also did a little product shoot for them as well…

Model: Ryan Marshall

Again, these are limited edition and when they are gone, they are gone…To get yours go to:

http://www.ordeansurf.com/collections/t-shirts-made-in-usa/products/liquid-steel-limited-edition

These shots will only be around for a VERY limited time.

There will also be a VERY limited quantity of each image available.  I will only sell 5 prints of each image TOTAL.  And once the time is up or all 5 prints of an image is sold, that image will not be available for sale again for at least 1 year.

Each images will be printed on archival canvas and are stretched and wrapped around a 1.5" thick wooden frame. The sides have a mirror effect so no part of the image is sacrificed on the front and it looks great from all angles. Every print has a satin varnish to protect it against minor scratches and to provide it with UV protection.

Customers will can choose from the following sizes

16x24 - $145

20x30 - $185

24x36 - $215

Also each image will also be hand signed and numbered. 

When The Limited gallery is updated, I will announce it on my blog.  Hope you take advantage of this great opportunity.

You can see the full res images and purchase these limited edition prints here:

http://surfingeye.com/limited

Blue Blanket

Taken in La Jolla CA

All Seeing Eye

Taken in La Jolla CA

Sleepy Hollow Sleepy Hollow

Taken in Newport Beach CA

That great company is Ordean Surf. 

They asked me to do a shoot for their new line of rash guards.  The first of which I chose to shoot a model that I have worked with many times in the past.  Here are some of the shots from that shoot…

If you want more information about the rash guards, or Ordean Surf, check out their website.  All their gear is Made in the USA and is top notch! 

Model: Cheyenne Rubens

Location: Crystal Pier, Pacific Beach CA

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3

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I actually liked a lot of these a little more than some of the water shots I took…Mostly because of the coloring that I got once the sun actually came out.

Hope you enjoy!

Bobby Okvist ducking in under a little A-Frame

Barrels off the Jetty..

Making the drop...

The angry hand of the Wedge

A-Frames at Cylinders

Always love the crowd shot...

One of my favorites

A Cylinders Mo-Hawk!

It was a fun day...  More shots can be seen in Bobby Okvists gallery.

My gear while shooting from land was my Canon 7D - Canon 70-200 f/4 (non IS) - 1.4 extender III

Why?  Because the forecast for The Wedge was 6 – 8 ft with very little wind.  And because I don’t really like crowds in the water… So getting there early is always the best for me.

So, I got all my gear together the night before and was out the door and in my car at 3 am on Saturday morning.

When I got to Newport it was still completely dark.  But it was black on the horizon looking out at the ocean, which meant it was not overcast at that time.  Which was good news since I wanted to get a sunrise.  One thing about that walk up to The Wedge.  You can never really see the waves until you get by the life guard tower…but you sure can hear them.  This was the biggest I have ever shot at The Wedge.  Walking up in the pitch black, all you could hear is waves exploding on the shore…one after another…  I started to get that nervous excited feeling…I stayed down there just watching the sets roll in for like 20 min while also looking for the best section…

I then went back to my car and got my gear ready.  As time went on, I could see that the sun was not going to make an appearance this morning, so I decided to shoot flash.  One of my favorite things to do now..  By the time I had everything ready and was back down at the beach, it was about 5:25 when I got in the water.  The water was nice…the wind was light and offshore and the waves were BIG and glassy at time…

Getting up that early really paid off.  From the wave and confidence standpoint…this was one of my favorite sessions.  Any new wave makes me a little nervous, but The Wedge adds to that because of the sheer power that comes along with it…by far, the most powerful and turbulent wave SoCal has to offer…  Here are some of the shots that I got from this morning…Hope you enjoy..

The first click!

As seen on my Facebook Page

Still always working on timing with the flash

Flashing the curl

The one draw back to using the flash is that you sometimes can't get all the detail you want out of the shot...But I do enjoy the motion that is captured..

SmartCar Parking lot

Lip close up

The Green Tunnel

I will post my land shots later this week!

Thanks

Speaking of my normal job…. People often ask if I will ever leave that to become a full time photographer…  I can say honestly, I have no plans to ever leave my job…Photography as a full time source of income is not as easy as it once was…Just ask the entire photography staff at the Chicago Sun Times… My job gives me the freedom to pursue photography…  I am fortunate to not have to rely on it as my sole source of income, and for those that do…I have ALL the respect in the world…  The reason I bring this up…is because I work for a great place, I have the freedom to come in late to the office…  From time to time, I will check the forecast and then go right to my meeting calendar…If I have no meetings, or pressing deadlines…My first meeting will be with the beach…

One such “meeting” was back in May…and boy it was worth it… Here are some of those shoots….

You know it will be a good day, when this is one of your first clicks...

Good waves bring out the good talent...  Local Jake Halstead 

Don't know who this was...but he ripped the entire morning...

One of my favorites from this morning...

I am not one for defacing public property, but, I think the street name should offically be changed... Playa Del Sur(f)

How could you sit in a cubical knowing this was out there...

Another one of Jake Halstead Killing it...

The guy out the back SCORED one the best waves all morning....

Here is a little write up I did for The Inertia website on my night wave photography

Water photography is not what it used to be. Let’s just start there.

While I have not been in the water as long as a lot of the watermen I know, I have seen a huge surge of photographers in the water during the last few years. That makes getting a unique shot, particularly of an empty wave, more and more difficult. Whether it is surf or wave photography you’re into, GoPro (and other small handheld digital cameras) are now a staple in the lineup, like it or not. And they are not going to vanish any time soon since each new version brings about further improvements in technology allowing even amateurs to have the potential to take quality water shots. I do believe that those who shoot with a DSLR still have a leg up. Yes, I am biased because I shoot DSLR. Photographers can be more creative with DSLRs since they control the camera settings – just take a look at slow shutter photos by Ray Collins and you will understand.

Another way DSLR users have an advantage is through their ability to utilize flash. In my opinion, night shooting creates some of the most unique images from the water. I only know of a handful of water photographers that use their flash in this way. In an attempt to stand out from the crowd, I recently decided to undertake night wave-shooting myself. After a couple of failed attempts initially, due to improper settings, I now believe it has produced some of my best and most memorable wave shots.

This is a taste of the shots I am getting at night…

Make sure to check out The Inertia's website for all things surf and lifestyle.

You can see more of these waves by night in my "Night Waves" gallery..

While it a LOT of fun, it is still a learning experience every time.  If your settings are off just a little, it can make for a long editing session afterwards and looking at “What could have been”. 

In this session, my focus point was off by a hair, but it did create some really cool speed blur effects on some of the waves….

The waves were really tiny with the occasional decent size wave which actually beats me up a lot more since I am on the ground trying to get into the barrel and just thrown back to shore. 

Hope you enjoy the shots…

Gear used: Canon 7D camera body, Canon 8-15 F/4 L Fisheye, Canon Speedlight 580 exII flash, SPL waterhousings for both camera and flash.

Deep inside this one...I didn't get my camera around fast enough...

This one will be avaliable in the Sunset Gallery

On some shots...the motion blur can look really cool...

A nice textured blanket at sunset....

I thought this little sequence was nice...

This is one of those waves, where I am on my knees trying to get the shot, and even a 1 foot wave can dump you over....

I really liked this shot...The left side is really blurry because it is under water...but on the right, you get that motion blur and great backlit coloring...

Ah, cloudy sunsets...

I have more shots where I don't have my camera angled correctly shooting with the flash then ever...

My favorite shot from this night, this was featured on SPL's instagram feed.  Shot is available in the Featured section for print

Caught a local body boarder in the waves...

Surprised by the flash....

This shot more than most you can see where I missed my focus point..

Hope you are enjoying these flash shots....  Let me know in the comments section on what you think....

We got up early to shoot together a couple of weeks ago.  It was worth it.. She was so much fun to work with and can’t wait to shoot with her again… Here are some shots from our shoot together…

While most of my recent sessions have been devoted to shooting primarily with my flash from the water….I still do love shooting without it… 

For one thing, my housing becomes like 5 lbs lighter.  The other thing is when you get the good sunset at the right time, the coloring can be amazing…  Here are few shots from a couple weeks back at sunset.

Gear used:

Canon 7D body, Canon 8-15 f/4 L fisheye lens, SPL A-Series waterhousing.  No Swim fins

A thick foamy wave to start off the shoot..

A little shore goblin can always get you...

Some waves had better coloring than others...

As stated in the previous pic.  Some had better coloring...first shot of this wave..

Last shot of the wave sequence...

It is shots like these that make me want to shoot with a 50mm more...

I don't do it nearly enough, but shooting the wave horizontally looks cool sometimes..

Covered in darkness

The start of something sweet...

Hello Mr. Lip....Nice to see you again..
Love the way the barrel looks at the top!

Got to watch out for big piles of seaweed at this beach...

If this wave was a little cleaner...this shot would have been epic...

A few to many water spots...but I really liked the coloring and the crystal look of the curtain on this one...

After this waver, I got out and threw my flash on and got back in the water...Check back tomorrow for those shots....  My favorites from this night have been placed in the "Featured" section of my site...check them out...  

I have been trying to get better and better with my flash in the water…my first few times out I got nothing out of it…

So, instead of testing this stuff in the water, I decided to play with my camera and flash in my backyard.  Getting my settings down before going in the water.

I wish I would have thought of this a long time ago….Here are some of the shots that came away from that very next session…

I think one...love the red eye at the end..

Spring coloring in La Jolla

Just a little to deep on this one...

Shot right after the sun went under...i do like the wave formation and the palm tress in the background...

This is what happens when your flash does not fire...It looks good as a speed blur, but would have looked better had the flash fired...

As some of you who have followed my work for a while will know….my favorite time to shoot is sunrise.  Being in the water as the sun comes up is the best.  More so during the winter months in my opinion. 

While the mornings are colder, and so is the water, winter does keep a lot of things out of my way.  First thing it keeps out is the pesky marine layer.  There much few gloomy mornings during the winter then during the spring and summer.  The second thing it keeps out is kooks… 50 degree water is really the great equalizer for those “surf photographers” who want to bring out their shiny new GoPro’s or DSLR’s and come get in the waves… Don’t get me wrong… I am all for people following their passion and am very accepting of all types of photogs and surfers in the water… just not when you step into my zone when the sole intention of trying to get in my shot…Which happens more than you would think… 

Winter does bring one thing that is GREAT.  Epic Swells… Winter swells are some of the most powerful that will hit the SoCal shores all year….there have been more than a few times where I have finished a session and felt like I just went a round with Mike Tyson…  Anywho...enough of my rambling…here are some pics from one of my last morning sessions…. 

Prepare for duck diving in 3...2...1..