Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

It's come to my attention that my physical body is perhaps not as happy to go surfing as it once was. While the elation of riding virtually any size or sort of wave remains undiminished since I first stumbled to my feet on a dented and waterlogged old board at Sennen more than twenty years ago, the increasing occurrence, and current list, of minor bodily injuries has managed to break through my imagined youthfulness and inform me of it's ailments.  Since this is usually via the conduit of pain, it has been difficult to ignore. Some of these ailments could be said to be partially self-inflicted - the groin injury occasioned by an upturned fin during a wipe-out, a bloody nose inflicted by someone bailing their board after dropping in on me. Tight hamstrings are a fact of life for surfers, but add the current twinge of Sciatica, a cricked neck that six months of exercises has failed to heal and a twisted knee caused by the above drop in, and you'll start to get the same mes

Click to watch video Haunting music and beautiful footage of massive waves and riders at Teahupoo in Tahiti.  Shot on  £100,000 worth of video camera called 'The Phantom' during the Billabong Pro last year, the camera was designed for ultra-high speed capture to be played back in slow motion. This high quality  imagery really gives you an idea of what big wave riders are taking on. More Surfing Videos It also makes the waves look stunning. Amazing work by Chris Bryan www.chrisbryanfilms.com

Has anyone seen Newquay surfer Oliver Doy? He is missing and his friends and family are worried about him. Please call 101 and quote log number 572 of the 7th of January. This is not a joke, serious help only please. (from the local police)...   Oliver Doy - missing since 7th Jan  Please contact the police if you have any information. 

Click for more photos...  Happy New Year to the blogosphere, here's hoping 2012 will bring lots of interesting photo commissions, surf and storms.  Before all that though, here's a quick glance back to the Christmas Day swim at Sennen.  The only shot I got was this one from the road leading down to the Cove because we were stuck in a traffic jam.  Normally this time of year Sennen lacks only tumbleweeds for the classic 'deserted town' feel.  Christmas Day saw the car park overflowing, and the road across the front lined both sides with seemingly abandoned vehicles.   Several hundred people made the 'swim' ( more exactly a screaming, lemming-like plunge up to the knees followed by hours of shivering) with several hundred more encouraging them on with their madness. Sennen on Christmas Day  The swell was good enough to tempt a few surfers in too.  So what's new for the New Year, I hear myself ask ? Some interesting portrait jobs coming up for Cornwall