Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

It was morning, and work timings had unusually left me free for a couple of hours. That would normally mean the surf was onshore, or blown out, or flat or something, adhering as it usually does to the First Law of Surfing . But not today. Blue Rinse Today looked like a bleak, grey, midwinter day with (from a brief glimpse of the sea on the school run) a weak looking swell and the wind threatening to go onshore. But I had time. Time to take pictures. So I trawled along the coast looking for surf or seascape images, but found very little. Until I came to the reef. Which, oddly, seemed to be firing. Fryer  Several locals and some of the Aggy crew were making the most of a small day before the expected 'Hercules II' storm at the weekend. An acceptable peak Empty Dan Joel Mole getting critical Captain Fryer on a set wave A chill wind cut through the grey pall that hung over the break, warmed slightly by the relaxed atmosphere. Styling ...

Someone must have put something in the tea because it's been a very productive month at Ocean-Image towers, and consequently sees the release of three new products. Firstly, the new 2013 Waves desk calendar, which sits in its own fold-out display case, simply change to a fresh image each month. This year again it is in aid of clean seas charity Surfers Against Sewage . A healthy donation from the sale of each calendar will go towards monitoring and challenging the polluters of one of our greatest natural assets.  Due out at the end of this week,  you can pre-order yours here already. Secondly, as mentioned on my Facebook , while drinking a cup of tea and listening to one of those brilliant Cornish storms rage outside, a punny idea came into my head, heralding the creation of ..  'A Storm in a Teacup' OK, OK, so it's a mug, but 'Storm in Tea Mug' didn't quite work. Using this Sennen Storm photo printed onto a solid white ...

Seb curling under Sam styling, James whiling Return to Ocean-Image.com

With the advent of the ever-expanding world of iPads, Kindles and netbooks allowing ever easier access to the internet and its largely free content, the once burgeoning world of magazines printed on paper (stuff you don't have to even click, for younger readers) has become squeezed, and squeezed again, as advertisers head where the public are flocking. The effect of this has seen many magazines close in recent years, the doomsayers heralding the signs as the complete end of all printed material.  But maybe it's just the business model of the Net that's part of its success, the knowledge that all content is free being the one of the biggest draws. If that's true then maybe new national surf title SurfPlus stands a better chance of sticking around, since they are simply giving it away.  While free papers are an unremarkable publishing method, witness the local Classified Ads 'newspaper' dropped through your letterbox, this is a first, as far as I know, in the Su...

Hot on the heels of the 2011 Waves calendar comes my first book, unsurprisingly entitled 'Ocean-Image', and published via the Blurb phenomenon. With 120 pages of, as the title suggests, seascapes, surfing and wave pictures, the book also includes three surf travel stories from previous Irish, Scottish and Sri Lankan adventures. You can buy one or just have a look at the first 15 pages here :   Ocean-Image Book   New Book - Cover A calendar, a book, whatever next ? Well, hopefully some time for a surf before the X-word arrives. Return to Ocean-Image.com