Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

As ever it's been a while since I posted here, so 'Hello!' and thanks for checking back. There has been busyness in the photo world with a variety of local shoots. Artist of the Month shoots for Cornwall Today magazine always provide interesting people, frequently with amazing art works, and I feel privileged to be able to photograph this aspect of the creative Cornish life.  Mary Mabbutt, Cornwall Today, May 2014 Rachael Kantaris, Cornwall Today, June 2014 I usually shoot quite a few pictures when we (writer Alex Wade and I) visit the artists, of which sometimes only three will make it on to the printed page, so it's great for the other images get an outing too. You can now find the rest of the shoot in the magazine's new Artists Gallery . So much for culture, for God's sake tell us about the extreme sports! I hear you cry. Well the surfing end of the extreme sports spectrum is alive and well in Cornwall, with Spring time blue swells aplenty thu...

I had been out on a windy, rainy, grey and overcast day to do an interior shoot. Naturally the interior had to have a 'sunny, summery feel'.  Presumably that was the reason it was commissioned in mid December then. Plus it was incredibly urgent, needed immediate post-processing and sending to the client immediately after that, if not sooner. A-Frames  So much, so normal. But I knew there was a decent swell running which, if the correct bit of shelter from a difficult wind could be tracked down, would undoubtedly turn up some decent looking waves. With only a brief window of opportunity due to the shortness of the days at this time of year, looking was all I had time to do. Empty, but no time to surf it The First Law of Surfing being what it is, I presently came across several sheltered spots which were firing. Solo pilot Having driven around looking at all the places I couldn't surf, I ended up in St Ives with just enough daylight left to make the in...

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 ...

Dear Reader As ever, it has been a long time since I last typed words into the ether, however this time I have a proper excuse. A right royal one, even.  Earlier in the year I took a call about photographing some people who would be visiting the area later in the year. 'Would love to,'  I said, 'Who are they?' 'Umm, we can't say at the moment', the caller replied. We talked some more and then, even having sworn me to secrecy, they would still only give away that 'They are an eminent, high profile and newsworthy couple'.  As it turned out, the eminent personages were none other than HRH The Queen and Prince Philip. Unfortunately, the date they were coming conflicted with a date I already had booked on a ferry for a two week surf trip/photo shoot to France. Should I blow out the trip and get an HRH portrait or two in my portfolio - by Royal Appointment?  What a quandary - photograph the Queen or go on a surf trip?  What would you do? 'Can...

There's such a lot of imagery and video coming out of Teahupoo, the massively challenging reef break in Tahiti, that I thought I'd keep adding things below as I find them. This is the biggest swell to show up since the Code Red swell of 2011, and the world's elite/ craziest big wave surfers have shown up to the Code Red II party. SurfLine's Fantastic crop of photos Wave of the Day Yesterday:   Mark Healy, pic by Ted Grambeau Raimana, pic by Shane Dorian Koa Rothman, pic by More photos from yesterday here: Teahupoo Photos In the video below you can see the green bottom of a boat getting caught out and flipped over the falls on the inside. Hopefully no injuries, but that would have been a nasty wipeout. Tomorrow is supposed to be even bigger, keep an eye on the Teahupoo Live Cam More photos of the scene here:  Teahupoo Code Red

Alright so it's a bit of a maudlin title but death is something that lives with us all our lives. A taboo subject worth talking about, it seems to have been all around me recently. Constant reminders of wars ending lives on the news, or multiple pile ups and recently the thought that a health improving marathon may result in your demise has bought the subject to the forefront of my mind.  Perhaps those factors, perhaps the friends I saw today headed to a funeral dressed in black, perhaps encroaching age. Whatever, today I have death on the brain and am thus persuaded to write down this thought about my own bit of mortal coil shuffling. It's a thought that I've had for quite a while now, a plan for my own funeral, one that I've been finessing, and this may seem odd, since around the time I first saw the inside of a barreling wave many years ago. It's quite simple and goes like this: It's six to eight foot with a light offshore breeze at my local break. It...

Unsurprisingly, the Canary Isles are mostly dry and sun-drenched, set, as they are, on a similar latitude to the Sahara Desert. And perhaps a perfect holiday destination for a surfing Brit since their location just off the coast of Africa attracts all north Atlantic swells. As a soubriquet 'The Hawaii of Europe' is thus well earned, though these volcanic islands are less lush than their Pacific brethren, having had their last eruption a mere 300 years ago.  From a choice of seven larger islands - Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, long time surf buddy Clyde and I picked the easternmost island, Lanzarote, which, I was told, had been an entirely dry and perfectly sun-drenched destination for the past two years.  Until, of course, the day we touched down under dark storm clouds and pouring rain.  Mind you, we had landed in Fuerteventura. For a run down of the following seven complex, misery inducing, lost surf opportunity h...

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 ...

So here's the rub:  Imagine it's  the weekend and you go for a game of football at your local park with a few mates. Other people are spread around the park playing in similar games with varying skill and intensity. A usual Saturday or Sunday morning, the vibe is good whatever the weather. Now imagine that every time it rained, the whole park, including the football pitch you normally play on, got covered with a mix of rainwater and raw sewage.  How long would the water company responsible be allowed to pollute a public space in this way?  And how big the fines for allowing it to happen even once ? And yet every time it rains fairly heavily, this is what is happening at some surf breaks.  After heavy or prolonged rain, raw sewage is discharged into the river at Gwithian, immediately finding its way into the sea and spreading along the near shore surf zone - the surfer's football pitch if you will - where hundreds of surfers, swimmers and other water users ar...

Can't wait for this film from Mr B to hit the silver screen..  teaser clip on big wave surfing at the Cribbar, in Newquay

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

 A decent swell hit the south west of Cornwall this week, and some lucky blighters managed to snag a few. Three foot peelers were randomly interspersed with 6 foot screamers resulting in hoots for the riders, and groans from those caught inside. Generally smiles all round though, surfers grins keeping the beach lit up long after the autumn sun had made its (far too early) disappearance. Return to Ocean-Image.com