Travel and Surf Photography Blog
We’ve had a nice variety of waves here with some good size for the last couple days! It’s starting to relax a bit today, but there’s still some large sets here and there. The size seems to fluctuate a bit. It can be small for a while and then will pick back up, then mello out again and so on.
Other than surfing we’ve been hiking up waterfalls (and jumping off 35′!), scuba diving and exploring a bit. Will post more pics later, but for now, here’s some surf photos:
In the battle between surf and surf photography, surf continuous to dominate! I supplemented by adding some sequence shots. Waves were head high with occaisional 2′ overhead or so. Wind was supposed to be 30mph SW which is a bit side shore, but more offshore, but didn’t seem to be that strong. Still, some texture on it, but many fun waves to be had!
This one was a quick trip out to LA to visit some old college buddies and try some new breaks. The swell was small, but the sets were surprisingly clean considering the onshore breeze (around 10 knots). The waves were nice an long compared to what I usually get out east on the smaller days and well suited for a longboard (or a SUP if that’s your bag). In general, with the Channel Islands visible on the horizon, pelicans splashing down out in the ocean and palm trees on the beach it must’ve been some of the most relaxing surf I’ve every had! Definitely fun to partake in the SoCal lifestyle for a weekend and get a feel for what it’s like!
The surf gods shined down a ray of light on the ASP World Tour Quiksilver Pro Surf Competition last week at Long Beach, Long Island, NY. The surf can get better in NY, but not by much! It started off slow and then waves from Hurricane Katia built up peaking Thurs evening, then dying down a bit and cleaning up for the finals on Friday. It’s too bad they didn’t get to compete in the some of the biggest (if not the cleanest) sets Thursday night, but they still got some great surf.
It was held at the break I’ve surfed most for the last 7 years or so, which made me a bit skeptical that it would be intrusive. That wasn’t the case at all though, it was great to have them there and they sent out a good vibe in general. Plus, it was cool to see what the pro’s can do on the waves you’ve been surfing. (A lot more than us!) They take a mushy close out that I can’t even make the section on and hit the lip 4 times. lol I can’t stop watching the video highlights on quiksilverpro.com and the Quiksilver Pro New York Snack Pack full review!
Again, apologies for failing to accurately represent the waves with photos! …priorities…priorities. 
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Preface: These pics (unfortunately) don’t capture the true size of the sets coming in. 
Cutting my vacation in Nantucket short, I raced home Friday hoping I could get in the water on Saturday. Reports and rumors cautioned that the roads would be blocked, it might be blown out, the mass exodus of evacuatees would prohibit us from getting out there, etc, etc. Our plan was to wake up at 5:30am and drive out to Long Beach, but after the trip the day before we were too tired and woke up around 7:30am. There WAS one road block on the way out, but were able to circumvent it!
The waves were not the cleanest or most powerful I’ve seen, but there were definitely some big sets coming in. I really regret not putting more effort into photographing them. The biggest waves in the photos below are not the biggest waves that we faced that day!
Other observations:
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