Manly was one of the spots lighting up on Saturday as an ESE swell pushed into an offshore wind. I set up the 650mm and shot for over an hour and a half at a location just south of North Steyne.
Manly-Sat 5 June 2010 (1200-1330) – Images by Don Norris
Just one of 180 shots taken between noon and 1330.
Saturday on the Easter weekend and we had enough SE swell for there to be waves getting into Manly. I spent an hour or so shooting with a couple different cameras and came back with over a hundred shots. As usual my goal was to catch regular surfers looking their best – rather than only the best surfers being regular! If you see a mate, shoot him an email. (All pics are for sale at extremely reasonable prices!)
Manly: Sat 3 April 2010 (midday) – Images by Don Norris
All pictures for sale at very reasonable prices! Just click on the image you want and you will be taken to the gallery site where you’ll find an “Add to cart” option top left. Click that and you can buy and immediately download the picture.
Spent half an hour shooting at Manly between the constant showers. Here are a few of the snaps. If you were in the water at the peaks between North and South Steyne from about 2-230pm, you might want to have a look at the whole collection here!
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Went shooting this morning and here are the results. The original pics are very high resolution so it is quite possible to get a clean looking pic out of a very small area in the image. Exposure kinda went off the rails, but it’s easily corrected if need be.
North Narrabeen 0830-0900 Sat 11 July 2009 (30 pics)
Taste of Gardens 11 July 09
Shot at Gardens (sth Narrabeen) 0900-0950 Sat 11 July 2009. In front of observation deck and carpark just opposite the coffee shops at the south end of Ocean St. (167 pics)
Curly one at Curl Curl 11 July 2009
Here is a link to the snaps I shot between 1030 and 1100 on Sat 11 July 2009 at Curl Curl (141 pics).
Shot this at Manly north of nth steyne between 111-1145
And here’s a link to a few pics I got at Manly between 1115-1145 on Sat 11 July 2009. (50 pics)
Modern technology offers so many conveniences today that we don’t need to leave the home. With a laptop, cell phone, and an elliptical trainer we can work and burn calories simultaneously. Grocery, clothing, and music shopping has become as effortless and speedy as a click of the mouse.
For surfers, few could have ever envisioned how the digitalization of their sport and lifestyle would permanently alter some of their customs and traditions. Live web cams and online surf reports have now replaced the old fashioned “surf check” and the need to learn how to read the ocean’s weather patterns. As little as 10 years ago, surfboards were hand built by surfers domestically, but a large majority is now mass-produced overseas by computerized factories. This not only resulted in less work for local craftsmen, but drastically reduced the customary exchanging of ideas between a surfer and his shaper to create unique, customized surf crafts.
For better or worse, modern technology has played a huge role in reshaping cultures around the globe. The various electronic luxuries available today have made life easier, but does a dramatic decline in physical interaction with society erode some of the time-honored traditions of our local cultures?
Californian artist/photographer/filmmaker Thomas Campbell says yes. Which is why he is helping to preserve one of surfing’s longest running social happenings off the beach: surf movie tours.
Campbell’s new Super 16mm film, The Present—a colorful and artistic exploration of the beautiful environment surfers play in everyday—is set to do just that by hitting Australian coastal towns this month, on the back of a US tour. It’s his third film and a follow up to the ground-breaking log movie The Seedling and more recently Sprout.
Presented in Australia by Margie Wegener and the Lala Society, the film features the modern alaia, developed by Tom Wegener Surfboards. After test riding the alaia’s in Africa with Noosa’s Jacob Stuth, Dave Rastovich took the flat wooden boards to Hawaii with draw-dropping results at Waimea and Sunset. Rob Machado and Harrison Roach travelled to Indonesia to test the ancient boards in some very remote waves, producing some of the greatest Indonesian footage ever caught on film.
Margie says of Thomas Campbell, “Thomas is very committed not only to his art and to the traditional surf filmmaking format, but also to the notion of the historical surf film tour.”
“I am not re-inventing the wheel or anything, just doing what those filmmakers did back then,” explains Campbell, who extensively toured Sprout through 30 US cities, and did a more modest run for the Seedling. “Doing a tour is a long-time tradition in our culture. It’s also the most sure fire way of bringing the film to the surf community directly, and people love it. … It’s a really nice exchange.”
Campbell’s narrative approach is also very traditional. He hand picks some of surfing’s most talented and creative individuals and captures those riding waves in exotic locales around the word. Each film has a general theme, with narration by Campbell himself to help move the viewer forward. According to him, The Present’s basic premise is, “Taking a view into our lives as surfers on this planet, and showing that this moment—in our surfing lives right now—is a gift. It also has a subtle preservation message about our oceanic playgrounds.”
Like his other films, The Present covers several surfing sub-cultures. Some include: surfers riding ’60s style surf equipment; modern day hi performance tri-fin short boarding; sustainable surfboard building; and following the evolution of a recent board design movement based on 1,000 year old equipment that ancient Hawaiians rode called alaias. Throw in a funny skit with people riding surfboards with exercise equipment and ladders bolted to the decks. Then add some travels to West Africa, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, California and Hawaii and you end up with a classic surf film narrative. All of this happens to the backdrop of a timeless, down-tempo soundtrack that has been a hallmark of Campbell’s other works.
Through his uniquely artistic style of filmmaking and intimate screenings – with live music performances to set the mood – Campbell hopes to help keep alive the nearly dead tradition of surfers gathering at a local theater to view a new independent surf film.
The Present will show for one night only at –
The Coolangatta Sands Hotel – Friday 22 May 7pm
The Bryon Bay Community & Cultural Center – Sunday 24 May 6pm
Avoca Beach Theatre Friday 29 May 7pm
The Randwick Ritz Cinema Monday 1 June at 7pm
Two screenings are booked for the Manly Cinema on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th May at 7pm
Tickets are only $18 which includes music by Shannon Sol Carroll & OJ, who feature in the film and lucky door prizes. Bookings are on line at www.trimyourlifeaway.com and follow the prompts to Australian tour.
Heritage Surf, long time supporter of RealSurf, has got in this brand new fandangled wetsuits from Patagonia. Check it out.
The R2 "fitsuit" new from Patagonia.
From Chris Moss at Heritage:
We’ve just received some “fit-suits” from Patagonia and will have a full size range of the R2 Front Zip Steamer at the end of May.
The suits are made from the highest quality neoprene available and are manufactured in Japan.
The R2 is a 2mm suit with an amazing merino wool lining for that extra bit of warmth – these suits are tested to be used in 12-18 degree celcius water temperatures, so will be perfect for the dead of winter.
For more technical details on the Patagonia range, check out Patagonia’s website .
All Patagonia wetsuits are available to order through Heritage Surf.
Winkipop this morning and yesterday was firing
Photo: Winkipop this morning and yesterday looked like this. Sick!
Thanks god some decent waves hit this weekend and this morning… Just when I received 2 free nights in a hotel in the city and missed it all 
( Jules has been around and about though getting some great shots and pits himself. Hope you enjoy this one.
After checking out Dee Why and Curly, I headed out the Curly headland to see what Freshy and Manly looked like.
As it has over the last few days, Freshwater had a few very weak and tiny, but sort of catchable little waves in the north corner. The wind wasn’t doing it too much damage and there were only three or four people in the water with boards along the entire beach. Biggest waves looked to be in the knee to waist high range.
Steaming fearlessly toward the immense boulders of north Freshwater.
From my vantage point, it looked as though there were a few weak little waves flopping into the Queenscliff end of Manly beach as well. Appeared to be a few folks out amongst them and the size seemed pretty much the same as Dee Why and Freshy.
A few bods getting wet up towards Queensy this morning.
You may know me as Malurus cyaneus, but around here I'm called 'boss'. Male Superb Blue Wren, Freshwater north headland.
Went for a look at Curly & Freshy around 0830 after the school run. Curly was about the same as yesterday, but thanks to the lighter winds, it was looking a little more attractive. Not that many more in the water though. I wouldn’t want to be accused of overstating the situation though. The biggest sets I saw were struggling to make waist high, and the moment of peak energy was generally pretty brief. Waves would stand up over a bank and then quickly subside as they were swallowed by a gutter.
Here are a couple snaps to fill in the picture a little.
This one actually ran for a few metres - South Curly, 0830.
Peak moment for a Curly peak around 0830.
Drove on around the corner to the south Curly headland carpark for a squizz at Freshy and Manly. Again, there were a fair sprinkling of bods in the water at both places. Pretty much seemed to all be mals – understandably enough. Waves at Freshy were extremely tiny. Biggest thing I saw was around thigh-high. But you could get the odd multi-metre glide over near the rocks at the south end.
Styling in front of the cliffs of Freshwater beach.
Don't those SUP riders look as though they're shepherding the mal people?
Going off on Weds morning 18/2/2009
Hi all,
I’ve just posted a short video made up from some footage I shot Wednesday morning at Manly when it was, well, rather good…