Awesome morning. Nice little 1-2ft glassy waves that look better because of the nice morning. Grab a mal and have some fun.
Surfboards Direct

Sunday saw the swell swing a bit more to the SE as it began to fade. Still there were some magnificent waves to be had for the fortunate crew who were on them at Manly. I shot for an hour from near the North Steyne surfclub. Ended up with almost 400 shots of regular surfers getting some uncommonly good waves on a sunny morning.

Late in the afternoon, after going for a fun surf myself at Dee Why point, I went up to North Narrabeen for the sunset show. Not really expecting to find much, I was surprised to discover that there were still some very tasty and often quite makeable little barrels coming through. Some very deep pits to be had if you could hold your line.

As usual, by clicking on any of the pics below you’ll be taken to the complete gallery for that session. And, as usual, I was aiming to get extraordinary shots of ordinary surfers… enjoy and don’t forget, all pics are available for purchase at various sizes.

Manly (North Steyne mostly) 0830-0930 391 pics!

Click pic above to go to the entire Manly gallery

North Narrabeen at dusk 165 pics

Click pic above to see the entire Northy Sunday pm gallery

If Friday was astounding, Saturday was every bit as good! I started proceedings by shooting a tow-in crew working the otherwise unmakeable shutdowns along South Narrabeen from about 0800 to 0850. Then it was on to Northy to shoot the very substantial crowd surfing in essentially perfect conditions. If you were in the water there between 0900-1015 and you caught a wave, there is a very good chance I caught you doing it! After lunch, I made my way to Manly and shot the outstanding waves there between 1300-1430.

As always, clicking the pics below will take you to the relevant gallery – and remember, all pictures are for sale!

South Narrabeen tow-ins 0800-0850 – 90 pics

click image above to visit the gallery

North Narrabeen 0850-1015 – 523 pics!

Click pic above to see the North Narrabeen gallery

Manly 1330-1430 – 159 pics

Cick pic above to go to Manly gallery

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!

[slideshow id=24]

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.