davebphoto

Amanda & Avish

2012-01-06T14:37:00.003-05:00

Amanda and Avish picked the coldest day of the season so far. I think it was only 26°, so we were all bundled up. We met at Love Park in Philadelphia and walked around Center City for a while before we hopped in the car to warm up and drive up by the Art Museum. There were a lot of rosy cheeks and cold fingers. It was so great to see Amanda again - she was Beth's roommate a few years back and she might have the most adorable personality of anyone I know. They were a blast to work with and I wish them the best of luck in their new life together!

Erin & Dave married in West Chester

2011-11-14T11:21:00.003-05:00

This was my last wedding of the year second shooting for JDN Photography. It was a crisp fall day in West Chester. Erin and Dave were married at the St. Agnes Church and we walked around town to get a few photos afterwards. Everyone was waving, honking and congratulating at the new bride and groom! Afterwards the reception was at the Mendenall Inn down the road in Chadds Ford.

Sarah & Armen

2011-10-31T13:22:00.004-04:00

Sarah and I met over ten years ago in college and have been friends since. She agreed to shoot my engagement photos and when she got engaged I'd shoot hers. I knew the day wouldn't be long until I would be returning the favor when she met Armen. We had an awesome time walking around Old City and the water front on a beautiful sunny fall day. Thanks again guys! Can't wait 'til the wedding!

Our Destination Wedding

2011-09-30T09:17:00.005-04:00

To say our wedding was interesting is an understatement. We planned a small ceremony and reception at The Inn on Pamlico Sound in Buxton, NC. It was supposed to be an easy 7 hour drive for all of our guests. But then Hurricane Irene hit and washed out the only road to get on to Hatteras Island. We quickly scrambled to make ferry reservations after the island was open to visitors. Now it was a nine hour drive and four hours on a ferry. Of course it rained and there were a ton of other minor problems but we just shrugged it off and had a great time!

I can't thank everyone who made the trip enough. Beth and I felt so honored that so many people sacrificed their time and braved the rain, flood, ferries and mosquitos to join us.

The calm before one of the many storms.

The view over the Pamlico Sound from our room.

More storms moving away.

The Inn where we had our wedding and spent a few days was host to many local people who lost their homes and workers who came to the island to help. We found this entry in the guest book.

I love driving on the beach.

The light inside the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

The view of the surf from the lighthouse.

Highway 12 on Ocracoke - without all the sand and water.

Jon & Becky married on Block Island

2011-09-19T11:05:00.004-04:00

Beth and I have been a little stressed in preparation for our wedding next weekend, so it was a great relief to spend a weekend away. We left Friday morning and spent the day surfing, eating clam chowder and lobster rolls and hanging out with my friend Aaron who lives in Rhode Island. The next morning we took the ferry to Block Island to meet the groom - my good friend Jon. We checked into our hotel which was right at the ferry dock and were off to explore the island, surf and photograph him as he got ready for the wedding ceremony. It was a great time on a beautiful island. We scored awesome waves right in front of his rental house and were blown away by the scenery as we made some photos of him getting ready. The wedding went off smoothly, and the reception and after party went until late in the night. We can't wait to go back.

Jon and I heading down to surf. Photo: Bethany Dye

Jon getting a pre–wedding surf. Photo: Bethany Dye

View from the cliff. Again, Jon on another fun one. Photo: Bethany Dye

Yup, this is where they're spending the rest of their time on the island. I'm jealous.

Natalie & Scott Married at Bear Creek

2011-08-30T15:58:00.003-04:00

It's always weird going back to where you grew up - you never know who you'll run into. Last year, I ran into a friend of mine I knew since second grade while at the grocery store. Scott and I met in Mrs. Alloway's class and were friends through high school. As we were catching up, I mentioned I am a photographer and he quickly mentioned he'd be getting married soon.

I was so excited to be able to shoot the wedding for he and Natalie. They had a sunny late August wedding day at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in the Pocono Mountains (we missed Hurricane Irene by about 12 hours). It was great to see a lot of old friends and be able to make a ton of great photos.

Christian & Ashley • 7/22/2011 • Mendenhall Inn

2011-07-26T09:14:00.002-04:00

I got to go to a wedding as a quest this past Friday! Ashley is friends with my fiance, who was in the wedding, so I thought I'd bring my camera along and take a few photos since they'd be busy. Luckily the ceremony was inside as it was over 100° outside.

Nichole and Derek's Wedding • Lakehouse Inn • Perkasie, PA

2011-07-18T15:03:00.002-04:00

Nichole and Derek had a beautiful, hot July summer day for their wedding at the Lake House Inn on Lake Nockamixon in Perkasie, PA. The Inn is a beautiful place for a wedding with an area for the ceremony right beside the lake, a spacious ballroom, and beautiful old (but modern) Inn on the same property. I spent most of the time with the guys, and had a great time getting to know Derek, his family and groomsmen. We even got to watch the Phillies game for a few innings before the ceremony. All photos shot for my friend JDN Photography.

Kim & Dexter

2011-06-22T12:01:00.004-04:00

Kim and Dexter got married at the Channel Club in Monmouth Beach, NJ back on June 12. With a little luck, the rain held off for their ceremony on the dock. We were able to get aboard a yacht docked at the club for a few photos after the ceremony - so a big thank you to the owners of the "Katie J". Also thanks to my second shooter Adam Jones and my fiance for not killing me for working on her birthday!

Sherry & Steve's Wedding

2011-06-20T15:22:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I shot Sherry and Steve's wedding with my good friend Jon Nimerfroh.
The wedding was at Sacred Heart Church, in Havertown, PA and reception at the Springfield Country Club, in Springfield, PA.

Ellie & Jake

2011-06-15T14:26:00.003-04:00

Tiffany & Sam

2011-06-06T13:53:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I shot Tiffany and Sam's wedding with my good friend Jon Nimerfroh. They had a great day for their wedding at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove in Audubon, PA. They both put in a ton of work for a lot of details which made the place look great.

Mark & Melissa

2011-06-01T11:51:00.002-04:00

This weekend I took a long drive up to the Poconos to second shoot for my good friend Jon Nimerfroh. Mark and Melissa are friends of his, and he surprised them by having me come as a second shooter - and they were excited! The wedding and reception was held at Erharts Inn and Restaurant which is on Lake Wallenpaupack. It was a beautiful spot for a wedding and made Jon and my job that much easier.

Melissa's family is from Spain, so Mark thought he'd try a little Spanish during his vows. See the photos below of the ceremony to see how it worked out.

New Family Portraits

2011-05-31T14:10:00.000-04:00

Randy & Julia re-Married

2011-05-24T16:30:00.003-04:00

Randy and Julia had a small wedding ceremony for their friends and family that couldn't make it to the destination wedding in Costa Rica this past January. After a short and sweet ceremony at Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars, everyone went over to Cafe Aletto for lunch.

Amy & Rick's Wedding • Downingtown, PA

2011-05-10T10:51:00.002-04:00

Amy and Rick had a beautiful day for their wedding at the Downingtown Country Club. They were both incredibly laid back and enjoyed their day. When I met with Amy and Rick back in January, they made sure we could schedule the photos around the Kentucky Derby's main race and that we could squeeze in a few quick shots with their dog! Rick even placed bets for his groomsmen on the race.

Both Amy and Rick had recently lost their fathers, and it was quite emotional for both of them - so they kept it short.

Right after the ceremony we were off to the cocktail hour at the bar, where everyone watched the Kentucky Derby. Everyone there was a big horse racing fan, so we couldn't do anything until after the race was over.

Amy also scheduled time in to get photos of them with their dog Rollie.

Dexter & Kim's Engagement in Barnegat Light

2011-05-05T11:17:00.003-04:00

Dexter and Kim wanted to shoot their engagement photos on Long Beach Island at the Barnegat Lighthouse, since they spend a lot of time there and that's where they got engaged. I thought that was a great idea, since I love that area just as much. It is a great spot for photos since there is so much right there; the lighthouse itself, the inlet, walkway, jetty, rocks, beach and sand trail through the woods. It's like six locations in one! We had a lot of fun walking around and made some great photos too.

My new nephew

2011-04-06T15:46:00.003-04:00

My brother and sister-in-law just had their first child, Zachary Christian, a few weeks ago. I've had the chance to meet him a few times and finally was able to set up a time to go take his picture. He probably doesn't like me, because he cried just about the whole time I was there, but we still made a few great photos of him.

2011 PA Ice Hockey State Championships

2011-03-28T11:12:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday was the final day for ice hockey photos. There were three games to determine the State Champions in the three divisions: A, AA, and AAA. I shot from the penalty box for all three games - and forgot just how cold it is standing there.

Here's a few of my favorites:

Rings

2011-03-25T09:29:00.002-04:00

Just testing out some new equipment on Beth's engagement ring with her pepper plants - two of her favorite things...

2011 Flyers Cup

2011-03-22T16:13:00.003-04:00

The Flyers Cup was a little split up this year. Normally the three divisions championship games are on the same night. The highest division got to play at the rink where the Flyers play, the Wells Fargo Center, while the two lower divisions play at local ice rinks. I didn't have a chance to go through my photos and post any here before they were posted to the website from the game that was played at the Wells Fargo Center, but there's a link to the game on one of my favorite local sports blog websites, crossingbroad.com

The photos below are from the A championship game on March 18th at Iceline. My photography partner in the sports photos actually made it to the finals with the team he coaches. It looked like they were the dominant team, but had 8 penalties called against them. They scored a goal in the early third period to go ahead, but later gave up a goal and Springfield won it in overtime.

Snow what I'm sayin?

2011-01-27T10:56:00.005-05:00

So we had a little storm overnight. 14" of snow was no problem for the new jeep. I even stopped off on my way to work this morning and took a few photos...

A short video from the drive:
http://gallery.me.com/dbreisacher#100016

Tom & Ashley's Wedding

2011-01-25T09:00:00.003-05:00

This past Friday I worked with my good friend Jon Nimerfroh as a second photographer for Tom and Ashley's wedding. It was freezing cold, with temperatures hovering below freezing for most of the day. They were troopers going out to get photos before the ceremony around old city and the Art Museum. The wedding the reception was held at the Ballroom at the Ben.

They did a great job pretending it wasn't 20° when these were taken. My hands were freezing after holding the camera for only 3 minutes!

¡Pura Vida!

2011-01-13T11:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long time between posts. High School hockey has been keeping us busy this past season. We recently did just get back from a really awesome trip to Costa Rica. It was the same place as last year, except we went down for a wedding! They asked that I not post any photos from the wedding, but I can post some from around town and surfing.

The the new groom boosting a huge air just a day or two after the wedding.

The best man pulling into a little tube.

An empty lot in Playa Grande. I guess they didn't get around to building the house before all the restrictions on building.

Flower detail

Late afternoon dust and forest.

Morning rush hour traffic

RIP Mike Kench

2010-11-08T10:31:00.002-05:00

Boat racing lost one of it's fiercest competitors last weekend. Michael and I competed at just about every race and I always knew it would be a good race when he was there. Sometimes I thought he'd drive right through me to get ahead, but he was always a gentleman off the race course. Thanks for all the great racing 6J...

EV Creations

2010-11-03T10:49:00.003-04:00

I did some studio work for EVCreations this past week. They make wine bottle guest sign in kits for wedding receptions that are really cool. Instead of guests signing a standard guest book, they sign the wine bottle with the special pen. The bride and groom then open a bottle of wine on the 1st, 5th, 10th and 20th anniversaries. Check them out at http://www.evcreations.com/

Diana & Dennis

2010-10-11T16:38:00.000-04:00

The second part to my shooing weekend was working for Chris Hayes as a second shooter for Dennis and Diana's wedding. Diana's family honored their Chinese heritage with a tea ceremony at her mother's condo. The bride and groom served tea to everyone in their immediate family. It's a good thing they had a big tea pot, because there were a lot of 'em! Afterwards Dennis, his groomsmen and I walked around Old City making a few photos before heading to the church for a formal Christian wedding ceremony. After that it was off around the city for more photos then a reception at the DownTown Club.

Alina & Scott

2010-10-11T15:10:00.001-04:00

So this weekend was a busy one. On Saturday I met with Alina and Scott in New Hope. They had a small ceremony at Marsha Brown's in New Hope, PA. We had a unreal fall day to walk around town to make a ton of great photos before the ceremony. They were both a lot of fun and were up for just about everything. We met with their families and shot some more portraits in the Perry Mansion.

A little vacation

2010-10-07T14:08:00.003-04:00

Bethany and I skipped down to the Outer Banks for a little vacation. We had a great time and I caught a ton of fun waves. The photos are kinda cliche, but I still think they're cool...

The lighthouse shot through the woods.

Surfers go to Hatteras looking for one thing, barrels.

It's always worth stopping along the sound to watch the sun go down - especially in the fall.

New England

2010-09-22T09:07:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I took a quick trip up to Rhode Island to surf waves from Hurricane Igor. It was a lot of driving around and we managed to find a few good waves.

This wave was almost good enough to surf, but the wind came up and kind of killed that idea. You can see that there's beautiful houses right on the cliff overlooking this place.

Lock Haven Labor Day Regatta

2010-09-08T13:48:00.002-04:00

Just about every year I try to make it up to Lock Haven to take in the boat races. I usually bring my camera with me and take a few photos in between helping my brother and sister with their racing. It was a little too windy to race on Saturday, but the wind died off enough to race on Sunday.

Alex Jennings races Tim Sidor in 20SSH.

When I was editing the photo, I realized you could see the reflection of the cockpit in Alex's helmet visor.

John Runne thanks his pit crew with a thumbs up after they helped him get started.

Earl Desiato rounds the corner in BSR.

One of the coolest parts about racing in Lock Haven is the unique race course. The town built a grand stand section into the hill. There's also a bridge where spectators can watch. The other part that makes it this race so much fun is the Dash for the Cash - where the CSH class races for $500 in prize money. There were 26 entries and all of them wanted to win.

One of the junior class drivers got a little distracted during the race waving to the spectators on the bridge.

Bill & Melissa

2010-07-27T10:32:00.003-04:00

A week or two ago I second shot a wedding for my good friend Sarah Miller at the Appleford Estates in Villanova. She's an awesome person and even better photographer. We had a ton of fun and even squeezed in the photo booth with the bride and Sarah's assistant Alyssa. We both made a ton of great photos - check out more on Sarah's blog at Sarah Miller Photgraphy

All photos shot for Sarah Miller Photography

Jaclyn & Joe

2010-07-07T11:54:00.002-04:00

Jaclyn and Joe's wedding was a hot one! Luckily everything was close together and there wasn't much traveling involved.

Fun in the studio

2010-06-24T09:44:00.003-04:00

Every now and then I like to give myself little assignments to stay sharp on things I don't do that often. This time I thought I'd shoot a new surfboard that Brian Wynn shaped for me on a white background. New white surfboard, white background. Should be fun. I kinda ran out of room to move the lights around before I was able to get it perfect, but this looks okay.

Lock Haven June Regatta

2010-06-14T11:34:00.002-04:00

This weekend Bethany and I went up to Lock Haven, PA to watch the boat race. We had great weather on Saturday, but got a few downpours on Sunday. I managed to get a few photos while hanging out.

Baby Max

2010-06-08T15:16:00.002-04:00

Erich & Steph

2010-06-02T16:28:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I shot my good friend and old roommate Erich. Not in the Dick Cheney kind of way, but rather some engagement portraits for them in Chanticleer Gardens. It was a hot, sunny day but we managed to walk all the way around the gardens without breaking into a full sweat. The place is so beautiful, it's hard not to make great photos.

Store front window

2010-05-27T11:50:00.002-04:00

I took a trip over to LBI this week to check out my photo of Randy from Indonesia that got used in the store front window. It's giant and right in the front of the building. I'm told that they used it on billboards along 95 as well.

Nick and Jen

2010-05-24T16:15:00.003-04:00

I shot Nick and Jenn's wedding with my good friend Jon yesterday. It was a pretty low key event held at the Old Mill Inn in Media, PA. The location was beautiful, and the sun stayed tucked behind the clouds all day - which made for perfect lighting in the courtyard and around the property. Find more on Jon's website - www.jdnphotography.net.

I think I heard one of the guests say the grooms father took over 1,400 pictures. The battery ran out before he ran out of room on the memory card.

Jon does a great job setting up some of the posed shots. I sniped this one from behind the scenes.

Jen made awesome earrings for all the bridesmaids. With a little help from one of them who happens to work as an art director, we set up this shot.

These kids loved taking pictures. They must be related to the grooms father.

Ed & Vicki

2010-05-11T09:36:00.002-04:00

One of my co-workers and good friends got married this weekend. They asked if I would fill in and shoot a few photos and I obliged. It was a lot of fun and managed a few shots while still enjoying myself.

Opening Day

2010-04-12T11:33:00.002-04:00

The Phillies made 20 fiberglass Phanatics and placed them around town in celebration of the season starting. I passed this one on Saturday while walking around town.

PA State Champs

2010-04-07T14:35:00.002-04:00

This past Thursday was the PA State Championships for High School Ice Hockey. Two of our accounts were in the finals (there's three different levels). All three games were played in Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. This was my first time to Pittsburgh, but I didn't really get to see much of the area. We did get to see just about the entire arena, from the tunnels under the stands and locker rooms to being down on the ice.

Stadium overview

Being in a professional rink, there is advertising all over the boards and even on the ice. It's tough to get a clean shot, especially from down low.

Anyone hungry for Dunkin Donuts?

Flyers Cup 2010

2010-03-26T10:34:00.003-04:00

This years Flyers Cup was played at a few different venues. The AAA game at the Wachovia Center, the AA game in Hatfield and the rest in West Chester. The AA championship game was last night. Downingtown East vs Council Rock South. Downingtown East is one of my accounts so to see them make it to the finals and win was exciting. There wasn't a spot open where I could shoot without looking through the glass or a net, so I just shot from behind the net.

Downingtown East's fans came out to support the team and had a good time doing it. I especially like the kid on the left who wore his shoulder pads and helmet without a shirt.

More Costa

2010-03-16T14:38:00.003-04:00

Since it is the dry season, most of the trees there have lost their leaves and just bake in the sun all day.

We walked around the estuary and came across a pair of birds and I'm pretty sure this guy didn't like us being there too much. I didn't realize until I was editing the photos that they have huge talons that would probably hurt.

Cobblestone shorebreak

Point Magoo

Costa

2010-03-09T15:45:00.003-05:00

I've been away the past week on vacation to Costa Rica. I stayed with my good friend Randy Townsend. Randy surfs for a living and spends his winters in Costa Rica. It was a lot of fun to go and not have to work every morning. I got to surf a lot myself and even did a ton of fun tourist stuff.

Secret Spot Sunset

Just about every surf photographer that's been to Playa Grande has this shot, but it's still cool to watch

Randy adopted a little kitten that raised hell the whole time we were there.

Cobblestone reefbreak south of Playa Grande

Aussie Wade Goodall was in town to get a few photos and shoot some video. Halfway through a 360 here.

Prehistoric pelicans surf the waves.

Randy boosting a big air on a little wave during sunset.

Hockey

2010-02-24T10:32:00.003-05:00

The end of high school hockey season is in sight. That means The Flyers Cup is right around the corner. We photographed a handful of the local high school hockey teams this year - both action and team shots. I shot a bunch of games this weekend, from Varsity on Friday night all the way down to the Elementary teams. It was a good warm up for the Flyers Cup.

Kristen & Paul

2010-02-24T09:41:00.004-05:00

This weekend I worked with Jon shooting a wedding in West Chester. Paul and Kristen were a fun, awesome couple on their wedding day. After the wedding, we stopped by Victory Brewing Co in Downingtown on the way to the reception at the Desmond in Malvern. Everyone had a drink while Jon shot the bride and groom in the back where they brew the beer. Check his new blog at www.jdnphotography.net/blog to see some more photos.

Snowtographs of Snowmegeddon

2010-02-10T17:27:00.003-05:00

If you live in the Philadelphia area, you might understand the title if you've turned on your tv in the past twenty four hours. The local news has been throwing around all kind of puns. I guess everyone is getting a little tired of the snow. I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood here in Wayne and shoot a few photos. It was snowing sideways, so the lens got a little wet, but I rigged up a few trash bags and gaffers tape to keep the rest of it dry. I wish I would have done that for myself.

Freeze for a cause

2010-01-20T12:02:00.002-05:00

The Dean Randazzo Cancer Foundation used one of my photos on their website to promote the "Freeze for a Cause" event. Dean's been considered the godfather to NJ surfing and I've been fortunate enough to know him for a while now. While I've always been amazed at his surfing ability, he's been very generous in setting up a charity for cancer patients. Make sure to check it out: http://www.deanrandazzocancerfoundation.org/latest/freeze-for-a-cause

Winter Hawk

2009-12-21T10:49:00.005-05:00

I was working in my office last weekend, when I noticed this guy sitting outside. He didn't seem to mind me checking him out and didn't even fly away when I took the screen out of the window to take a few photos.

Retro: Hawaii

2009-12-10T16:26:00.005-05:00

20ft Waimea shot from the Kam Highway

Late afternoon Pipeline lineup

Mark Healey - Piepline

The past few days have been a pretty cool time to be a surf fan. The Eddie Aikau Contest ran in Hawaii and the Pipeline Masters are going off now. The Eddie only runs when the surf is 20-25 ft at Waimea Bay on Oahu's North Shore. The Pipe Masters happens every year, but they're getting pretty good surf and you can watch it live online now. All this has made me nostalgic of my time in Hawaii so I dug up a few photos of big Waimea Bay and Pipeline and posted 'em since I didn't have the blog up and running back then.

Billboard Time

2009-11-24T21:18:00.005-05:00

Ron Jon Surf Shop used one of my photos on a billboard on Rt. 528 in between Orlando and Cocoa Beach, Florida. According to my friend Justin who lived in Florida, there are two pieces. The other half is actually in line with that piece, but you can only see it as your drive west down the highway. It's lined up from a far then as you get closer the pieces drift apart. So if you're down that way keep your eyes peeled for it.

November Nor'easter

2009-11-16T10:15:00.004-05:00

We've been having some really crap weather. It has rained for most of all this week. But this storm generated some really large surf. It took out a lot of beach and destroyed a ton of property up and down the entire east coast. When it finally cleaned up enough to surf, it still had plenty of size. I was lucky enough to get a few myself before shooting a few photos.

Zack Humphreys

Zack going for it, but not quite working out

There's not much beach left in Harvey Cedars.

Randy Townsend on one of the bigger waves of the day.

The 70° temperature brought out everyone and their uncles to see the surf and the beach.

Surf in Fall

2009-10-26T14:03:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was one of those days that reminds me of why I love fall so much. Three surf sessions, fishing, sunburn and that tired feeling from being outside all day.

Millville Fall Regatta

2009-10-12T14:42:00.008-04:00

This weekend I was able to make it down to Millville to take in a boat race at Laurel Lake. The fall Millville regatta was my first race way back when (and apparently my grandfather's too). There weren't too many boats racing this year, but it was still great to see everyone there. It is always a little sad to go to the last race of the year because it signifies that winter is coming....ugghhh

Philllies Post Season

2009-10-12T14:34:00.003-04:00

I won the lottery...for standing room only tickets for the first Phillies playoff game against the Colorado Rockies. It was a beautiful day, albeit a little windy. Cliff Lee threw a complete game and only gave up one run. Bethany and I missed a few of the runs because I wanted to go up behind home plate to make the photo below. Big thanks to Jimmy for getting me down into the camera well to be able to make a few photos of the field without people in front of me.

Christian & Lindsay

2009-10-05T16:00:00.005-04:00

This past Friday was Christian and Lindsay's wedding. I've known both of them for a long time as we all grew up in the same town. And Christian and I play on the same men's league hockey team. We had great weather for the outside wedding and I'm pretty sure everyone there had an excellent time. The Bradford Estate was a great place for the wedding and reception.

ESM / Grudge Match

2009-10-05T15:57:00.004-04:00

Eastern Surf Magazine used a shot of mine of Pat Emery for their Garden State Grudge Match preview. It is the best surf contest in Jersey and a lot of fun to watch as there is almost always waves. Check out the rest of the preview at www.easternsurf.com

Keith & Mary

2009-10-05T14:47:00.004-04:00

This weekend my good friend Keith got married to his girlfriend of 8 years. They have a great group of friends most of whom know each other. It was a great time and everyone had a ton of fun. Keith sent me a text at 11 that day and asked if I would mind shooting a few photos during the reception. I thought this was in addition to the regular photographer. It turns out I was going to be taking over for the other photographer – another friend of Keith's. I had a lot of fun doing it and was stoked to be able to help out.

Chanticleer Gardens

2009-10-05T09:56:00.005-04:00

This weekend I walked around the Chanticleer gardens with Bethany and her parents. Chanticleer is only a mile or so from our new house, and looks like a great place to spend a nice sunny day relaxing.

NASCAR at Dover

2009-09-28T14:54:00.006-04:00

My little sister loves Jeff Gordon, so I always try to get a good stock shot of him for her. He was competitive in the race but never really had a chance to catch Jimmy Johnson.

Jimmy Johnson leads Chase points leader Mark Martin through the third turn.

Unfortunately Brian Vickers had a rough day and never had a chance to get near the lead. He finished 18th.

KR, Brian and Rob pose for a photo on the starting grid. We had a chance to talk with him about surfing and he said he'd longboarded a few times while on a trip to Costa Rica.

This year I was invited to come down to the NASCAR race at Dover to hang out with the Red Bull race team. It was a completely different experience than last year. I didn't have any assignments other than to shoot photos of Rob Kelly and Kevin Richards with Red Bull's driver Brian Vickers. Kevin won a bar tending contest Red Bull put on and the prize was a VIP day at a NASCAR race. I've been friends with them both for a while, so it was a lot of fun.

Belmar Pro

2009-09-08T14:14:00.003-04:00

The Belmar Pro Surf Contest used one of my photos on their homepage and athlete profiles. The event goes down this weekend in Belmar, NJ..

AMA Superbike Racing

2009-09-08T13:16:00.006-04:00

Red Bull rider JD Beach leans through the first turn during his moto on Sunday at the NJ Motorsports park.

Red Bull rider Aaron Colton races down the front straightway during Sunday's moto.

Red Bull rider Josh Herrin (#8) sat in third place before moving up to win the race. He was able to keep Bobby Fong (#51) behind him and took the overall win this weekend.

Red Bull rider Aaron Colton performs a freestyle demo Sunday.

They even got the girls involved.

This weekend I spent most of my weekend down in Millville, NJ at the NJ Motorsports Park shooting the AMA Superbike races and stunting demos. The track is out in the middle of nowhere, but looked like a world class facility. It's only in it's second year, but is already attracting a ton of people. I was there for Red Bull to shoot Aaron Colton, a stunt rider who performed a few demos during the weekend. He also raced, but crashed before I had a chance to get a few good photos. Oh well.
I also shot Red Bull's other riders, Josh Herrin and JD Beach. Josh won his moto on Sunday and took the overall win for the weekend. It's really impressive to watch these guys ride and would say to go check out this type of racing or any event at the new park in Millville if you have the opportunity.

Thanks Bill

2009-08-24T13:46:00.003-04:00

Rob Kelly taking advantage of the green water, doable light and fun surf..

Rob dropped in here ahead then pulled out just in time to let his friend get this turn off.

Matt Keenan still surfing good...

Things came together for a short time on Sunday morning. Good surf, light (for the morning on the east coast anyway), tide and wind. I met with Matt and Rob at 8th St. in Ocean City and shot for a few hours. The surf was smaller than I had expected, but looked very fun. We left OC after getting a ton of good shots and headed to LBI to surf up there and meet and surf with Randy. Unfortunately the wind had switched and tide went out taking the surf with it. Oh well, until next one....

Woohoo!!

2009-08-18T10:43:00.003-04:00

So far the tropical hurricane (read: surfing) season has been a little slow. Hurricane Bill looks to deliver the goods this weekend. It's been a while since a surf forecast this promising and on the weekend too. It's only Tuesday morning, but things are looking good for the weekend and possibly early next week. While I'm trying not to get my hopes too high, it's tough not to watch the weather channel every minute. Hopefully surf photos to follow...

Drinkmasters

2009-07-24T09:55:00.005-04:00

I shot the Red Bull Drinkmasters competition at Maynards in Margate last night. It was really a fund raiser for a new surf movie Dark Fall. It was good to see a lot of old friends and spend a summer night in Margate.

Check out the trailer for Dark Fall:

GSS Profile

2009-07-22T16:48:00.004-04:00

The magazine I publish on the side is featured on nj.com's blog.
http://www.nj.com/shore/blogs/surfing/index.ssf/2009/07/new_jerseys_garden_state_surf.html

Indo goods

2009-07-06T16:10:00.004-04:00

After being back for a few months now, some of the photos from the trip are starting to get used. Here's a few so far:

My buddy Jon Coen used a few photos from our trip in his blog on ESPN.com.
http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/blog?post=4199560

And Brendan Petticrew wrote up a little something and sent it to filmer Jerry Riccardo and they posted something about it too. http://superspectacularadventures.com/?p=88300787

Joe and Jaclyn

2009-06-16T11:54:00.004-04:00

More engagement portraits with Joe and Jaclyn. We ended up at Stockton College where they met and Joe proposed to Jaclyn. They had a pretty good idea of what and where they wanted to go to do their session.It was a lot of fun..

Jonas and Katie

2009-06-16T11:34:00.003-04:00

The limo driver got a little lost trying to find the location for the formal group shots, but it was worth it because the photos look great and I think everyone had a pretty good sense of humor about it.

Jonas and Katie at the gazebo near on the lake.

And leaving the church..

And then they danced till they dropped later that night...

This past Friday I shot Jonas and Katie's wedding in Toms River, NJ. The rain held off and I think everyone had a fun time.

TD Bank Philadelphia Cycling Championships

2009-06-08T11:55:00.004-04:00

Riders make their way up the Manayunk Wall

After a watching a lap of both men's and women's rider make their way up the wall, we walked over to where they start to come down and around this corner.

Riders would cut the corner so close to the curb my camera lens almost hit them

This year marked the 25th running of the Philadelphia International Championship. Sponsored by TD Bank and presented by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the 156-mile classic remains the longest running and most important single-day cycling road race in the United States. Bethany and I walked around the course and I shot a few photos before my camera ran out of batteries - whoops..

Courtney and Dan

2009-06-08T11:47:00.004-04:00

I worked as a second shooter this weekend for my friend Jon Nimerfroh. Working as a second is great because there is no pressure to get any of the "must have" shots, and allowed me to shoot a lot of really cool details. The wedding took place at the Lake House near Quakertown, PA. Make sure to check out Jon's site at www.jdnphotography.net

Katie and Jonas Engagment portraits

2009-06-08T11:43:00.006-04:00

I got to meet Katie and Jonas last weekend to shoot their engagement portraits. Their wedding is in just a few short days so it's a good thing we were able to squeeze this in!

Day 10

2009-05-26T10:19:00.005-04:00

Getting caught inside at Greenbush didn't really look like fun..

Andrew on a good one

Who's up?

Our skipper @ Maccas

Eagles purch in the tree at Maccas.

Keith after surfing for six hours was still catching waves

and then had to paddle back to his boat

Andrew and the Freedom III

Maccs sunset

By this time, our trip was winding down. Everyone felt like they had had their fill but we were all still anxious to surf. Our first stop was Greenbush - a glorified close out that occasionally stays open. It too has just recently been "found" and surfed. Luckily for me and every other photographer that goes there, it breaks perpendicular to the shore line. It creates a background full of palm trees and tropical jungle. All the boys got a few good ones and even got caught by a few. Everyone escaped from 'em though and after an hour or so we headed back to the boat. The local villagers aren't nearly as familiar with surfers yet as many of the other villages and haven't quite figured out the best way to make money from the boats that pull up to their islands. These guys filled out an order form and presented it to Carrick. They were asking for just about everything on the boat. He anchored the boat a mile or so from the island but that didn't stop these guys from paddling their canoes out to see to try to score. He was pretty nice about it for a while, but eventually told them to "piss off mates". He did explain to us that they do it for themselves. If there was a chief or church group he'd give them certain supplies that would help the village, but these guys are just being greedy and don't share with the rest of the village.
We headed back to Maccas for an afternoon session and pulled up to see just the Freedom III again. Everyone surfed themselves stupid as the surf there had come up since the day or two before that we were there. There's not too many photos from today because I was in the water most of the day. Everyone got a ton of waves and we all enjoyed a few Bintangs that night and watched the sun go down and empty waves go past.

Day 09

2009-05-22T09:31:00.005-04:00

One of about 15 waves like this that Harley scored that morning

Randy had just as many, but the wave looked way easier to surf frontside.

I think I can still hear John talking about this wave - and calling it a c--t.

Goofing off

Brendan @ the right

Notice the perfect shape, then the reef starting to stick up on the outside part of his board

A better look at the dry reef..

Day 9 was a pretty mellow one for me. I was surfed out from the sessions at Maccas, and it worked out to be a good day to shoot photos. The swell was still pretty small but was expected to come up. We anchored near a beachbreak and right reefbreak. Carrick said he'd normally anchor much closer to the right, but the local people paddle out to the boat in their canoes and demand money or food for surfing their wave. Randy and myself hung back while the rest of the crew went to check the right. They soon headed back over to the beachie (as the Aussies like to say) and all jumped out of the boat. Carrick told me and Randy to go check the right again so as soon as Bear got back to the Navi with the speedboat we were off. Harley joined us and in a few minutes we were watching 4-6ft waves peel perfectly across the tip of the small island. They were quickly filling up my camera's memory with images of perfect rights. Again, Bear drove the boat right next to the wave, but this spot was much more mellow as the waves here broke in exactly the same spot every time. And again the water was so crystal clear I think the reef can be seen through the back of the wave in many of the photos. After blazing in the hot sun for an hour or so, Bear had to go back and check on the rest of the guys at the beachie. They quickly realized they had made a mistake when they saw the first few sets come through. Unfortunatley Frank wasn't feeling too hot and went back onboard but the rest of the crew scored. Even the old man John got pushed into a few good ones by his son and our crew.
Later that afternoon, Carrick grabbed Brendan and myself and headed off in the speedie. He told us there was a wave not too far that was a kind of novelty wave. It broke around the inside of point but the swell probably wasn't big enough to surf it. We sat and waited for a few minutes and sure enough four or five waves peeled right past us. They were damn near perfect, but broke right on top of the reef. Carrick and I had written it off and just thought it was pretty cool to see, but I could see Brendan thinking about it. By the time we got back to the Navi, he had convinced himself to do it. Andrew and Randy hopped aboard and I got my camera. Once we got back he hopped right in and we all wished him well. One slip would have landed him on dry rock reef. He managed a few barrels and even a turn or two.

Day 8

2009-05-21T10:55:00.004-04:00

Brendan would sit and wait to catch the best waves he could. It usually worked out pretty good for him.

Dry reef at Maccas.

Another sunset

Bear the boat driver

Everyone was excited to get to Macaronis (Aussies call it Maccas). When we pulled up there were already three boats there. Two new ones and the damn Freedom III that had been following us the whole trip. We quickly headed out and everyone scored a few good ones before breakfast. The wave is the end section of a long piece of reef, so you can usually see your wave breaking farther up the reef before it gets to you. This works out because like most of the waves in the Mentawais, Maccas is a pointbreak and there is a gentleman's rule in place which means you wait your turn, then you get to pick whatever wave you want. It was really hard to decided which wave to go on that first day because it wasn't really that consistent so by the time it was my turn, I was ready to go on the first wave that looked good enough. There would usually be better one not too far behind it but I didn't care. It was a little onshore which gave the waves a little texture. The wave itself will let you do whatever you want to do to it. Even I was able to get a ton of turns in and make every section. By the time the wave is over it's really shallow and magnified by the super clear water. I never hit the bottom or reef even though I thought I would a few times. We surfed three times that day and at one point it was only myself, Nick and an older guy named Keith. Keith was retired and spent his days sailing on a 26' sailboat. He said Maccas was his favorite wave in the world, so he comes and docks his boat in the cove nearby. He lives on rice, curry and cereal and surfs every day. He told us he's traveled the world over and we even started talking about the Chesepeke Bay and crabs once he found out Brendan and Andrew live there. He told us he'd been there before and got hooked on Old Bay seasoning.
By the end of the day I was exhausted. The boat was anchored about 150yards from the take off spot, so if Bear or Jeb weren't doing anything we'd ask them to take us over, otherwise we'd paddle. The wave is nearly 100 yards long so you'd have to paddle back out once you rode in too. After ten or so waves that got to be tiring, but addicting. I think we all had a few Bintangs watched the sunset and passed out. We'd be heading in to a port that night to refuel and get water (we ran out of fresh water for showers earlier in the day).

Day 07

2009-05-20T10:21:00.004-04:00

Randy was usually the first one out to surf. Mid afternoon at Lance's.

Bear took our cook Harley out in the speedboat to shoot a few photos and I took their photo.

I definitely didn't want to get washed over that reef.

Just another sunset in the Mentawais

I don't know what to say about day seven other than it was another day in paradise. We set up for the day at Lance's Left - an awesome lefthander that broke across a shallow reef. There was only one other boat there when we pulled up, but they left shortly after to go over and surf Lance's Right. The swell was starting to fill back in, and we had consistent shoulder to head high waves with a few larger ones during the course of the day. The guys surfing backside were freaking out a little because they would watch the wave suck the water off the reef right in front of them. It didn't bother me much cause I made all my waves. I actually thought it was pretty cool. Nice easy take off, get a turn or two off, then the inside would pop up in front of you and you could ride it for a while farther. The only thing that distracted me was the water was so damn clear I could see fish swimming around in front of me while I was surfing.
After lunch I set up my 600mm lens from the boat. The entire time so far I had shot from the speedboat and thought it might be easier to shoot from the Navi. It wasn't rocking too bad and I thought I might be able to get a few good shots with a reasonably straight horizon. I did get a few and it was relaxing having everything available to me - even people to go get me drinks or food and especially shade. I will admit, I was really freaking excited that night when I heard we were going to surf Macaronis tomorrow. It is definitely the best wave in the island chain which could make it the best in the world (for me anyway?).

Day 06

2009-05-19T09:42:00.007-04:00

The beach near on Aloita resort - not a bad view.

Try not enjoying yourself here

Bait fish under the dock

Aloita Resort from the water

Calm conditions on the Indian Ocean

The beak of the lizard fish

Our captain with his catch

Andrew and Nick enjoying a sunset and a Bintang on the Navi

Day, meet night. Night, this is day.

When Day 6 broke, we were still steaming down to a surf spot called Icelands. It's supposed to be a good wave, however there wasn't much swell out there so it wasn't really doing it's thing. It was still WAY better than the surf at home that day, but we were all kind of sunburnt and had a lot of really good surf the past few days most of us didn't surf that morning. Carrick needed to go to a nearby island resort that caters to divers to fill one of his scuba tanks. While we were steaming that night we hit a giant log that put a little scare into everyone. Luckily everything was okay after they removed that part that wedged itself into the bow of the boat. The island was about a half hour by speedboat and we set the fishing lines out to troll for fish on our way there, but didn't have any luck. As we neared the island it was easy to see why they picked this area for diving. The water was so clear you could see the bottom (which you could everywhere else we went, but it was ridicilous here). We tied up at their dock and watched the schools of baitfish being chased under the dock by black trevalle and skip jacks. The water was so damn clear you could see the fish hunting other fish.
When we finally went into the resort, it was breathtaking. Sand paths seperated beautiful wooden bungalows that were right on the water. Palm trees lined the paths, beach and provided much needed shade from the already hot sun. Randy, John and I walked around while the tanks were being filled and talked with some of the guests and took a few photos. John and Randy were having a little trouble adapting to being back on land, but it didn't really seem to bother me. John told us he thought the steps at the resort were going up and down like they do when the boat is rocking.
After we left the resort, we set the lines back out and trolled around a few small islands that looked like they came straight up from the bottom of the ocean. We were about half way around the island when we hooked up with what seemed like a big fish. As it got closer, it was evident that it wasn't that big or powerful but a lizard fish. By the time it was close to the boat, it wasn't even putting up a fight and let Carrick reel it in on it's back. They are an ugly looking fish - kind of like a barracuda but without the teeth. It has a real long beak that hooked both hooks on the lure. By the time Carrick got it free, it was almost gone. We dumped it back and it kinda sunk to the bottom and was probably eaten by something else before it got to the bottom. We didn't have much luck with catching any other fish on the trip back to the boat.
After lunch Brendan and I went snorkeling on a reef near the boat. Jeb took us over in the speedboat and dropped us in the channel and told us the current would take us back to the boat. The reef was mostly dead, but there was an occasional flowering of live reef and colorful fish. It was only 3 or 4 feet deep for a while, then it started to drop off - quickly. We were still a way from the boat and again I started to feel like shark bait. I wished Brendan luck and we double timed it back to the boat.
Later that afternoon we pulled anchor and headed down toward a spot called Lance's left. Back in the late 60's Lance came across this wave while sailing around the islands and liked it so much he decided to make a home for himself there. When other people starting coming there they thought they were the first ones to surf it, until this guy came out of the jungle. I couldn't even image. Anyway, we surfed a nearby left reef break wave called Monkey Jumps. ( I know another weird one - there was no explanation for that one) It picks up more swell and is near the calm anchorage. Frank and Randy surfed while the rest of us watched from the speedboat.
When we got back to the boat we had spectacular sunset and we couldn't even see the sun go under the horizon. The clouds near the horizon made patterns in the sky where night meets day. I guess it's supposed to be like that everywhere, but with light and air pollution it doesn't happen.

Day 05

2009-05-18T09:44:00.005-04:00

Burgerworld suited Brendan style of surfing pretty good. It also makes for some really cool backdrops when shooting from the boat.

Randy (still probably feeling the effects of last night) on the wave of the day in the morning session.

Carrick cleaning the Skip Jacks I caught

These two birds were singing the whole time I shot photos from the beach at Burgers.

Our deckhand, Bear, ripping.

This was the where I was shoot most of the photos that day.

Frank the Tank was surfing great

And Carrick even came out later to surf off the hangover.

Late afternoon light coming through the palms in the village.

As I got up on Day 5, I was thinking it would be similar to yesterday. Surf the slab wave in the morning, Burgers the rest of the day. Since Bear was still on his island and Carrick was hung over from a night out (more on that later...) we asked Jeb to drive us over to Slabatha to have a look. He's not as good as Bear with driving the boat, and didn't feel comfortable getting in nice and close to have a look. It was probably just as good the day before, but we couldn't see it. Everyone opted for a surf at Burgers including myself.
I had surfed the night before with Nick, Frank and John while Randy, Carrick and a captain of another nearby boat went fishing. We all had a great session surfing but started to worry a bit about how we were going to get back to the boat as it was starting to get dark. Nick and I were the last ones left in the lineup and it was near dark. I think we (or at least I was) starting to feel like shark bait. But the boat came over to get us right at dusk. It turns out they were a little late because they were busy reeling in a 75lb GT. It was a giant fish that laid in the bottom of the boat. I think everyone had the same reaction the first time they saw it - "oh shit!"
Randy and Carrick went over for a few drinks with the other boat captain and had a few drinks, and kept drinking with our crew when they got back aboard the Navi. Brendan, Harley and Andrew didn't need much convincing to stay up with them. I had already gone to bed but I heard they were a bit roudy. Andrew boxed the captain (at his request) and Harley went wakesurfing behind the back of the speedboat (keep in mind there was no moon and no light).
The next day Burgers was really doing it's thing. The waves came in and wrapped around the point and hugged the reef. The waves were a little steeper that day and I ate it pretty good on the first one I took off on and almost washed over the reef. Luckily for me the wave isn't very powerful and the bottom was soft and I didn't deal with the reef. We surfed for a while then went back to the boat to find our cook and captain still sleeping. Everyone took a little break for lunch then went back out. It was at this point I had the best commute to work I'll ever have. They dropped me off at the sandy beach I checked out the day before. When I got all my gear on land and they started pulling away, I noticed a man walking out of the jungle. I instantly got a little nervous as I wasn't really sure what to expect and I didn't know if I'd be able to get anyone's attention if I needed help. It turns out he had a guitar and was walking down the beach singing. He had to walk right past each other and he turned around and started walking with me and kept singing. After about two minutes of this he turned to me, says "see you later" and walked back into his village.
To get up to the point where I'd be shooting I walked up the beach for a while, but the reef and jungle met up and didn't leave me with much of a path. I wasn't sure if there were snakes and any kind of bugs I should be watching for, so I just charged through and found a great little spot to set up my tripod and camera in the shade. It was the most beautiful place I think I'll ever see. The birds were chiping and singing and the light was great for photos all afternoon. The guys surfed for nearly four hours and we managed a lot of great photos and some video too.
I'm kind of kicking myself for not taking more pictures of the island as I walked up to take photos beacause the sunlight was so bright it made the entire island look like something you only see on postcards - but even better. We pulled anchor that night and steamed south - or north I'm still kind of confused about the directions there.

Day 04 / Exploring

2009-05-15T09:11:00.005-04:00

Our first view of the island...

Brendan, Andrew and Nick with the locals..

Soccer is everywhere, even in the middle of an island 100 miles off the coast of Indonesia

Typical village living

I'm sure most of these people are somewhat familiar with digital technology, but they still liked looking at the pictures we took of them.

All over the beach were weird patterns (that looked like crop circles) formed by crabs or ants..

This guy carved an entire canoe from a tree by hand

During the afternoon, we all went out and had a session at Burgerworlds. I managed a few waves on my new 6'8 that Brian Wynn shaped for me. It worked great out there because there was so much wave face to ride on and the wave itself was pretty powerful for being such a mellow wave. Everyone hopped out after about an hour and headed back to the boat. Carrick told us Bear was going to head home to spend the night with his family who lived on an island nearby.
Everyone loaded up with cameras, sun screen, and hats. We were the definition of surf tourists. After a 10 minute boat ride Bear dropped us off on the beach of his island. He took the boat back out, anchored it in the bay and swam in to meet us. The first thing we noticed (besides how beautiful the island is) is how friendly the people are. As soon as the young kids who were playing in the lagoon saw us they started waving and all came to say hello. Nobody once asked us for a handout, but there were alot of smiles and giggles and we did hear them call us "tourist".
The village has about 3,000 people living in it. There were a few shops where they can buy clothes and supplies for everyday life. The main road is paved with concrete and we did notice the sign that Surf Aid had been there to help out at one point. We were told that everyone had a job to do in the village. We even saw a man carving a canoe from a hardwood tree using only a small stone. He was very kind about all of us standing above him as he was working and obliged for a few photos.
Once we got to Bear's house, they invited us inside. It was vey scarcely decorated - just some of his sisters drawings and a few wooden swords on the wall along with a picture of Jesus (most of that village is Christian). It was really hot walking up the trail to the house, and it felt really good to sit in the shade. Their houses are all custom made from hard woods taken from the jungle. The wood is all planned by hand and some of the houses even had marble tile floors.
We headed back out and noticed there were a lot of sports going on. The local kids have a soccer field set up and we walked past a house where two guys were playing ping pong on a wooden table with paddles they made themselves. Really cool..

Day 04 Surfing

2009-05-13T08:36:00.005-04:00

Brendan is about to pay the price for not riding a bigger board

Nick pulls into the inside section and came out

Randy casually leans into another perfect one at Slabatha

Andrew charging one of the bigger waves of the day

Randy on a near perfect one at Slabatha

Burgerworld looking pretty good from the boat

By Day four we were starting to have things figured out. When we heard the anchor I didn't get right up out of bed cause it usually meant we had at least an hour before we were anchored again and surfing. When we did anchor for the day, Carrick anchored us right near a wave called Burgerworlds. It is called that because it's usually a slopey wave that gets worse the larger the swell. But when the swell is dropping or is in a transition period, Burgerworlds is a fun rippable wave. The photo above is what we awoke to the first morning we were there. It was still a little big for it to break properly, and Randy and Carrick mentioned a slab type wave on the back side of this island. Frank, Nick, Randy, Andrew, myself and Bear all loaded up and drove around to have a look. From afar, it doens't look like there should be a wave in there - or at least one you'd like to ride. But, they've been doing this for a long time and Bear knew right where to go to have a look. He drove the speedboat right up to break in the reef and we all watched in awe as three waves peeled past.
Brendan and Andrew got right on it, paddled right over into the lineup and proceded to start catching waves. Randy was close behind and before long Frank and Nick were out as well. Andrew was going for just about any wave he could catch. He took off on a few bigger ones and was the first one to get caught inside. Bear and I watched closely as he was drug across the inside reef. He eventually made his way back out to the boat to catch his breath and told us it really wasn't as bad as he expected.
After about an hour or so Frank, Randy and Andrew had made their way over to the boat. Nick and Andrew were left out there for us to yell at and harrass if they weren't going on the biggest waves that came through. Nick took off on a medium size one, but stuck with it through the inside and pulled into what looked like a giant tube from the back. (See photo above) Brendan missed the first wave of a set that had started to come through. He was determined to get at least one wave so he paddled over the second and started stroking as hard as he could to get the third wave. It turns out he could have used a little bigger board as he had a hard time making it into the wave and got a pretty good beat down for his effort. (See photo above) He came up smiling...
Everyone had had enough of Slabatha (as Andrew called it) for the day.
We went back to the boat and had a nice breakfast. We sat and watched waves break at Burgers but nobody was very anxious to have a go. I thought it would be a good idea to paddle over to the island from the boat. I figured we'd probably surf Slabatha again the next morning and it might be better if I shot it from the beach because of the light. As soon as I hopped off the boat and got about half way across I started to feel like sharkbait. The water was really deep looking and I was all by myself. I was excited to step my feet into the sand and found a stop where they could drive the boat right up to the beach without hitting the reef. I walked around on the beach a little bit and noticed a few canoes parked in the bushes. I didn't realize people lived on that small island and wasn't sure how they'd receive me so I paddled back.

Day 03

2009-05-12T10:03:00.003-04:00

Andrew @ Bankvaults

Brendan @ Bankvaults

The backdrop at Nipussies would have made for great photos, but the waves were never really that great..

But Andew managed to catch a few...

The captain decided we'd stay up in the Playgrounds region for a few days and sample the waves there. The night before we checked a spot called Bankvaults. It is notorious for big drops and tubes that don't let you out - hence the name. The wind was a little off for there, so Bear drove us around another island to a small reef near a rivermouth. When we pulled up there was a crew of surfers from a nearby land camp on the known wave, but farther down we found another spot to surf. There were two local kids out surfing that quickly got out of the water once we pulled up. I didn't bring a board as I was expecting to shoot photos of Bankvaults so Randy was kind enough to let me use his board while he sat in the boat. The waves at the rivermouth were only about head high with a few waves that were bigger. Andrew, Brendan, Nick and myself traded short little lefts until it got dark. We anchored near the rivermouth break and we awoke to the sound of the chain being pulled up on day three (and every day for that matter).
Brendan, Andrew and our cook Harley got ready right away and charged out at Bankvaults. The wave broke a little farther from the channel than I expected and should have brought the longer lens with me. That morning it was breaking near perfect with a few waves coming in that were nearly double overhead range. Brendan got caught on one and banged his foot against the reef.
Later that day, everyone else decided to surf Nipussies. It too is a right but much more tamer than Bankvaults and only a 1/2 mile up the reef. It provided some great photos because the wave breaks on a corner of the reef where the island sticks out and I was able to get some cool backgrounds in the images. I shot again from the channel, but this time the wave was much closer and Bear drove the boat right up next to the reef. There was even a few times I thought for sure we were going to get hit with a wave, but they would just go right under us without breaking. I quickly learned to trust Bear as my boat driver.
We were pretty surfed out that night and the swell was dropping so Carrick decided to steam over to a spot called Burgerworlds for the night. We'd anchor there and surf it in the morning.

Indonesia Day1/2

2009-05-05T21:53:00.008-04:00

Mountains around Padang

The people in Padang loved to have their picture taken no matter what they were doing.

Randy with our first catch of the trip - a nice little tuna that made for some good sashami later that day

This was the first surf spot we sailed to. Not a bad warm up wave.

So I'm not really sure where I am with this blog thing. The photos above are from the first two days we were in Indonesia. The first day wasn't very much fun. As noted in the previous post, we flew to Padang from KL. It's only about an hour and was a smooth flight. We landed and they were right there to pick us up and take us to a hotel lounge while they prepared the boat for our arrival. It turns out there was a little more maintence that needed to be done and we didn't get on the boat for 12 hours. That gave us plenty of time to walk around the neighborhood to shoot a few photos. We also met the Aussies that would be staying with us and the captain came by at one point to check on us. We passed the rest of the time by trying to access the internet, drinking Bintangs, and getting to know Nick and John.
By the time we finally got the cab to the boat, everyone was tired from traveling and ready to get onboard. Carrick gave us a little speech about the boat once we loaded up. You pee off the deck and are free to have whatever is in the fridge. We steamed out to sea that night and when we all woke up we were still heading out. Randy set the fishing rods out while we were trolling and caught a small tuna that they served as sashami later.
We finally got to our first surf break around noon and everyone was anxious to get in the water. Carrick anchored the boat inbetween a few small islands which both had surf breaks on them. I opted to surf a break called 4 Bobs because there there weren't too many people surfing there compared to the other break that's not really even named.

Malaysia

2009-04-23T01:16:00.004-04:00

Indonesia Hotel Dog

Malaysia street photography

This lady made the sweetest smoothies

And this guy tried to sell us fish that looked like it was four weeks old, but did have some good chicken

We traveled this morning after staying up late last night. The flight from KL left at 7:30 and only took an hour. The captain had the crew pick us up and take us to a hotel lounge to hang out while they're preparing the boat for our arrival. The wave forecasts look great and everyone is really excited.

Padang is really something special. As I'm writing this, we're sitting outside on the patio overlooking the harbor. Indonesia is a mainly Muslim country and it's now noon. They're playing the prayer music really, really loud, but most of the people we approached today have been really genuine gracious people. No more blogging for another 12 days....

Malaysia Day 2

2009-04-21T10:54:00.005-04:00

Our hotel, the Concorde at night...

The Petronas Towers

There's even McDonalds here and they deliver via moped.

Iguana at the top of the Batu Caves stairs.

Statue at the Batu Caves

More status at the caves

They let me hold a giant yellow albino ball python after we walked up 287 stairs to the top of the Batu Caves

Monkeys were everywhere and friendly too..

The main statue at the Batu Caves

High speed moped run that put the NASCAR skills to use.

Pretty tired from a long day walking around the city and seeing the sights, so the commentery is pretty short tonight. I'll try to update sometime again before we leave.

That's all for tonight...

Indonesisa

2009-04-20T05:03:00.002-04:00

The day has finally come! For years a good friend of mine has been asking me to come with him on a surf trip to Indonesia. I agreed a year ago and started saving money the past year. Now the day had finally come for us to get on the plane with Virginia Beach’s Brendan Petticrew and Andrew Meyer as well as a friend of theirs who has been living in costa rica for the past few years. We all made it to the airport on time and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the people at Malaysia treated us. The surfboards flew for free and I walked on board the plane with three pieces of carry on luggage without so much as a sneer from the crew. The first leg of flight left from Newark, NJ and flew for 7.5 hours to Stockholm, Sweeden. Luckily the flight left at 10:30 at night so it was pretty easy to fall asleep most of that trip. There was a crazy Sweedish woman who sat beside me. I was the only obstacle for her between the window and the aisle. When I boarded the plane I kindly explained to her I would move if she needed to get up, but sometime around 4:30 in the morning I found her straddled over top of me trying to get to the bathroom. After that minor fiasco we landed and had to go through a minor customs gate where they inspected our carry on luggage and then sent us back to the terminal so we could get back on the same plane. We did get to see about 100 yards of the airport and it looked exactly like the Ikea store in South Philadelphia – complete with Sweedish meatballs. By this time it was about noon in Sweeden, sometime in the middle of night still for us on East Coast time. We then boarded the plane again, and I fell right to sleep and missed lunch. This flight lasts about 11.5 hours and took us to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was lucky enough to be in and out of sleep for most of the trip and it didn’t really seem THAT long. It kinda messes with your clock though because we saw the sun go down on the way to the airport. Then three hours after we took off the sun was rising. Then about three hours after we took off from Sweden it went down again only to rise again as we were approaching Kuala Lumpur.

Once we landed we were greeted by tons of really helpful people who all spoke English. Randy got the cabs lined up and we were off to the Concorde Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, but the airport is about an hour away from the major city area. My first thought was it reminded me of Las Vegas crossed with New York City crossed with Honolulu except there is no trash anywhere, ever. We made it to our hotel which is right across from the Petronas Towers (see photo below) and right in the heart of what I can image being Malaysia’s version of Manhattan – except it’s way cheaper! We went out to get lunch at a few local vendors behind the hotel and scored a chicken platter with rice and veggies and a smoothie for under $3. Not bad so far. The rest of the day has been hanging out by the pool trying to get acclimated to the time difference. I think tomorrow may be a photo mission day – I’m going to try to see as much of KL (as the call it here) as I can. Maybe climb the Petronas towers and walk around this crazy but beautiful city. More photos to follow!

This is the view looking out of our 8th story hotel room..

PA State High School Ice Hockey Championships

2009-03-30T11:21:00.005-04:00

It's a shame this is one of the feature photos here because this kid played great and kept Council Rock in the game

'gotta support the team

This was the final weekend for high school hockey. The winners from last weeks games at the Flyers Cup (see below) and the Penguins Cup (played in Pittsburgh) played at Ice Line in West Chester. This was a weekend of good goalie shots for me. It seems a lot easier to shoot them when you're in the stands or in the press box as opposed to being on the ice like we normally shoot. The A game, West Chester Rustin vs. Mars was pretty unexciting except that the arena was filled with Rustin's fans. Rustin blew them out and the game was pretty much over by the end of the first period. The AA game featured a team from Latrobe who have gone 40-0 this season. They were actually down going into the third period, but scored two unanswered goals in the third to take the title. As expected LaSalle beat the team from Shaler to win the AAA division.

Flyers Cup Finals

2009-03-24T10:17:00.006-04:00

This was probably my last time in the Spectrum, so it was only fitting to give it a farewell photo..

#88 scored the winning goal for West Chester Rustin by making a diving play

All eight teams attracted a pretty good crowd. Some were more into it than other as seen demonstrated above by the fans of North Penn High School.

Again, North Penn's fans supporting the team.

Tough to beat a good stick bending slap shot photo.

LaSalle's #18 scores the go-ahead goal during the second period.

LaSalle celebrates by showing off the Flyers Cup to their fans.

This past Saturday was the championships for all the teams playing in the Flyers Cup. There were a few different games; Girls Varsity, Varsity A, Varsity AA, and the final Varsity AAA game. I shot most of the action from in front of the press box at center ice and moved down for a period or two to shoot through the port holes in the glass in the corners (which weren't very big and didn't allow for too many great photos, but a cool angle).

Flyers Cup

2009-03-17T14:48:00.003-04:00

The Flyers Cup is a high school hockey tournament for the area teams. The finals are played at the Spectrum which will probably be one of the last events played there. These photos are of the Varsity AA Quarterfinals Downingtown vs. Council Rock South. CR South won 3-2 in an exciting game. I shot from above the glass which isn't very high between the benches and corners. It's a great vantage point, however you need to be careful when the defensemen clear the puck off the glass. There were a couple of close misses last night.

Red Bull Buttercup

2009-02-18T08:54:00.004-05:00

The Red Bull Butter Cup was a mello little event at Big Boulder this past weekend. I just went out to hang out and ride, but ripped off a few photos anyway.

Snowy February

2009-02-04T09:15:00.004-05:00

Nicholas and Barbara

2009-01-20T13:25:00.005-05:00

For someone who isn't really a wedding photographer, I've been shooting a lot of weddings in the past year. The first one this year was only three days into the new year. I helped shoot Tony and Barbara's wedding with my friend Jon who went to school with Tony. Check out the rest of the photos on Jon's website - www.jdnphotography.net

Tabby Cats

2009-01-02T10:39:00.004-05:00

Strutting Down Broad

2009-01-01T10:30:00.001-05:00

If you don't live in Philadelphia or its burbs, you can't really appreciate the mummers. They spend all year preparing costumes, sets and plans to participate in a parade down Broad St on New Years Day. This year it was freezing cold and was a little shorter than years past, but that didn't stop tons of people from coming out, getting drunk and watching the parade.

Earthquakes and Amish in Lancaster

2008-12-29T09:58:00.004-05:00

I went home with Bethany to Lancaster after the Christmas holiday. Shortly after we got there a 3.3 earthquake shook the house. I was more surprised how loud it was more so than the rumble. We did drive around and see some real Amish farms and covered bridges and did manage to take a few photos of the foggy landscape.

Christian & Lindsay Engagement photos

2008-12-13T10:15:00.001-05:00

I did a few engagement portraits for Christian and Lindsay this past weekend. We lucked out and got a reasonably nice day to shoot their photos on the bay in Absecon.

High School Ice Hockey

2008-11-27T12:43:00.007-05:00

I shot a few ice hockey games for Rustin High School in West Chester this past friday. It was a lot of fun watching the Varsity games and I ended up with a bunch of good shots too.

Snowboarding...in November?

2008-11-22T09:11:00.001-05:00

I've been getting pretty excited about snowboarding this year cause it's been cold early in the season. I usually don't get my first day on the snow until after Christmas, but this year Big Boulder started making snow November 17th and opened on the 20th. I went up with Keith on Saturday and got a few runs in. They were blowing snow all day, and it was a little cold but still a lot of fun.

Longboarding in Ocean City

2008-11-17T10:04:00.004-05:00

I shot a few photos of Jamie Kelly for his feature in the next issue of Garden State Surf on Sunday. The surf was really fun for longboarding – long mello rights were coming in off the jetty at Waverely that connected all the way to the inside. The wind was straight offshore and it made for some long rides under bright sunny skies.

Are you ready for some football?

2008-11-08T09:43:00.001-05:00

I had a fun day of shooting pee wee football this past Saturday. It rained most of the two games, but made for some interesting photos. At least the kids should like them since most of 'em were covered in mud.