alpharon's posterous

I managed to process a couple more photos from the 2011 Volcom Pipeline Pro.  All the photos I'm posting from the event are from the final day of competition.  I really like how these shots turned out.  Not much processing was done to them at all.  The biggest thing I had to do with them was some cropping to get the framing of the photo just the way I wanted it.  All the shots were taken using the center point expansion on my Canon 7D, so I tried to frame them in post with the surfer off center to show movement.  I do that with a lot of the surf shots I take, so I hope they don't start to look repetitive.  I've still got a lot more photos from the event, but I've had too many distractions keeping me from editing them.

I've also had a lot of suggestions about getting these images published in a magazine or sold to industry professionals.  Unfortunately, the media business is all about speed and I was unable to get these pictures processed and uploaded in time to beat out any of the professionals.  Also, a lot of publications and websites already send out their own photographers to these events, so most outlets already have the photos they need.  For now, they'll simply remain a part of my collection until someone decides they'd like to purchase them.

Enjoy the photos.  I may post more from the event in the future.  I will also be posting an update to Project 365 and maybe some gear reviews coming soon (!!!), so keep checking back for that!

The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii has been a mecca for surfers worlwide.  It was a privelege to be able to visit this 7 Mile Miracle during one of the biggest swells of the year.  The swell brought Eddie sized waves to the North Shore.  Unfortunately, there weren't enough big waves to run The Eddie, but there were plenty of big waves for all kinds of shenanigans. 

There was a lot of surfing going on and the swell just happened to fall into the the timeframe for running the 2011 Volcom Pipeline Pro.  My family's vacation to Hawaii coincided with this event and we decided to check out the last day of competition during our visit to the island.  It was flawless Pipeline with both Backdoor & Pipe barrelling perfectly.  This was my first time at a surf competition with waves as good as they'll ever be at Pipeline.  The surfing was near flawless as each competitor got barrel after barrel.  These guys really made it look easy out there.  The winner of the event was 18-year-old John John Florence from the North Shore.  He lives only a few houses down from where the competition was held and is considered a seasoned veteran on these waves.

I shot all these photos with a Canon EOS 7D and Canon EF 400mm ƒ/5.6L USM lens mounted on a Manfrotto monopod with tilt head.  This setup was very portable and worked really well.  I was able to get A LOT of great shots, but I'm only picking out a few to share on this blog.  You can view the rest of the shots from my Flickr set as I finish editing and uploading them.

Enjoy the photos and please let me know what you think by leaving a comment!

Aamion Goodwin was getting some of the best tube rides of the whole contest.  I loved his style and ease of getting in and out of the wave.

Aamion Goodwin performing a rare cutback after exiting a barrel. 

Makuakai Rothman falling from the sky.

Corey Lopez scooping some water to slow for the barrel.

John John Florence screaming in for the ride.

Bruce Irons entering nirvana.

John John Florence, Chris Ward, Aamion Goodwin & Jamie O'Brienshowing some great sportsmanship at the end of the competition.

John John Florence hoisted up the shoulders of friends to claim his win.

Aloha!  I'm back from Hawaii with a little tan and a lot of pictures to sort through!  Fortunately, I've already selected and uploaded my daily photos for Project 365 on my Flickr and I can share them all with you here! 

[020/365] :: Waikiki Lights.  Our first night in Hawaii and I desperately needed a shot for the day.  The flight got in later in the day and we spent a lot of time getting checked in and situated with everything.  I didn't remember about having to take a shot until the end of the day.  Luckily, we had a great view of Waikiki from out balcony, so I set up the tripod and shot a few long exposures of the city.  This one came out pretty good with nice colors and contrast.  The light trails from the passing cars was an added bonus to the shot.  I really like how the street lights turn into bright shining stars for long exposure shots.  This was my first real try at this type of shot, so I'm happy I was able to get a good result out of it.

[021/365] :: Broken Board.  We made our way to Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu to check out the huge waves that arrived the day before.  Everyone had anticipated the running of the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational to run with the previous day's monster swell, but the waves weren't consistent enough to run the event.  The waves were still huge and there were plenty of guys out there paddling into some crazy drops.  Stay tuned to this blog for a separate post of all the surfing shots I took in Hawaii.  I got really lucky with this particular shot.  This shot is straight out of camera with no extra editing done to the image.  I noticed the surfer peddling by on his bike, but didn't notice the broken board until he had passed me by.  I quickly turned my camera to shoot him as he peddled away.  I really like how the shot is framed by the green foliage along each side of the subject. 

[022/365] :: High Five.  Our hotel room in Hawaii had a cool parchment screen between the bathroom and sleeping area.  It created a nice backlit shadow effect for people inside the bathroom standing close to the screen.  I had my wife place her hand on the screen with the backlight on in the bathroom.  The light wasn't completely covered up, so it created a bright spot in the photo, but I was still able to get the effect I was looking for in the shot.

[023/365] :: Vanishing Horizon.  The sun happened to be setting as we were walking along Waikiki beach, so we decided to post up and take some pictures.  I had to shoot this with the huge sky and very low horizon line to eliminate a lot of the tourists that were standing in the foreground.  I like how it turned out as it really draws your attention to the sunset without too many silhouettes distracting from the subject.  One thing that I do find distracting is the watermark I have placed just below the horizon line.  I'll have to remember to move that watermark or get rid of it altogether for these type of shots.

[024/365] :: Hanauma Bay.  This is a shot of the famous snorkeling location just past the entrance to the bay.  The vivid blue water and the green foliage really add a lot of color to the image.  I'm not really a huge fan of snorkeling here because a lot of the coral reef has been trampled on by tourists making for a mostly dull time in the water.  My friend Brian and I decided to make it a little interesting by swimming out just past the shallow reef safe zone and into the deeper waters of the bay.  It was a pretty sketchy experience as we were getting tossed around by waves close to some hard coral formations.  We were able to find some larger schools of fish not normally seen in the calmer waters.  There was also a healthy population of corals that were untouched by tourists in this portion of the bay.  It's definitely worth a swim out there if you feel confident swimming in the open ocean.  Just make sure you use the buddy system and watch your backs for large shadows coming towards you in the water.

[025/365] :: Turtles Attack.  Our group decided to check out a Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the North Shore.  It was our first time at the center and we had a good time checking out some shows and learning about the South Pacific Islands and their people.  This shot was taken at the gift shop while we were waiting for their finale show to start.  My son was playing with a couple stuffed turtles next to a display.  I rolled him over closer to the display and dumped a bunch of the stuffed toys on top of him and snapped this shot before he got overwhelmed.  We all had a pretty good time at the PCC and I would recommend it to people wanting to learn a thing or two about Polynesian Culture.  The new finale show they have is called 'Ha - The Breath of Life'.  We all were impressed by the performances and left well fed and well entertained.

[026/365] :: Pineapple.  This is a shot of a pineapple growing in the garden of the Dole Plantation near the North Shore.  I'm not sure what variety pineapple this is (I should have taken a shot of the label), but I like how it almost gets lost in the leaves surrounding it.  It's probably fully mature and ready to be eaten on the spot.  I learned that you could plant your own pineapples by taking the crown and placing it in a jar of water, not unlike planting a potato in a jar.  I'll have to try it the next time I have a pineapple around.

[027/365] :: Wipeout.  Day 27 was the last day of the Volcom Pipeline Pro competition at the Banzai Pipeline in the North Shore.  This is one of the scariest places in the world to surf.  Period.  We started the day with a big breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe and desserts from Ted's Bakery.  Then we drove on over to Ehukai Beach Park to check out the contest.  It was sick.  Pro surfers really know how to negotiate that wave and get themselves into the perfect position for a nice barrel ride.  The poor guy that fell off his board in this shot was a free surfer that was surfing at Off The Wall, just a few meters south of Pipeline.  I have other shots of him before he hit the water, but I decided to post the one not showing his face to save him from embarrassment.  HAHA!  You can pretty much tell from this shot that it was a bad wipeout.  He's falling into just a couple feet of water with a sharp coral reef below.  Luckily, he made it back up unharmed and quickly paddled back into the lineup before the next wave broke over him.  I've got a lot of respect for any surfer that paddles into these dangerous conditions. 

[028/365] :: Flight.  Sadly, all vacations must come to an end.  The family hopped back onto a plane and headed back to the mainland.  Hawaiian Airlines treated us good and we'll be looking forward to flying with them again for another trip to the islands.  This is a shot out our window seat during blue period.  The sun was setting faster since we were flying east, so I had to remember to get this shot before the sky turned completely dark.  Mahalo Hawaii for another good time.  Stay tuned for all the other pictures I took of the trip.  Aloha!