This some way describes my state of mind at the moment.
Apologies for not updating too much recently. Haven’t shot surf since mid january and I don’t think many people are too interested in hearing about me doing a report for my first year studying electronic structure of quantum dots.
Here’s a few oldies to gawk at for a bit.
Models Courtesy of the Skajarowski Agency.
I hope nobody is stealing these images.
Let me know if you see them anywhere else will ya?
Right well still in recovery, the pain killers are starting wear off and I’m quite sore, so I reckon I’ll be out of the water for a good while.
I’m on twitter. http://twitter.com/paudiescanlon Not sure what ‘ll be tweeting about yet but might be useful.
Wanted to highlight a special cause as well. IRMA (the evil recording company people in Ireland) are tryingto block our access to certain sites. Fair enough they are trying to protect their goods but it should be up to us what sites we visit, if this goes through it would set a dangerous precedent for blocking whatever the hell they wanted. For more info go to http://www.blackoutireland.com/
And finally to get back to some kind of surfing theme, the trailer for Lowe-Smiths new movie is out.
Check it.
Both for and the blog.
Popped in for a (very) quick one in L.A.hinch today.
My first wave was a laughable attempt at a right (backhand). Very wobbly take off, one foot at a time job, I somehow managed to be standing by the time I got to the bottom, pumped a little to get speed then stopped. I managed to pump off the wave. Go me.
Next one was a little better managed to actually bottom turn go to the lip and come back down before I lost my speed. Then caught a left that closed out so I took it in on my belly.
Jaysus I’m unfit.
Strict pool regime starting tomorrow.
In the meantime, normal photoblog service resumes with my boy Jacko Scanes whacking one off the top last Autumn,
Start off with the rainbow and the pigdog. Irelands number one shit hot surfer Mr. Cain Kilcullen, last I heard he was hunting for sponsors, so if anybody reading this owns a company get in contact with him.
Next up is my hero of th week (because of all of the posts with him in them) Liam Joyce a Kiwi living in Dublin for past while, here he is scholing Richie Fitz on barrel riding in Richies front yard.
And last but not least old reliable Hugopotamus (nice one Damo) about to pull in to a fairly meaty sized shack on the last monster swell we had.
It’s tough being a surfer especially one of the cool ones that travels alone seeking out new spots just for the hell of it. Nobody to talk to and share the stoke with, nobody else to get eaten first when that shark arrives, nobody to watch you get spat out of a barrel, nobody to snake or drop in on, nobody to yell “outside” at, nobody to yell set “outside” to you. Screw that I’m strapping boards top my roof and getting surfer tattooed across my forehead.
I’m cool man.
This was a bit of a crazy day, it was a new enough wave that hadn’t been surfed at this size before. There was some crazy rips and sets were coming in all over the place, I just about managed to hook up with Joycey on this one as the sunlight spilled over the hill that had been blocking it all morning. There’s a bit of water splash on the lens, but I’m liking the shot regardless.
Sorry for the break in transmission, been crazy busy the past few weeks.
Trying to get Issue 3 of Tonnta together.
Have my one year review for my PhD, which is apparently a Very Important Thing.
And myself and my lady friend got engaged.
Yay.
Back to the Surf.
Here’s Liam Joyce stunning some beginners in no foot Dougie last summer. Those fins out mean it’s a radical maneuver.
Another from those Golden few minutes I got a few months ago. Not sure who the rider is.
Ollie Mac Fla making the most out of a section at everyones favourite Clare left.
Joycey again, same day, just as sick. Even if the rider doesn’t make it up after a turn like this, does it matter?
And to finish is Cian just about to get shacked this was one of the most fun waves to watch, he started off with a big carving turn bounced off the white water, raced it down the line a bit, then jammed his arm in and stalled up got a lovely few seconds in the green room before getting spat out down the reef from me. I was hooting and hollerin’ for ages after that. The spray as he was stalling looked amazing and it kind of comes across here but it was so much better being there, one of the times I would have loved to have a video camera with me instead of the stills cam.
Started watching series 4 of The Wire, still awesome.
Here’s a few from the past while, was trying to think of a story to link them but can’t.
We’ll start with a drop in. I’m loving everything that’s going on in this, most of the guys paddling up and over watching what the next one is going to do, except for Ruben getting that one last look in. And then Stef just going for it, already with an amazing barrel going on behind him, knowing that he’s going to shacked just down the line. That little glassy patch right in front of me. I love the way Stef is half in the wave still as well.
I know it’s pretty far away, but it’s kinda like something you might see as you’re paddling back out after your own wave, just Damo getting shacked (or just about to) but quite a sizey wave. Light was atrocious hence the B&W. this was actually a horrible session. It was my second time in the water that day and I’m pretty unfit at the moment and I was freezing. I’m not moving around as much as people riding waves so I tend to get colder faster. Or else I’m just a wuss which is more likely.
This is from the same session as above, before I got in the water. I just like the fact that the wave is so big that the two guys can fit in it above one another. It’s a weird scenario when you think about it, the fact that both these guys are in the water and Ruben is basically able to be looking down on another person. It seems so natural to all surfers but water that bends like this and goes to different levels is really an amazing thing, really goes against what we think about water everywhere else.
Damo again walking out across Crab on Christmas morning, just the two of us and it was smoking. Very similar to another shot I have of crab but that has two surfers on waves. I like the pulled back of Damo just going into the water on his own, if I was closer I think it would have taken away from the solitary nature of the shot. Crab has these great clints (or possibly grikes?) that lead the eye down to the water edge, then you might notice the surfer and then the wave beside him.
Just a big ass empty. I love being an Irish surfer/photographer because of the smaller crowds but it mostly means I end up with way way more photos of empties than action shots. For a bit of perspective there’s a surfer in the water on the right behind the spray. Pretty sizey.
Finally here’s Damo just dropping into a nice one, it was so quite just the two of us out this day. You can almost hear the hiss of the spray from the light offshore landing around you as the wave goes by.
Enjoy the weekend whether you get wet or not.
If you look closely you can see a bootie and a bit of a board, spray makes it unusable for most things but at least I get to show all of you guys.
It was taken just after sunrise somewhere north of Cork.
Surfer is Kevin Smith.
On a side note to all other photogs, anybody using Lightroom?
Seems like it might be a goodoption for tagging/archiving as well as editing. Any thoughts anyone?
“So I’ll give you a shout around seven? High tide is around nine yeah?”
“No man we’re all leaving around four.”
“Dude, it’s quarter to twelve now, I’ve half a pint in my hand, I am not getting up in four hours.”
It had been a long day and we hadn’t gotten any surf despite driving half the country. I was going to enjoy my night and relax a little, sure it’s still dark at four o’clock what where they thinking?
I had barely been able to get sleep on Monday night I was so excited about the imminent swell. I eventually drifted off while wondering whether maybe it’s better to not live near the coast. That way you don’t have to put up with the awful onshore slop that most Irish breaks get a majority of the time. Sure you get to surf more but overall would you really be happier? Us weekend (or mid week if it’s good enough) warriors get the joy of sneaking off before the sun starts to creep over the horizon, we get to drive on nice quiet roads and watch glorious sunrises as we speed toward the coast. As well as the afore mentioned pre-trip excitement.
It had been a few weeks since I had been in the water and I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. I had spent the previous day trying to figure where to head to. I had a bit of a crew who I would picking up along the way and I could meet up with some others depending on which county we ended up in. We had eventually decided to make the call on Tuesday morning depending on what the wind did during the night.
The whole drive to the coast I was trying to make sense of the reports I was getting in from around the rugged west coastline of our fair isle, weather prediction sites are great but nothing beats a mate standing on the beach with a phone in his hand.
I had been shooting nothing but my home breaks for months so I wanted to head north and see what we could find. I picked up Damien in Lahinch. Quick check of the latest charts. Still inconclusive.
“Do you really need three boards? It’d be much more comfortable with two.”
“Yeah we might find a sick slab and I might need them all.”
Damien has a tendency to snap boards so three boards was probably right for a two day trip.
Onwards to Galway and Eoin McCarthy-Deering. As is always the case when Damo is in the car we cruised up coming Straight Outta Compton.
“Yeah man, those chicks were totally digging us.”
Up into Dubber’s room for another check of the latest buoy readings. Right, decision made, maybe. Maybe we should stick with what we know, but it’s always fun to try out new breaks as well. Hmmmm.
One thing that was definitely decided on was shotgun. Damo has a ridiculous knack for calling it, despite always being the smallest person in the car.
A few hours, and numerous conflicting reports, later we pulled up at a reef that had a possible wave. There was one bodyboarder out there already and he seemed to be catching a good few so we threw on the suits and jumped in. I then spent about an hour swimming in circles trying to gauge this new spot. Every set seemed to come from a different direction and when I did happen to be beside one of the boys the wave would inevitably go fat. Dan, the bodyboarder, reckoned it was better at a lower tide, i.e. fin scraping the reef low, definite booger wave then.
This combination of extensive driving, swimming and not getting any decent shots brings us back to the point of me enjoying my pint and arguing about what time we should be getting up. I was pretty annoyed anyway as Tuesday was meant to be the biggest day with the swell dropping off over night. Sure the winds were going to be light and southerly but what’s the point of light winds if there’s no waves?
Anyway the band is rocking and the landlord is crying out for an encore, the night is only starting. (Un)Fortunately my body was telling me that it needed rest so I grudgingly finished my pint and headed off to try and find a bed.
Why are you giving me this sword, I want to go surfing. What is that Knight doing on that horse and what the hell is that sound?
Oh yeah, alarm. Get up. Snap out of dreamland.
Quarter past five (it seemed a good compromise), oh look it’s still dark, what a surprise. I wander the streets searching for where the boys had bedded down and eventually stumble across them, actually waiting with boards out and everything. I scavenge an apple from somewhere in my car, just as good as brushing your teeth and better than a cup of coffee apparently. Boards, suits and surfers loaded we head off into the grey morning searching as always for that perfect set-up. But we’d probably settle for half decent waves.
We cruise up and down the coast for a while checking a few different spots
“Yeah that could work with a bit more tide.”
“No the swell doesn’t seem to be getting here.”
“What about that first spot we checked?”
We get a call that a spot a good bit down the coast might be doing it. Light is starting to break through the clouds and I’m anxious to make the most of it so we tear down along country roads trying to find half remembered turn-offs and listen to garbled voice messages, not good mobile coverage on this part of the coast.
Eventually we find a make shift car park with a good few cars we recognise, Hugh Galloway is here along with Dan the bodyboarder from yesterday and some others as well. We can see someone racing across a field in front of us so I jump out and start chasing after him, hastily shouting to the boys to lock up when they’re done. I don’t want to miss any action and it takes me longer to get my housing set up than it does to strap on a leash so I need the head start.
My quarry disappears over a hill and I lose him. I keep walking and come to the top of a twenty metre cliff. I can see Danny scrambling across some rocks at the bottom and head off in the direction he was walking from. I eventually make it down on to the rocks and head off after him. I’m starting to get excited now, there seems to be a good bit of swell around and there is absolutely no wind.
Finally I spot the heads of the Gillespie brothers. Shambles is here as well. It must be good if these boys are suiting up. These are the guys who really brought boogers admiration in my eyes, they seriously charge all the time. Mucho Respect.
When I scramble over the last mini cliff I’m greeted with spitting head high barrels. This place looks ridiculously mean but absolutely glorious. Dan is just paddling out and proceeds to take off and get slotted on a preposterously hollow beast. Luckily, Tom has his camera gear with him and he lets me borrow a lens to shoot from the channel, cheers Tom. It’s a new wave for me and appears crazily shallow so I don’t want to take any chances sitting in the impact zone. Hugo is next in the water and BAM, slotted straight away, this kid can ride.
I’m hopping like a lunatic trying to get into my suit and set up my housing at the same time, not wanting to miss another second in the water.
It’s really good to have this crew of bodyboarders out in the water as they push everybody to go that little bit harder. There’s a few slams, a couple of ripped wetsuits but nothing too serious, Dan seems in pain after one particularly mangled monster shut down on him, but keeps charging nonetheless. After filling up two memory cards I call it a day which is good timing as the tide is start to get too low anyway.
We amble back to the cars with crazy grins on our faces absolutely satisfied. But as with all surfers our hunger will return soon enough. We scoot back to town to refuel and recharge. After a short power nap we’re ready again, the destination this time is a reef I’ve been out to a handful of times so I’m fired up to get out there. Once again Danny boy is in the water when we arrive. We join him as quick as we can, but we kind of know this session isn’t going to be as magic as the mornings, the wind is up and the wave has a weird bump on it. Wrong swell direction maybe. A few barrels are still had by all and get out fairly satisfied. The stoke from the morning session is still keeping us ticking and no doubt will do so for the next few weeks. So maybe it’s a good thing to get out of your comfort zone and go explore once in a while.
From Fins last summer, the second shot is probably my favourite shot that I’ve taken.
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