CJ Down Under

CJ Nelson testing South Coast Surfboards' new Noserider somewhere in OZ. Found on Foam Symmetry.

Off-Road Inspiration

Kyra wrote an article for ADV Pulse about how to inspire your wife or girlfriend to go on an off-road motorcycle adventure. All of the images were shot by Laura Murphy and myself during our recent twenty-day, twelve hundred mile trip around the Pacific Northwest. Click here to read what Kyra wrote.

Fluctus Splitters

Trailer for a forthcoming 40 minute film shot entirely with Super 8mm. (via Longboard Retro Days)

Twelve Hundred in Twenty - Part Two

I could say all sorts of stuff about these images. I could write endlessly about our twelve hundred mile, twenty day motorcycle trip around the Pacific Northwest. About the food and the friends, the sun and the sand (dunes) we saw along the way. But honestly, I think these images speak for themselves. From long nights on Lummi Island to "castles" along Washington's north coast, our trip was eye opening, exhausting and incredible. We learned a lot and experienced everything we ought to. Stay tuned for an article on Expedition Portal penned by Kyra. In the mean time, enjoy the images and comment if you care to.

The Californians

Check out this trailer for Jamie Budge's classic surf flick, "The Californians." Makes me miss Malibu...

Twelve Hundred in Twenty - Part One

I've been thinking about ratios a lot recently. Work versus reward and whatnot. I was born at the end of an era; when film was still how people took pictures. My mother had this old Kodak 110 camera that I remember using when I was a kid. It flipped open and made a very distinct sound when you pushed the little plastic square to take a photograph. And the rolls of film themselves looked rather weird, if I remember correctly. It was an entry point, but also an end. I think I owned one other film camera that wasn't disposable - an old Olympus that my father gave me for Christmas. After that it all went to hell.

My first digital camera was bright yellow, cost $99 and shot only eight images at a time. A few years later I upgraded to a point-and-shoot with single digit megapixels, followed by another with even more megapixels (!), and then my first DSLR sometime in the early 2000's. The ability to take hundreds of photos with no consequence - to shoot, adjust, and then shoot some more was appealing. And easy.

So for the last decade I have shot almost exclusively with some kind of digital image capturing device. A few years ago, however, my uncle gave me a 35mm Pentax K1000 camera that had belonged to my grandmother. It looked cool. The way I'd imagined cameras in my mind - hanging around some photo journalists neck in a war-torn country on the other side of the earth. So it sat on my bookshelf as an ornament of sorts, something that made me feel like a photographer. What a bunch of bullshit. But then maybe a month ago I picked it up, processed the roll of film that had sat inside for seven years, loaded a fresh one and turned down a road I may never return from.

All of that to say, when Kyra and I decided to depart on a three week motorcycle adventure which took us from Seattle to Portland, Pacific City to Astoria, Neah Bay to Lummi Island and then back to Seattle, the only thing I brought with me was five rolls of film. The fist half of the photos I managed to shoot while we were away can be seen below.

1964

Beautiful bit of film shot by Mike Bromley featuring Dean Petty. Brought to you by Bing Surfboards.

Spring Sessions

Worm, also know as Erin Ashley, is a Seal Beach surfer with a style and grace few can compose. She's funny, full of life, and one of the most interesting people Chris and I met on our #peelgrimage from Seattle to Southern California. While parked at Camp Pendelton for the better part of two weeks, Chris and I surfed with Worm more times than I can count. When the winds blew offshore and the high school kids crowded the lineup for a few hours after school. When Church was choppy. When it wasn't. When everyone else was surfing the easy rolling right, Worm went left. When we suggested she surf a pig, she did. When we went north, and Malibu was empty in the morning. When we went south, and surfed near the sand cliffs of Cardiff. She was always good to go. Always up for it. And so when we started looking through the footage we'd shot during our two month adventure, Erin was ever present. So this short bit of film, produced by Pursuit of the Arbitrary, is the first of many from our #peelgrimage project.