Wow! So many people lined up waiting for the release of this summer's MUST HAVES - I look good! ha ha.-

Today was the release day of FITTED's Surf Pac, Nelson Ahina, Ezekiel Lau, and Keanu Asing's hats.

i took Zeke down there to show support and check out how things are going to be.

FITTED opens at 11am, we got there at 10:40am and this is what we saw!!

30+ people waiting in line to get their hands on the super limited hats!

These hat are New Era's 59FIFTY so they organized the hats in size so everything goes smooth.

Zeke was helping out letting few people in the store at a time to avoid chaos.

Nelson showed up to support too!

How cool is that! you show up to buy hats designed by FITTED riders and they are there greeting and helping you.

Keanu is in Cali right now for a contest but if he was in Hawaii, i know he'd been there too!

I was impressed how everyone was waiting outside until they were called in. i'd been running in the store demanding my hats! ha ha.

see how nice and calm inside and people waiting outside not complaining?
it was little sad to see a person wanting certain size hat and that size being sold out tho. but hey, they should've been there earlier! ha ha.

Kewalos local Travis and Charlie showed up and waited in line and Travis got the last Zeke's hat!

Zeke's hat was sold out around 11:35am and there were only couple of Nelson and Keanu's hats left!
It was such a great experience to be there. A business supporting Hawaii's young surfers and BECAUSE of that, people lined up to buy their products.

the kids (Zeke, Nelson, and Keanu) won because they got great exposures and learned how these hats are designed.

Customers got to get their hands on limited edition hats designed by future surfing world champs. (yes, i really think these kids can become champs, they are that good and they are all good kids.)

FITTED made money (as any business' goal) supporting their riders.

everybody won today. so stoked for everyone!

thanks FITTED for supporting young Hawaiian surfers and giving them opportunities not many can experience!

Remember Brady Oshiro? THE wedding photographer i talked about last week. He was at kewalos testing out his new equipment while i was out shooting Nick Mita and sent me this photo.

see mom, i do work. ha ha.

i guess years of swimming and playing water polo is paying off. i didn't even know i come out of the water that high. i'm behind the wave so i bet my butt was out of the water on this one.

Thanks Brady for sending me the photo. i love it because i look skinny and the photo makes me look like i'm in shape! I look good! ha ha.

Had a great day and the weekend is not over yet!

Kaz

Novus Swell

Kewalos

Checking the waves. Looks alright. Nothing great... But that means I'm going to surf! Ha ha.

Fitted

I stopped by Fitted for Zeke, Nelson and Keanus hats release.
Sold out in 35 minutes!

Fitted!

Did you read my post from yesterday about Fitted MUST HAVE hats?
Well, I talked to guys there and look what I got! These are for Novus Swell give-a-way!

These are super limited because they only made 30 of each!

I'm getting them signed by Zeke, Nelson, and Keanu before I give them away.

I know they will sell out tomorrow when they release them. So if you miss out and don't get them, you have another chance to get them on Novus Swell next week!!

Guys Kids Should be Looking Up To - This Summer's MUST HAVE Hats from FITTED!

I woke up early today to go shoot some photos of Nick Mita and Joel Centieo at Big Rights because the swell supposed to be here already in the morning. i know, i know, they aren't kids but surf photography is still good part of my income and these guys are type of guys i want the groms to be looking up to.

the waves were... not really here yet in the morning. ha ha. it was loooong wait between sets. We were out for 3 hrs and i think there were only 2 sets we were stoked on.

Just like yesterday, i can't post any good shots which might be used by their sponsors so here are some throw away shots.

Joel

Joel is just all around good guy. He always got a huge smile on his face, just makes your day better by just talking to him. Hard worker too. Not only he's a pro surfer training and competing year around, now he is a Hurley team manager too. i see him all the time by coming to contests supporting Hurley riders like Kaulana Aop and Elijah Gates.

Nick

JPSA Pro surfer and one of the hardest working guy i know. Ever since i met him some years ago, everytime there are waves i get a call from him to go shoot. (when he's here in Hawaii and not traveling the world.) he trains hard on land and in water all the time, when waves are good he arranges photogs to be out there shooting.

he's fluent in Japanese now too and he is like a glue connecting japan and hawaii surfers and industry people together for years now. often times i see him with japanese surfers driving them around to the best sopt to surf and introducing to local people.

i love working with these guys. like i said before, guys like Nick and Joel are kind of surfers i want all the groms to be looking up to. so kids, if you haven't met or talked to them before, next time you see them, talk to them! there are tons of stuff you can learn from these guys and they are so nice i bet they'll take their time to talk to you and answer any questions you might have. (specially now that i said that. ha ha.)

Ronnie Yamada was out surfing too.

After his first wave, he was sitting waiting for the perfect wave for like an hour! He got the perfect wave after waiting! I was totally out of position since it was the wave of the session and broke way outside than where i was set up but that thing was sick! He took off, stalled and was in the barrel the entire wave!

Ronnie is an amazing tattoo artist and surfer. Don't let the scary looks fool you. he's a super nice guy. well, as long as you don't drop in on him. ha ha.

he's a prime example of a person doing what he loves to do for living. because he followed his dreams and never quit, he became THE guy to get tattoo from here in Hawaii. so kids, don't let anyone tell you you can't be what you want to be. with hard work and dedications, you can become who ever you want to be.

FITTED is realeasing this summer's MUST HAVES this weekend!

you know FITTED got the sickest hats in Hawaii. This weekend, they are releasing 3 limited edition hats designed by their young riders: Ezekiel Lau, Keanu Asing and Nelson Ahina!

Zeke

Keanu

Nelson

Go to FITTED's site (www.FittedHawaii.com) for the details, video and great write up on these guys.

I don't know about you guys, but i am definitely getting all three of them!

i think i'm gonna try to wear Nelson's hat when i see Zeke, Keanu's hat when i see Nelson, and Zeke's hat when i see Keanu so they can all get mad at me. ha ha.

all joking aside, i seriously think these are MUST HAVE before all of you kids go back to school. so get your sleeping bags ready and camp out to get these super limited hats from FITTED! (i am not kidding, i know people will be camping out to get these hats.)

i'm just hoping i get mine before they all sell out... seriously!

Kaz

Novus Swell

Waves!

Wow, kewalos is actually pretty good. Kids are out there!!

Where?

Where's the swell?? It was better yesterday!

Thanks Neuro, THE wedding photog, flash photo session, Say Anything

The waves picked up today! But before i went to the beach, i met up with people at Neuro drinks.

They got cool drinks for any occasions. They are not energy drink company but lifestyle drinks company.

They want to reach out to surf scene, specially young surfers, so they hit me up. So stoked i linked up with them! They hooked me up with bunch of their drinks when i left and you know what happens at the beach... kids went wild over the Neuro drinks and i had to keep refilling the cooler. ha ha.

Here's Derek stoked on Neuro Aqua.

Here's Keana and Nahe loving Neuro Bliss.

Thanks Neuro! The way kids were loving the drinks, i'll be stopping by soon to steal more from you guys! ha ha.

I jumped in the water to take some stills today. I've been wanting to get some shots of JPSA Pro surfer, Nick Mita, and he is a regular footer. only problem was that in the afternoon, the lighting is just good for lefts. BUT i didn't want bunch of butt shots of Nick! ha ha.

So i decided to shoot with flash. it's hard to shoot with flash because i need to be close enough to the surfer and i can only shoot one shot per wave. (if i had more expensive setup, i can shoot multiple photos per wave but i have a ghetto setup. ha ha.)

Brady Oshiro was there taking photos and video. He was THE surf photographer some years ago but now he is THE wedding photographer here in Hawaii. so if you need a great photog, Brady is the man you should talk to.

I can't post the best shot of Nick yet... so here's one of the throw away shots.

I love how Nick surfs really smooth, yet powerful.

When i'm in the water shooting, kids come out to get some shots of their own too. ha ha.

Josh Moniz

Josh surfs so good. It's like something clicked a few months ago and now he is surfing like a full grown man now.

EJ Mitsui

I think EJ is the least recognized young surfer right now. Better remember his name tho, he's going to blow up soon.

Alyssa Wooten

She was one of the first kids i started driving around years ago. now she's in college, owns her own jewelry company and still find time to surf.

Last time i was in Cali, i ran into my friend Parker who is in the band "Say Anything" and we talked about Alyssa because i took her to Say Anything show here in Hawaii years ago.

Here's one of their music videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exg_b0B-RFs

Alyssa is a big fan of the band and at the time she has never gone to a live show before so i thought it'll be perfect to take her and let her hangout with the band.

Look how Alyssa was a kid still! Oh, and those extremely white guys (far left is Parker) are from Say Anything. an amazing thing is, i took them out surfing the day before so they were whiter than that when they first got to Hawaii! ha ha.

She was so chill when we were at the show, but as soon as we were in my car to go home she was screaming her lungs out. ha ha.

Today I was telling her how Parker was asking about her and look what she was wearing!

That's right, Say Anything shirt she got from the show!

Thanks Parker and the rest of the band members for being really cool to Alyssa when we went to the show. i know she will never forget that.

I got so tired shooting today because the peak kept shifting the whole time i was out there shooting. i think i was swimming the whole time trying to position myself.

See that, that's the look of a guy who's thinking "i better got some shots cuz this is hard work". ha ha.

Kaz

Novus Swell

Getting better!

The swells showing already.

New video webisode, S2W27: Rip Curl Grom Search 2010 at Kewalos, Hawaii

Rip Curl held their Annual Grom Search event at Kewalos. These regional contests are qualifying event for the Rip Curl National Final at the Rip Curl Pro Search Somewhere in Puerto Rico in the Fall. The winners of each division gets invited from Hawaii's event!

There were some fun size waves all day kids were going all out showing everyone what they got. Congrats to all the finalists and winners!

Enjoy the video!

www.NovusSwell.com
Sponsored by www.AlohaArmy.com
Novus Swell supports "Not Even Once" www.HawaiiMethProject.org

Oh no!

Internet is down in all of Hawaii and parts of California. I'll upload the webisode when I wake up.

This sucks cuz I actually finished editing early for this webisode.

Kaz Sano

Nick Mita, I still like the Angels and still think Red Sox sucks! ha ha - Welcome DippedInShoyu.com

I was up late again last night doing graphic design work... but it's all done and now i can get back to my normal daily life with some sleep! ha ha. the graphic design work i do is super time consuming but it pays the bills and i only have to do it a week or two out of a month so can't complain.

the waves got little better today, i hope we get the swell this thursday as everyone's predicting.

it was a great little surf session i had today tho. when i paddled out, Nick Mita, Jason Shibata and Mahina Maeda were out.

I try not to watch sports because i know i'll spend way too much time studying stats and start betting money. ha ha. BUT Nick is a huge fan of Red Sox and my home team Angels were playing today so it was all about smack talking while we were surfing.

Red Sox ended up winning the game tho... Nick, if i get all into baseball and start betting, i'm blaming you for everything! btw Nick, i'm going to vegas on the 10th, who should i bet for? ha ha.

I love surfing with Nick and Jason. They are JPSA pro surfers so they rip at surfing but they never make me feel like a kook that i am. They look at me and talk to me like i can surf as well as they do. (and trust me, i surf at level 1 if they are at level 100. ha ha)

Don't forget to check out Nick and Jason's site, BehindTheWaves.com too. inside look at JPSA and the surfing world!

The waves were alright but had a great session with friends. another good day!

I want to welcome www.DippedInShoyu.com to Novus Swell family!

the site is full of info about what's going on with anything to do with Hawaii in not only Hawaii but Mainland as well!

so if you live in Hawaii OR mainland, check them out!

That's it for now, i gotta go edit the new video webisode!

Kaz

Novus Swell

Surf

AG and KM is in da house!! Ha ha.

what keeps me going - core training with Steph Lay

I started Novus Swell about year and a half ago and sometimes i wonder why am i doing it... and i get stuff like this makes me keep going.

I got a thank you letter from Cayla Moore today. she didn't have to do this but she took her time to write me a thank you note. things like this makes me so stoked and want to keep supporting these surfer kids.

i think she sprayed something on the letter too cuz when i opened it, it smelt really nice. ha ha.

Here's a photo of her surfing. the photo is by Rock and i took it from Surfline from their Rip Curl Grom Search event write up. (which is going to be Novus Swell's next webisode coming out this Tuesday!)

She's been surfing really good so all the boys better watch out!

Thank you Cayla!

Steph Lay is holding a core workout and yoga session this Tuesday at noon at Kewalos. She is just asking for some donations for her time.

If you don't know Steph, she's been training surfers for a while now. She has a bachelors in Kinesiology and is a Certified Physical Trainer since 2003. she specialize in Body Alignment Core Training utilizing Self Myofacial Release, Flexibility, Creative Sports Performance, and Nutrition.

i don't really know much about these stuff but i've seen people who train with her and i could totally see the difference in their surfing performance.

this will be a great opportunity to have a session with her and learn about your body. remember, Noon on Tuesday July 27th at Kewalos!

Back to work!

Kaz

Novus Swell

Orange

I guess it's an orange day for EJ. Ha ha.

Waves are flat...

The waves are flat but who cares when uncles are catching these!

H2O SK8R!

I've been working non stop on my computer so i wanted to take a break and surf so i went to Kewalos but the waves were so small. i called around to see if there are any place with better waves, but all i got from everyone was "nope, just surf where you are cuz it's flat everywhere".

Mahina had a great idea to go over to Surftech and borrow some small wave boards. so we went over there and Mahina grabbed a longboard and i grabbed their new Ultraflx H2O SK8R!

This board is fun!! it was a perfect board for day like today. i think it'll work good on any south shore waves. they only had a 5'10" but i know they make 5'8" too. i can't wait to try out the 5'8"!

The last board i borrowed, the Wombat, was a fun board too but i'm loving this H2O Sk8R a lot.

Surftech made a mistake and let me take a board again... they aren't going to see this board for at least a month! ha ha.

Thanks Steve and Bobby from Surftech!

Ended up having a great time surfing today. now i'm ready to work all night, again, staring at my computer. ha ha.

Kaz

Novus Swell

Yoooo wassssup

Hey hey hey it's jennnnnnaaaaa. Um were at kewalos andddd I'm just jamming out to some jb hehe the waves are pretty junk but ya have a wonderful day novus swell viewers shoots!

Surftech

A trip to surftech with Mahina to try out some new boards.

Amazing how young surfers are trying to make difference in the surfing world!

I met up with Carissa Moore and Mahina Maeda at Kewalos today. Carissa started the Rookie of the Year award for girls at NSSA National Championships and Mahina was the winner this year.

Carissa wanted to congratulate Mahina in person even tho she is super busy so I decided to take some photos of them together.

I think it's great what Carissa started, remembering where she started and giving back. I know lot of little girls look up to Carissa and I feel she's a great role model for everyone. she is so humble, always smiling and very approachable despite of her success.

Congrats Mahina and thank you Carissa for being a great role model for all the younger kids!

Ezekiel Lau has been busy appearing on different tv news trying to have schools recognize surfing as a "sport".

here's a link for the video from KGMB morning news this week.

http://www.khnl.com/global/Category.asp?C=151146&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=91610&topVideoCatNoB=4758&topVideoCatNoC=75035&topVideoCatNoD=4773&topVideoCatNoE=96072&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4956389&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

i've heard he is going to be on KGMB news again this evening so don't forget to check it out!

Kaz

Novus Swell