Waves are here, time for a photo session!

i had one of those weekends that hope never ends. it was so much fun!

south shore got some fun shoulder high waves so kids came out in full force. when it's shoulder high waves, they are over head for these groms! ha ha.

by the time i got there kids were getting ready for their 2nd session already, so i grabbed my camera and decided to shoot some stills.

off we go!

Finn McGill is one of those kids who does everything adults would tell the kids NOT TO DO cuz they might hurt themselves. no wonder why he has no problem surfing big waves during north shore season!

example 1... everyone just jump off from kewalos point (or pier... whatever you call that thing.) after throwing their boards in the water. Not Finn, he imitates doing an air and tries to land on his board. ha ha.




he's a supper fun loving adventurous kid.

Since most of the kids who were out today were younger kids, i used 16mm lens (so 24mm on digital SLR). usually these younger groms aren't used to shooting and get scares of running me over and don't come close enough if i use 10.5mm.

well, here's a sequence of Elijah Gates i wish i had my 10.5mm lens on. so typical, i always have the wrong lens. ha ha.

Elijah just came back from Mentawai and scored some good waves over there. you would think he won't be stoked to surfing "average" waves at Kewalos but he was stoked to be out there!
that's what i love about these kids. they are just so stoked to be out surfing in any kind of condition. Us adults needs to learn from these kids!

Kylie Nagy has been surfing really good lately. i remember when she wouldn't even paddle out to the point but stay by the pier and go straight all day.

now she's sitting outside with older kids doing some mean turns! i wish i can improve my surfing as quick as these kids... i've been surfing the same for like past 10 years. ha ha.

oh, and of course Kylie was stoked to be out there!

I don't think Kylie has a duck diving shot yet, so here it is!

Indie Pyzel came down with everyone from north shore today too. i think the last time i saw her was the last north shore season at Ehukai beach. I went with my camera and was going to shoot surfing but saw Indie and her friends on the shore break so i ended up shooting them getting pounded and tossed around by the waves. ha ha.

Indie's dad is a great shaper and shaped lots of boards for groms everywhere. that's why her last name "Pyzel" is on her board. how cool is that! i wish i has "Sano" logo on my board!! ha ha.

here's Pyzel surfboards' website, http://pyzelsurfboards.com

so parents out there, order some boards for your kids now!! ha ha.

oh, and here's Indie's duck diving photo! way better photos than what i got the last time i saw her, cuz all i got then were Indie upside down, over the falls, etc. ha ha.

Mahina Maeda was out too!

She recently opened her own checking account and she wrote her VERY FIRST check ever in her life to me! Since she traveled with me to Cali in July, i paid for her air fare using my credit card so she reimbursed me for it. (photo stolen from her dad's blog. ha ha.)

I don't even want to cash it and frame the check BUT it's kindda for a lot of money so i'll be cashing that thing. ha ha.

on top of the check, she gave me a Starbuck's gift card! Thank you Mahina!

Dax McGill! she definitely got McGill blood in her, cuz she also does crazy things like her little brother Finn. i guess it's a great thing if you are surfer cuz she charges and getting better at surfing everyday!

Have you guys seen Dax on New Pollution on Fuel TV? if you haven't, you NEED to check it out! Hulu.com got the full episode so there's no excuse no to watch it. ha ha.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/148297/new-pollution-chad-kerley-dax-mcgill-and-axel-gruysbergh

Well, speaking of the McGills, lets get back to Finn for a second. as i said before, he's just a fun kid. When kids see me in the water with my camera, they all try to act cool and try to get the shots. Finn saw me and when i saw him with this face, i knew something's up.

Finn try to slap me!! or was he trying to steal my camera? well, either way, i was laughing so hard since no one ever tried to do that to me.

on the very next wave Finn's dad, Mike, was coming right at me. i was thinking "oh man, i gotta tell Mike about Finn trying to slap or steal my camera."

And this happened.

Mike tried to slap or steal my camera!! i almost drowned from laughing too hard and couldn't breath. So if you don't know the McGills, now you do. the whole family is like this. just super fun people to be with. there's never a dull moment with the McGills!

btw, did i mention the weather was perfect today?

look at that! we do live in a paradise!

I met Makai Clemons today. well, i've seen him around but today we did that official "nice to meet you" handshake. He's from Kailua and this kid can surf!

I haven't met many kids from Kailua side but are they all as good as he is? cuz if they are, i need to head over there more often! It was really nice to officially meet you Makai!

Micah Young has been coming to Kewalos more often now. man, this kid is a character. i think he eats sugar and drink sugar water for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he got so much energy! he was out surfing for hours but when he came in, we were going out so he just turned around and jumped back in the water for few more hours to surf. i think he surfed like 8 hours today!

Justin Silva is another kid who's been coming here for a while and getting better every time i see him. I saw him hack away on a set wave yesterday. if that was a contest, he would've got at least a 9!

I've been talking to people at Surftech about John Quizon to put him on their team since he's been surfing so good and he was already riding a Surftech board. The guys at Surftech are stoked!

check out his nice shiny brand spanking new board! he is surfing unreal on that board.

You guys should know Kaulana Apo by now since i've talked about him before. yes, the kids i call "Big Man" because of his sick style that makes him look like a big man even tho he's a tiny kid. ha ha.

well, he's busting out some air now and not only getting hit board up in the air but LANDING airs now!

I got pounded after this shot by that whitewater but when i came up on the other side, he was still on the wave, hacking away.

Matty Costa is older and he's been shooting with photographers for years so he's really comfortable coming close to me.

Another "would've been a better shot with a 10.5mm lens." ha ha.

This is how comfortable we are with each other getting really close when we shoot since we've shot so many times already.

yes, nice and peaceful cutback...

aaahhhh... peaceful!

WOW!! too close!! ha ha.
I guess we can't get TOO comfortable. if Matty didn't lift his board up, i'd got nailed by his board. i felt that thing about an inch above my head! i think that's how people get hurt. ha ha

Jenna Forti came out right before i was done shooting so no surfing photo of her but i had to post this one. if it wasn't for that fart bubble by her face, this would've been a really cute photo. ha ha. nah, nah, that's not a fart bubble. i think she just exhale some air from her mouth. ha ha.

Dax, Kylie and Indie wanted to make a video for me so i just let the girls do their thing.
I don't even know what they did so this should be interesting, specially with these 3 crazy fun girls.

Tons of stoked groms this weekend. now that they got to surf for hours this weekend, i bet they actually sleep well and do better in school this week! wait, what am i talking about... these kids will be just day dreaming about surfing the whole time they are in school now. ha ha.

thanks everyone for a great weekend!

Kaz

Novus Swell