________________
Photoshop Phun
Always fun to surf with, Fry's
Market owner Rod S. Marinating the fish food... In
Newport.
-----------------
Art
Last weekend legendary surf photographer
Art Brewer held photo seminars in both Huntington and
Oceanside, and each event was well attended. I chose
to get out of town and drove down to the Oceanside event.
Once there, Canon loaned us the most expensive camera
equipment they have, and we all shot a crew from San
Clemente High School Surf Team. With 20 people pointing
cameras at the water, people kept coming up asking "who
the heck is out there"! "Obama bodysurfing"
was all I could come up with.
Mr. Brewer is the master of the
surf portrait, so I spent most of the day trying to
set up shots of people as they exited the water, something
you might see more of at times here... And if you do
see your portrait here, please feel free to grab it
off the page and do what you want with it.
SCHS in the water...
and out.
___________________
Close to the eye of the storm..
In Newport
(copyright cozad)
__________________
Dedicated to the sport of
surfing!
Copyright Cozad
___________________
Is it Fall or Mid-Winter?
Click the image below for
a slideshow of what Fall in the O.C. Normally looks
like...
.jpg)
Fall, Combo Swells and Newport
Copyright
Cozad
_________________
The Doho Longboard crew in training...
Don't try this at home...
Sunday in South County
_____________________
"I'm so stoked to be
surfing for Newport Harbor!"...
Yesterday in Newport
_______________________
The Hurricane
Hilary Mega Swell Hype has begun...
.jpg)
And please remember, when
someone from out of town asks...
"It never breaks on the
other side of the pier".
______________________
After months of premier Newport
surfer Victor Done, being sponsorless. He has now found
a happy home...
Victor, now riding for
Oakley..
__________________
Newport Cancer survivor Jack
Shimko did it again! Last year he paddled on his paddleboard
150 miles in the name of Cancer Research. This past
week over 10 days he paddled 260 miles. Jack arrived
to a cheering crowd on the beach at Blackies Saturday
morning and an SUP racing event was held to benefit
his cause...
Click the image below for
Laylan's O.C. Register article of the event. Pretty
amazing...
Not Saturday at Blackies...
(photo copyright T.
Cozad)
______________________
Newport Elementary,
and Surfing...
In the 70's a lot of Newport
Elementary school kids surfed. We surfed Blackies, the
South Side of Newport Pier (which we called Hadleys)
and at 28th St., after the jetty was built. We also
surfed out front of the school quite a bit in the winter.
It was called "School House" back then...
And over the years the name somehow changed to "School
Yards".
Those of us that lived down on the peninsula at the
time would occasionally sneak our boards into Newport
Elementary and stash them in the janitor's office, and
then grab them after school, and hit the water. The
janitor's name was Oscar, and he was really nice to
us little kids. No doubt allowing us to store our boards
was probably breaking all kinds of school policies.
Today, after having had kids at Newport El for the past
7 years, and having surfed Blackies a lot during the
winter, my wife and I have found that there's hardly
any kids that go to Newport Elementary that surf. Yea,
there's those that get pushed into waves every once
in a while, or sign up for a summer surf class for a
week. But outside of Tyler Gunter, there just aren't
groups of Newport Elementary kids throughout the various
grades, that are frothing to surf and are on it everyday.
Things might be changing... Scott Morlan, Amy Lowry,
the City of Newport, and Newport Elementary have joined
forces to offer an after school surf class for Newport
Elementary School students. The class is 2 hours long,
meets once a week. and is 9 weeks in duration. Mondays
is an all girl's class. Tuesdays an advanced class (ie
for those that can stand on a board). And Wednesdays
a beginners class.
To sign up for one of the classes check the Newport
Beach on-line recreation website.. Or attain a school
ACE program brochure at the school's office. Scholarships
are also available for those that may need financial
assistance.
Newport Elementary School's
Tyler Gunter, leading the way with his first ever wave
at Wedge.
Last week.
_____________________
Why?
The Wedge, taking the term "Big
Peak" to a whole different level.
___________
Newport
Super
Heros
Superman
&
Spiderman...
Last week in Newport.
_____________________________
A little sun, a little surf,
a little warm water... and a lot of people.
Life long Newport local Clay
Smith, enjoying the crowd in front of his house. Yesterday,
in Newport.
_________________
It doesn't look very
challenging from up here. Wedge.
_________________
The
last word on a trip of a lifetime... Cape St. Francis
Throughout my recent sojourn
to South Africa I tried to get out to Cape St. Francis.
For me it was to be one of the highlights of my South
African surf trip. I really wanted to see "Surfing's
Mecca", the perfect wave made famous in Endless
Summer so many years ago. It's only about an hour drive
from JBay, but the road out to the peninsula had been
washed out for weeks, and there was no way to the surf
break. Believe me we tried. Then the day before we were
to leave South Africa we heard from a surf guide that
a temporary bridge might open the next day. So I called
the airlines and extended our trip by one day.
That next morning we headed out
to the Cape. I didn't even think about there being surf,
because the place is so fickle. But I threw my board
in the truck anyway, As we crested the hill of the peninsula,
our jaws dropped. Sheet glass 3-5ft Cape St. Francis,
and since not many were aware that the bridge was fixed
yet, there were only 6 local guys out. I was elated
to see the incredible long wave actually breaking, but
after a week of surfing pumping JBay I was over wanting
to surf it. But my wife insisted that I paddle out anyway,
or one day I'd regret doing so. So off I went...
There's really only one take
off spot on the outside at St. Francis, and I was expecting
the local crew who were sitting on it to vibe me heavily
as I paddled towards their tight little circle. I paddled
up and told what looked like the Alpha Dog of the pack
that it was an honor to surf their wave, and I had hoped
to just grab a few and would be gone. He informed me
that his grandfather was the one who had started the
town there many years ago, and that the they had been
surfing all morning and 5 of them were now going in.
So there I had it. Shoulder to head high, super rippable
Cape St. Francis, with only one other guy out, and my
wife on the beach with a camera. I've been lucky to
surf a lot of great places in the world, but this ended
up being the best session of my entire life, without
a doubt. Actually getting to surf the legendary wave
with basically no one around was pretty much the climax
of a life time of surfing experiences. And when I came
in, I walked right up to my wife, and thanked her profusely
for insisting that I paddle out.
The downed bridge...
The "Perfect Wave"
and the opportunity of a lifetime.
Empty Cape Saint Francis, South Africa.
All photos by Susan
C.
________________
Slater wins, again.
Six years ago I was shooting
the Boost Mobile, now called the Hurley Pro, at Trestles.
And Slater showed and won. Big surprise. What was interesting
however was that he showed up with his daughter, and
no doubt was proud to have her there, to see him win
the event. I've never released the photo below of his
daughter watching her dad on the winner's podium, as
I'm no paparazzi, but it being 6 years ago, I thought
I'd throw it up now.
Slater's real prize in life.
His daughter. Trestles, 2005
___________________
Saturday, Aug. 6th, 2011
The final last leg of our
South Africa trip....
This afternoon &
This evening. In London
(Photos Copyright
T. Cozad)
__________________________________
Bruce Gold
Bruce Gold is a legend in the
South Africa surfing community. A bit eccentric yes,
but still a legend. Having first arrived in JBay in
the late 50's, he's seen it all in the area. His partner
in crime in the 80's was Malibu's Mickey Dora. They
did everything together. He's got a lot of great stories
about Dora... Like the time Dora fell asleep one night
with a lantern on, and burned his house to the ground.
Like the fact that Dora would never sign his golf card,
because Dora said that his signature was worth thousands
of dollars in Japan. That Dora had a temper that was
off the Richter scale when he would lose to the Queen
of Billabong South Africa Cheron, or anyone else for
that matter...
Dora and Bruce. Searching. Circa
80's. South Africa
Bruce Gold. Yesterday, in South
Africa.
________________
Andy's Spot
Andy Irons was really respected
here in JBay. And his clash with Slater in the finals
of the JBay event years ago is legendary. In the corner
of the yard where we're staying is arguably one of the
best spots in the area to check SuperTubes from. It
is here that Andy spent many hours during his JBay visits
watching the surf from. The last day of the JBay event,
last week, they dedicated this spot to Andy Irons. The
day would have been his 33rd birthday. On the bench
is a plague in Andy's honor, and next to the bench is
a bed of rocks that many of his friends wrote warm hearted
messages to him on.
Always Remembered.
_________________
Over the past week we've seen
everything from 2ft blown out rainy JBay, to 3-5ft cloudy
and offshore JBay, to 6-10 ft sunny and glassy JBay.
The last 3 days it has been pumping, and the arms are
ready to fall off. Off to Cape Saint Francis later today.
Check back for more images from South Africa.
Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa.
This morning,
________________
July 26th, 2011
She's had no problem taming the
crowd at Blackies for years, so taming a few lions was
easy...
Susan C. in South Africa
___________
After 36 sleepless hours of traveling...
We have finally arrived in JBay, South Africa. Jordy
won the Billabong event here yesterday. And while it's
been one big party around here for weeks on end. Today
it's a ghost town, everyone has left, off to the U.S.
Open, which is the way we had planned it. We're at a
big 5 bedroom house that the head of Billabong here
owns. It overlooks Supertubes, and is nuts!!! The place
has been ground zero the past 10 days. As we arrived
Taj Burrow was the last to leave, and we now have the
entire place to ourselves. Cool, but kinda weird. Wind
is on the surf big time. Completely blown out, but word
is by the end of the week it's going to get really really
good. More boring blogs to follow in the weeks ahead....
The event is over and the crowds
are gone... Susan C. is stoked! Late Monday night @
J-Bay...
________________
After years of packing boards
and camera gear up and heading to Mainland Mexico for
2 weeks every July... This year is a little different.
Ok, a lot different. My wife and I are off to Jeffrey's
Bay, South Africa tomorrow. JBay is a place that not
only I, but just about evey regular foot, dreams of
surfing. And this being the most consistent month of
the year, I'm hoping it delivers. Check back over the
next 2 weeks for a few out of focus, overexposed images
from Jeffrey's, and from London too. And if Newport
goes ballistic, which usually happens when NewportSurfShot.com's
camera leaves town, send images, and I'll get them up.
Only 36 hours
and you're there. J Bay.
_____________________
It's coming.....
The 2011 U.S. Open Of Surfing
And SurfSide
Sport's Mike Burns is prepared for it....
______________________
In 2008, when this photo was
taken, people were talking about having seen a lot of
Rays out towards the end of the pier in the weeks leading
up to the U.S. Open Of Surfing in H.B... Running through
the images for Surfline's Women's feature of the event,
I came across this... Kinda strange.
_______________
Look around... All kinds of creatures
surf Newport.
___________
Alex would ride it...
Summertime Blackies Locals....
Board: Dewey Dumpster Driver
5'2" X 28" X 28" X 28".
___________
Violated
For the last few years Analog
Clothing has done good in Newport. Led by Newport's
Geoff Moysa the company has taken it upon themselves
to fully sponsor some of the best surfers in Newport.
They have also supported at length the NHHS surf team.
And every Summer, they have orchestrated a weekly beach
cleanup and handed out free donuts and coffee on Thursday's,
in the Upper Jetties area. Yesterday the city of Newport
presented Analog with their certificate of appreciation
for all the good that Analog does. Read award recipient
Geoff Moysa's account below.
By Geoff Moysa
"We showed up at 7:15am...
Setup the Analog tent like we always do and then started
picking up trash. There was 6 of us to start with. We
cleaned from 52nd-56th. I personally filled up half
of a 5 gallon bucket. We then just stood under the tent
since it was really misty out, and we ate donuts, drank
coffee and greeted people as they went by. Around 8:15
someone from the city showed up, and asked who had put
our gathering together. They took me aside and told
me that they had complaints about the Analog tent being
on the beach. And they told me that we couldn't give
away free coffee and donuts, because it was a health
violation. They said though that they were just going
to give me a warning,"
"I was ok with that,
and I started to break down everything. Minutes later,
they changed their minds and decided to write me a citation
for representing a clothing brand without a Newport
business license. And they argued that there was no
signs of us cleaning the beach"
A company that sponsors a number
of local surfers. Hands out free goodies to the public.
Promotes camaraderie amongst surfers on the beach. And
goes out of their way to help keep our beaches clean...
And this is how the City of Newport shows their appreciation,
with a ticket... Absolutely Ridiculous!!! Thanks Moysa,
and Analog, for all that you do in Newport.
Analog's Certificate
of Appreciation Ceremony. Yesterday in
Newport.
___________________
Really, you walked down the street
with it in a Red Cup! In Newport.
________________
"This
could be a bumpy landing"
___________________
Wed, May 18th, 2011
Ripped
During a helicopter shoot a few
years ago we came across a couple of amazing looking
rip tides just north of River Jetties. The photos ended
up being of a phenomenon called a Shearing Rip Tide
that had never been photographed before. Scripps Institute
in San Diego had studied the phenomenon before, and
actually had an animated model of how such a thing forms.
But again, there was no actual photo of one.
For months after shooting the
rip tide images, I got emails from authors, Ocean Lifesaving
Organizations and Ocean Research Institutes throughout
the world. I mean from everywhere! And everyone wanted
the images of the rip tides for books, research and
teaching purposes. All of these organization had one
thing in common however. They all had extremely tight
budgets and little or no money. So I thought that if
the photos could be used to help save a life by understanding
the ocean better, I would give the images away free
of charge. And close to 60 organizations received them.
H.B. State Lifeguard Ryan Gates
sent me this image yesterday. Stating that they recently
spent 10 mins on this one riptide slide going over the
correct entry and exit points for the rescuer. This
is exactly how it was hoped these images would be used.
__________
Years ago when the economy
was firing on all cylinders, surfer sponsorship's were
a plenty. The top 20 or 30 guys from each major beach
city along the coast were signed with someone. And at
the time a lot of those guys signed 2 and 3 year contracts.
Flash forward a couple years, and the economy isn't
so lively anymore. And as those contracts have recently
expired, many of those sponsorships weren't renewed,
or were offered at a much less lucrative offering.
Today, it stands to reason
that those beach cities that are producing some of the
major source of surfing talent in the U.S., Newport
being one of them, would have at least a half dozen
of their best Junior surfers sponsored.
Victor Done is easily one
of Newport's top Junior surfers. And is one of the only
ones that is currently not sponsored. When his contract
with Reef expired last year, he chose not to continue
his association with them.
A respectable showing in major
Pro Junior events, excellent local magazine coverage,
and a bag full of tricks in the water, makes Victor
a hot commodity. Someone in the surf industry needs
to wake up, and sign him.
V. Done. Blowing tail, and blowing
up... Last week at the Ghetto Juice Airshow.
______________________________
Wed., May 11th,
2011
It's Airshow day!
Click the photo below for
Ghetto Juice's high tech live feed of the action!
Newport's Josh Hoyer preparing
for action...
__________________________________________
Some of the kids in the area
thought this window display was funny.
Some of the parents though,
maybe not so much.
1/2 Off in
Newport
_______________
Not everyone in town dislikes
the new parking meters at Blackies.
The local bees love them...
Yesterday.
__________________________
The Wedding Blog...
My real dad was married 9 times.
He would have been married many more, however he died
pretty young, 46. Before he married each wife he had
them sign a prenuptial agreement. And in that agreement
it stated that his wife could not touch his car collection
if they divorced. So guess what, he put any and all
asserts he accumulated during the marriage into his
car collection. So when they did divorce, she received
virtually nothing. Sad yes, but pretty clever.
After seeing the chaos my dad
went through, obviously I never wanted to marry. But
then I meet my wife. And to this day marrying her has
ended up being the single best decision that I've ever
made. We've been married for 20 years. And I'm grateful
that my life did not mimic my father's.
At my work I often come in contact
with couples that have been married over 50 years. And
I always ask, "What's the secret to a long marriage?"
The most common answers are... Don't go to bed mad at
your spouse. Get used to the fact that you are not always
right. Don't always put yourself first. And laugh a
lot together. Wise advice to be sure.
The
Photo Below...
A charity organization contacted
me last year about shooting a model surfing in a wedding
dress. The charity collected donated wedding dresses
and shipped them to impoverished Third World countries.
The year before they had shot someone snowboarding in
a dress. And for their current year advertising campaign
they wanted someone surfing in a wedding dress. So I
donated my time, and met up with them. If they wanted
to ruin an $800.00 wedding dress, so I could get photos
of it, I was all for it.
The problem with the shoot however
was that once the dress got wet, it weighed around 30
pounds, and the model, who surfed, didn't have the strength
to stand up in it. Non-the-less, we did get some interesting
images, and I'm told the advertising campaign was a
success.
In
love with surfing...in
Newport
Not
Kate Middleton...
___________
All rivers eventually lead
to the ocean. And some of those rivers make damn find
sandbars!
Photo Copyright
T. Cozad
________
April 19th
Crews
If these guys aren't surfing,
you can bet there's no surf.
Blackies...
_______________
Red Tags and $8,000
Fines: Newport Beach Considering Partying Ordinance
Info on Newport's proposed
new ordinance, aimed at taming the city's 4th of July
mayhem, is being spread all over the internet. And people
all around town are talking about it. Has the city actually
come up with an idea to control the mayhem. Don't hold
your breath.
Click the image below for
info on the possible ordinance.
Under the new ordinance,
this is really going to cost you!
(photo
copyright Cozad)
___________
Who Da Guy?
In case you were wondering...
Newport's Alex Knost @ Triangle
Square...
______________________
OCC
Surf Team Reunion
The National Champion OCC Surf
Team between the years 1978 - 1982 held a reunion at
legendary surf coach icon Laird Hayes home last Saturday.
Many from the team showed, and a good time was had by
all. Old school Newport surfers will recognize Newport
surf legends Thom McElroy, Alan Lopez, Reese Udal and
John Gothard, among others in this photo. The younger
Newport crew, will have no idea who anyone is.
After 30 something years, Laird
is retiring, and is currently conducting his last surf
class for Orange Coast College. The end of an era for
sure.
30+ years worth of local surfers
are truly grateful to Coach Laird Hayes for his dedication
to us and the sport of surfing.
____________
The
Newport Boardriders
The Newport Boardriders is
a slowly forming club of local surfers that will be
competing in surfing against other beach communities.
Much more importantly however, it is a collective group
of individuals who will help to serve the local community,
and will eventually have a major voice in matters that
directly concern the Newport Beach surf community.
The Newport Boardriders first
event...
52nd to 56th St. beach clean
up. Last Saturday in Newport.
_______________-
Sadly late yesterday there was
a death at Maverick's. Kauai XXL Charger Sion Milosky
Please click the photo below
for info...
Maverick's
( Copyright Cozad)
_____________
This may hurt a little...Yesterday
in Newport
___________________________
Tsunami Advisory
2011
The City of Newport called all
residents at 4am with a recorded message regarding a
Tsunami Advisory.
An advisory is a suggestion to
stay away from the shore because of the likelihood of
strong currents.
It is not a call for evacuation.
Newport Beach Elementary canceled
school for Friday
Newport lifeguards cleared the
local beaches.
Tsunami Watch 2011
At The Beach Ball,
Friday Morning.
Click the photo for info on how
to help those that had to deal with a real Tsunami in
Japan
_______________
Corky Crandal was born and raised
in Newport, and has been chasing big surf all over the
planet for decades.
And he's got waverunners sitting
near big wave surf spots people have never heard of.
Corky's son Clay has followed
in his footsteps, charging big surf.
Check out this week's OC Weekly
of a couple of photos I shot of the Crandals, along
with a story by Newport's
Chasen Marshall. And click the
photo below for a 3 minute video of Clay showing how
versatile he is in the water.
Clay's currently looking for
a sponsor.
___________________
Valentine's
Day (Don't
forget)
Share
a special sunset, with someone special...
Yesterday in Newport.
____________________________
Wed., Feb. 9th, 2011
Never
leave early!!
Last
month I headed south for a big weekend swell with my
camera gear, boards and waverunner.
Unfortunately
I spent the entire first day of the swell sitting in
the middle of the ocean in fog. When I came in at dark
I was over it. I was cold, tired,
and
just wanted to head home and see my family, the sun
and some fun surf.
But as I bailed on everyone
that night,
I
knew there was a small chance I was blowing it by leaving.
And of coarse I was. The next morning was epic! Damn...
Click
the image below to see a pictorial of that day's epic
surf, by Art Brewer.
.jpg)
Brain Conley
and fog... Not epic.
________________
Monday, Feb. 7th,
2011
About 5 years
ago there was a swell... A swell with conditions like
no other. Conditions that made Newport all time.
A swell that
everyone will always remember .
A video of
that swell has been quietly sitting around for years.
Until Now...
Click the image
below.
A
Legendary Norwell Production.
&-192.jpg)
Play Time in Newport...
_______________
Friday, Jan 28th, 2011
Click the image
below to read about what happens when you mix drugs
and the beach together, yesterday @ 54th.
Trippin, in
Newport...
_________________________________
Jan
4th, 2010
During
last months heli run from Long Beach to San Diego we
actually went as far south as Coronado Island. And without
a doubt some of the best line-up shots came from
the San Diego
Harbor Entrance and the cliff lined reefs along Point
Loma. But like the images of the Ranch taken last year,
I chose not to release the images.
The first heli
shoot we upset a crew of locals at a Ventura surf spot,
and thankfully Surfline agreed to remove the photo from
the feature.
Since then
I've tried my best to balance trying to showcase photos
demonstrating the beauty of our coast from the air while
at the same
time trying
to respect locals and not expose certain coveted surf
breaks.
You can damage
a lot of surf spots with a helicopter and a camera if
you're not careful.
A
Local, From Above...
__________________________
Thursday,
Dec. 18th, 2010
Nick
Fowler, grabbing one more before dark...
___________________
Philip Cousteau
filming for "Animal Planet" behind him, seals
playing in front of him, and sharks lurking somewhere
below...
Newport's
Joey Head handles it all with style...
_________________________
Taking
a short walk to the pier... The
"Board Cam" @ Blackies.
__________________________________________________________
How did Grant
"Twiggy" Baker win The Maverick's Surf Contest
in 2006? By throwing himself over the ledge of beasts
like this time after time...
_______________________________
Say
good-bye to the surf of December, 2005...@ Todos
(photo
copyright NewportSurfShots.com)
_____________________________________________
All
photos on NewportSurfShots.com are copyrighted Tom Cozad.
No
images may be reproduced in any form without written
consent.
________________________
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