WA young legends OLD MERVS will be bringing their Garage Surf Indie vibes to Bournemouth this November on a UK Tour. with support from local stand outs Fake a Smile Band & George Kingman (of Wave Chase). Grab your tickets now.
One Day in Dorset - October 2024
Un-edited - Straight outa the camera. Copyright - Resin and Rum Social Club
Logjam UK - 2018 Look Back - Passenger x Single Fin Summer Camp
LogJam UK x Passenger Clothing Summer camp 2018. During the midst of a summer heat wave, a collective of Channel Coast loggers hit the road in the early hours from Dorset to Cornwall, regardless of imperfect forecasts in search of fortune and glory along the Cornish Coast.. supported by Passenger Clothing we enjoyed relentless summer windswells, campfires, and had a blast. 3 sessions over 2 days.. good food, beers and people, with beaches & line ups to ourselves. With up to 10 loggers in the water it was an all in jam, with turns being taken on the water cam.
Stand out performances from Andy Verreck, Ben Brown and Michael Winter as per usual.. & all surfed with stoke and enjoyment. With a well earned camp up on the Saturday eve. Passenger x Ringwood ales were enjoyed & a swift walk to the Smugglers Den public house rounded off a great first day. Late nights and early morns were washed away nicely with coffees on the gas hob, and another fun session at the Dune of Doom.
No rules, no judging, just logging. It was so good to see so many quality turns and nose rides whilst paddling back out. This event was an underground event, no posters, no judges, just a jam, and plenty of board swaps.
The Log Jam is a celebration of traditional surfing, small waves & single fins. Established in 2013 it has attracted attendees from all over the UK, including previous winners, Ben Skinner, James Parry & current champ Beth Leighfield.. all remarking on the joyous occasion that is the Logjam UK.
Single Fin Summer Camp attendees 2018 included - Ben Brown, Ben Jones, Michael Winter, Ed Anthony, Paul Charlton, Andy Verreck & Mel Verreck, Mike Stead, Mark Hammer, and Andy White.
Chariots of the Sun - Flashback Friday - Byron Bay, The Pass
Magic, warm, and slightly toasted with Chariots of the Sun. Fun sesh.
Sea Folk - Mathieu Lodin of Finistere, Brittany
We have long been a fan of Mathieu Lodin from Finistere, France. He captures moments from a lifetime on and around the coast. with Sea Folk
Who?
I’m a french art director, graphic designer & photographer based in France.
I live in Brittany, in Finistère to be exact, along the north west coast.
I’m 35 and two years ago, I created with my wife, Nomades, a journal & a creative studio. We are working on brand identities, photography, storytelling and more.
I take also surf photography just for pleasure.
Where?
was born in Tours (middle of France) but I lived in Nantes until 22. I have studied composite material and naval architecture but I was more interested by design than scientific calculations. Then I studied myself graphic design and photography.
Why?
I’m inspired by everything around me : photography, architecture, design, food, painting, old papers, boats… I’m curious and I like to discover new universes.
What?
When I’m on/in the sea, time stops. No watches, no telephone, just you, the ocean and your friends. It’s wild, uncontrollable, you only have to adapt. Each day, the ocean is different : swell, wind, color… everything is ephemeral like a photograph. A photograph is an instant, a fraction of a second, like a wave.
When?
I started to take photos for documenting a sailing boat construction during my studies. After, I used my photographs with my graphics design. I learned to surf late (25), and I started to take surf photography with a water housing.
The ocean?
I have always been passionate about sailing boats, well before surfing. I particularly like wooden sailing boats.
Now?
I surf and take surfing photographs with friends.
Next?
With my creative studio, we have good projects in progress : an identity and packaging for a French Whisky, interior design for a B&B in a old lighthouse… Différents projects !
Most memorable oceanic moments ?
I remember last autumn, I sailed and took photographs with Loick Peyron, a sailing legend in France. The sunrise was orange, the ocean was quiet and the wind was perfect. We sailed few years with his little yellow trimaran. A moment out of time with a generous master.
M A T H I E U L O D I N
Tumblr : mathieulodin.tumblr.com
Instagram : @matlodin
Sea Folk - Matt Pearce of Sydney Australia
We always relish the pics that Matt posts .. it’s good to catch up with an old friend. Matt moved to Australia from Dorset and finds him self capturing some amazing ocean scapes. Sea Folk caught up with Matt.
Where?
I grew up in Poole, Dorset. An awesome place to be a kid, with beaches, islands, forests, heathland and craggy coves all within easy reach. After uni in Plymouth I spent a few years in Bristol and then London but the last 4 years I’ve been living and working in Australia. I was in Bondi for a while but now live further south in Cronulla. There are loads of waves to choose from south of Sydney, less crowds in and out the water and a real community vibe in the towns.
Why?
I grew up bodyboarding and used to buy the VHS tapes from the No Friends crew out in Hawaii, charging huge Waimea shorey and crazy Pipeline. People like Spencer Skipper and Jeff Hubbard. Me and my mates would get hyped up and then go surf waist high mush at Southbourne, ha!
More recently I’ve been getting into ocean and surf photography and I've spent a lot of time looking at people like Ray Collins, Peter Jovic, who does some super smooth slow shutter shots, Woody Gooch and Gruet Florian, who does some great portrait style imagery in the water.
What?
It always resonates when I hear other people saying they find the ocean calming or relaxing or humbling or meditative. Those emotional things definitely play a part, but I also think the draw has to do with the rational side as well. It’s such a dynamic place, you have to read swell forecasts and wind forecasts. You have to know the angles in the coast and what the tide will be doing. If I’m planning to shoot I use cloud forecasts to work out what kind of light I’ll be shooting in, which in turn influences the wave I’ll head to. When all of that comes together and I score epic conditions and get some great shots, it’s as much about my preparation being rewarded as it is about being in the moment and surrounded by the ocean.
When?
When I moved to Australia I swapped my road bike for my brothers Nikon D3000 and a kit lens. It was a basic set up but it got me out there taking photos. After maybe a year of playing around with that I knew I wanted something better and my Dad, who's a passionate photographer himself, gave me son's rates on his trusty Nikon D7100 and an 18-200mm lens. From that point on I just photographed everything I could, figuring out the technical and artistic side of shooting.
Then about a year ago I realised I needed to get the camera out in the surf to really capture the angles I was imagining in my head. After a lot of research I went with an Aquatech Compac/Elite housing and a fixed 50mm f/1.8 lens, which is perfect for what I shoot now.
The ocean?
I love ocean swimming. Picking a spot down the coast and swimming to it feels amazing. Where I live is real rocky so the water is crystal clear and there are loads of fish around.
I recently completed a Surf Life Saving course so I can volunteer lifeguard on the beaches through the summer. It was an awesome way to build confidence in the ocean and hopefully deal with situations when they go wrong. Some of the spots we surf can be a bit remote or difficult to access, so knowing a bit about First Aid and handling yourself in the water could come in handy.
I still get out surfing and bodyboarding on the less photogenic days. But I've lost count of how many times I've been running round the apartment, trying to decide whether to surf or shoot, only for the wind to go onshore before I make a decision and I end up sat on the balcony with a coffee doing neither!
Now?
Right now I’m actually off work, nursing an old back injury that flared up after shooting an amazing swell at Shark Island a few days ago. I’m chilling on the balcony with a view of the ocean and 200 photos to sort through, so I’m happy!
Next?
I recently bought a car so I’m excited to hit new spots up and down the coast and chase the last few big swells of the winter down here. I’m considering buying a dome port and a wide angle lens for some of those ‘in the barrel’ shots. Summer is just around the corner and I’m keen for some warm water and weekends camping out.
Most memorable oceanic moments ?
We get quite a few dolphins in the bay where my girlfriend and I live. One morning she was working out with a friend on the rocks and text me to say there were some dolphins close in. I was still in bed but jumped up, grabbed my wetty, put the camera in the housing and was out the door. I got to the coastal path and set off at full speed in the direction the dolphins were heading. I reached the jump off spot, yanked on my flippers and was in.
They immediately disappeared.
I figured I might as well swim out to where there were some waves breaking and see if I could get any shots of the surf. After 30 minutes of average waves I was turning round to swim in when I heard a ‘whoosh’ behind me and turned around to see about 8 dolphins hanging in the water only a few meters away. They almost looked like they were watching me. I pointed the camera at them and held the shutter down hoping at least one or two would be in focus. They came towards me, passing on both sides super close, came up for one last breath and vanished again. I was late for work but a couple of shots came out, so I think it was worth it!
Website: http://mattpearcephotography.squarespace.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pearce_m
Waist High Surf Club - Devon Howard WSL Tour Director - Insights #1
Devon Howard WSL Tour Director - Insights #1
We catch up with Devon Howard PRE WORLD SHUT DOWN for the first of our ‘Insights’ off the back of a successful WSL Noosa, Queensland 2020. Interview by Paul Charlton. Photography with thanks - Sean Wolflick - Before it all kicked off.
We have long been fans of Devon Howard.. A second-generation surfer from San Diego, Devon rides with style, documents surf culture and after years in the industry is serving commissioner of the revamped WSL (World Surf League) Longboard tour, and what a dramatic & positive change that has seen.
Making notable appearances in Thomas Campbell’s influential films The Seedling and Sprout; and Jason Baffa’s classics Single Fin Yellow and One California Day, many of us have grown up with Devon as a constant in Longboard surfing..
Photo by Sean Wolflick.
We are stoked on the New tour & recent event in Noosa; with the re-emergence of traditional logging, Joel and the Hawaiian charge! How did this WSL call up come to fruition? and, how did you go about getting all the guys and girls you wanted, into it?
The owners of the WSL longboard (surf) on a regular basis and love it. Wingnut is their surf coach and they expressed to him their interest in expanding the once a year world event that had been going on for many years. Wingnut suggested I might be someone that could make it happen so he rang me up and away we went. I messaged a bunch of the surfers personally and asked if they’d give it a crack. A lot responded and a lot didn’t, I’m thinking maybe they just wanted to see how this was going to all pan out before jumping in.
It was such a successful tour last year, which saw a changing of the guard in terms of what the judges were looking for. How hard was it to keep some of the athletes that were used to 2+1 performance boards on the tour this year?
The criteria we are using had already been in place for a few years before I started, and in that criteria it doesn’t say anything about the board you ride - that’s up the surfer. What changed is that we are now applying it correctly, and we also have more surfers to apply it too. If everyone that enters rides in a high performance style then you will still have scores, and a champion. So I worked closely with the judges to have a better understanding of the criteria and how it applies to the surfing we are seeing. The first event or two was confusing for some surfers but by the end of the year you saw many of them making equipment changes on their own as well as totally revamping their approach so they could surf to the criteria. Some surfers just hung up the jersey entirely but most have adapted.
And what about Joel, how did you manage to get him back on to the world competitive stage after so many years, aside from the change in judging?
It didn’t take any convincing, he was excited about doing this on his own. Nat Young won his later titles in his early to mid 40’s so I’m guessing Joel feels quite confident he can nab another one. He never wanted to stop competing, but he did when he parted ways with WSL many years ago due to not agreeing with the direction long boarding was heading under the leadership of WSL at the time. So that’s why he started his Duct Tapes , to showcase what he thought was the best type of longboarding was in competition.
How many confirmed stops are there on both the men and women’s tour this year?
We are in the middle of finalizing two major events in California, then we have New York. So four events total when including Noosa. Keep eye peeled for news soon.
What’s next for you outside of planning for the next WSL event? Any exciting projects on the horizon?
I have been working on a midlength design with Channel Islands Surfboards that just came out, called the CI Mid. Will be focusing on rolling that out and working on a follow up design to compliment it in the near future. I also have a marketing consulting business that will continue to tend to.
Single Fin Yellow is on a lot of peoples favourite surf film lists and introduced you to some of us whom were young (ish) at the time that film came out in 2003. Can you give us a brief insight into how you got to know Jason Baffa, working with him on other projects (One California Day) and that board itself from Tyler Hatzikian?
I’ve got a lot of nice feedback from Single Fin Yellow and One California Day. I met Jason during some travels and just really liked his vibe and his vision. He teamed up with Mark Jeremias for One California Day and it was quite a project to undertake. The Tyler board in Single Fin was inspired by a Mike Doyle model, and it was a little tricky to nose ride but overall i loved the flow of the board. Year later I got several boards from Tyler that were total game changers. The Double Step Deck and Throttle model were mental and allowed me to get better at surfing quite late in life.
And finally will we see the commissioner make an appearance competing on any of the events in the near future?
I’m afraid not, I was happy winning the Deus 9 ft and Single in 2014 and can’t imagine I will top that. Plus no one wants to see old guys still trying to compete against the kids… unless you are Joel Tudor or Kelly Slater.
Devon in full trim | Photo by Sean Wolfick.
Thank you Devon Howard - March 2020
To learn more about Devon’s marketing agency visit his website Blue Sky Agency or follow him on Instagram.
To see more photography by Sean follow him on Instagram.