Ben Moon is an adventure/travel photographer who lives in Oregon
(why does it seem there are so many adventure travel photographers living in the Northwest?). His
stuff is all about color, the pictures are vivid and clear and expertly
composed. This photo is just one of numerous beautiful pictures that you can see on his
Web site. He shoots lots of outdoor sports including surfing, paddling and
climbing.
Surfing…New Jersey
How does that old Beach Boys song go? Surfing’s mighty wild, it’s getting bigger everyday from Hawaii to the
shores of Peru. Well,
now add New Jersey
to the list. According to Surfer magazine editor Chris Mauro, the number of surfers in New Jersey has quadrupled in the
last 10 to 15 years as people from the Garden State take to the waves with a passion they once reserved for Bruce
Springsteen.
Why now? Well, they say, for one thing baby boomers who were hot on the sport and moved to California have perhaps
moved back home and are now getting their kids into the action. Also, some big names in surfing are from New Jersey and
have spread the surfing gospel back home. And finally, a relatively new law has given New Jerseyites access to beaches
that they didn’t use to have, thus creating new opportunities to ride NJ breakers.
Having never surfed New Jersey myself, I just thought this was an interesting story. You simply don’t read much
about surfing in New Jersey.
Wavewatch
Let’s say your sitting there right now perhaps wondering whether you should get off your ass, pick up your board and
hit the beach. But you have no idea whether the waves at, say
Ventura Point are any good. Well, now you
can check.
Wavewatch is a great site that lets you check out how the breakers are rolling
from the comfort of your chair. It looks like many of California’s best beaches are covered including Ventura Point,
Malibu, El Porto, Huntington Beach, Newport at 56th Street, San Clemente, and Oceanside, as well as other places around
the world.
There are live cams showing the breakers in real time, and in other areas live satellite feeds show the local
conditions. This is a must-bookmark site for any desk-bound surfers in need of immediate info on their favorite surf
spots. HIGHLY recommended.
Surfing NSSA Photos
Some
sweet
photos from the NSSA National Championship held over the weekend at Salt Creek…several pages of them in fact.
Really good stuff that should keep your clicking fingers busy for a few minutes.
The National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) competition is for young surfers
and bodyboarders with an academic bent. The group promotes hitting the waves and the books with equal fervor.
The results of the competition can be seen
here.
Photo of the Day: (6/25/05)
Today’s POTD comes from the site of Heather Champ, the
blogger/photographer extraordinaire, who made the A list on blogebrity
(yours truly remains a C-lister). Cool photo. Very elegant, minimalist. For those who don’t know, Heather is also half
the brains (along with her husband Derek) behind JPG Mag, a cool new print
magazine that everyone should check out.