December Civic Couch Issue

Civic Couch

December Collection

The Photography of Brad Jacobson

WATER

I N S I D E

LAND

WAVES ETC

COVER: Los Angeles has never looked so good!

DECEMBER COLLECTION

Got Questions or comments? Email them to: BRAD@CIVICCOUCH.COM GET WEEKLY PHOTO UPDATES ON OUR FACEBOOK

This isssue is a collection of shots that I took throughout the month of December 2012

WATER Close-out shots offer the non-surfer a glimpse into the cave.

For the surfer, remaining calm and holding your poise requires experience because what happens next is explosive.

Surfer : Matt Mohagen

Jamie Meistrell

Jamie surfs with emotion. He and Matt Mohagen (previous page) are polar opposites. While Matt stands still and stays calm, Jamie jumps with excitement. Both are great and fun to watch. It’s interesting to see how individual each surfer is.

Flare

I love the way this wave sets up. It’s a classic barrel kissed by the early morning sun.

Surfer: Eric Tomlinson

CIVIC

8 COUCH

CHRIS

WELLS QUALITY ~ PRECISION ~ INNOVATION ~ SERVICE

www.oakfoils.blogspot.com

Above : Matt Chernega Below: Steve Howe

A

different perspective

I mainly shoot with a wide angle lens in the water. It allows me to get in the barrel with the rider. This is a different perspective for me. Sitting out on the shoulder, showing both sides of the wave. Notice how much lower the water in front of the wave is. It’s literally sucking up water as it approaches the sand.

Dane Zaun Dane Zaun can launch higher than any one I’ve ever shot. Here, he opts to stay on the wave and get tucked in

Calm Before

the...

This is a “pretty” picture. You have a nice green wave with a colorful sky. What you don’t see is that I am in waist high water with decent size wave getting ready to crack on my head. In shallow water there is no where to hide. I’m also praying that Jamie doesn’t get taken out by the lip and come rolling in at me. surfer: Jamie Meistrell

Simple Beauty

The bottom turn sets up everything. The surfers bottom turn tells me what they are going to do. A strong, sharp bottom turn lets me know that the surfer is gaining speed to crack back up the face of the wave and hit the lip. A gentle turn means they are adjusting their wave placement for speed, either to come fly down the face for an air or to set up for the barrel. In this case, Matt got an incredible barrel ride! surfer: Matt Pagan

Matt Mohagen

Matt didn’t catch many waves this day but he took full advantage on the ones he got!

Looks

are deceiving

Chad’s calm demeanor along with the way the wave is standing up makes it look makeable. Once this wave hits the shallow inside section it implodes.

Many boards (and ankles) have been snapped in two here. surfer: Chad Elliott

Drainer This angle shows the vortex of the wave. It gives you a great perspective of the shallow water getting sucked up as the incoming wave drains. Matt Pagan, somewhere between getting sucked up and drained out.

Surfing is a sport of inches.

CIVIC

26 COUCH

Obstacle

I tend to shoot with people I know. I like to know their tendencies. In order for me to get the shot I need to get in their way. I know they are not going to worry about hitting me. Here, Steve Howe concerns himself with the wave, not me.

Groms

I am amazed with the amount of talent the South Bay groms have.

They have the “no fear� attitude backed up with plenty of ability to pull it off. surfer: Kyle Beatty

CIVIC

29 COUCH

Dayton Silva

Dayton just got back from his first trip to the North Shore. Looks like he got plenty of practice for days like this.

Nick Ferrara

Grab, tuck and GO!

Steve Howehead dip

Charlie Carver

LAND

The making of a great surf day; sunny, offshore winds and a good swell. Warm water would make things perfect but Chris Wells isn’t complaining!

Moving Around

I moved around a lot this day to look for unique perspectives. This is tricky because I have to anticipate where the surfer will be on the best part of the wave. It came together for me on this shot.

Matt Meistrell giving “Mr. Frog� a show.

Bird

on a

Wire

I love this wave. It’s inviting. It looks easy. It’s barrelling. It looks makable. My favorite phrase as a photographer is “PHOTO’S LIE” . The bird on the volleyball net knows this, that why he has his back to the action.

Above : Conor Beatty.

Below: A good place to be

Matt Pagan “Construction Grab”

Blowing Up It took me a while to figure out how to frame the beach constuction with Matt Pagan. This particular beach doesn’t offer much room to manuever . After climbing some hills, dodging speeding cars and jumping a fence I found the spot.

Kelly Zaun

ClOsE Up

Close shots let the viewer focus on the subject and his immediate surroundings.

Smelling

the

Roses

Sometimes a wave comes to you that is so good you need to take a moment to enjoy the view. Chris Wells, observing

Tucking In

Drop in, line it up, gain speed and get spit out.

Bike Path

Matt Pagan banks off a South Bay lip on a fun, sunny late December morning.

Hanging On

I enjoy shooting at this angle. The hills and the cliffside community add depth that you don’t get shooting straight on. surfer: Matt Mohagen

C

Calm Amoungst

the

Crazy

I didn’t notice it until Brian Bradfield pointed it out, “Look at the impact zone! So heavy!” It was that impact zone which broke Chris Wells ankle the next day. Here, Chris enjoys staying slotted away from the bone crushing zone.

Matt Pagan tucked away

Morning offshores

Noah Collins racing

In between the trees

Conor Beatty

Pat Webber - Style

Charlie Carver

Setting it up

WAVES

Morning offshore winds blowing the top off

Here it comes

The curtain coming down

50/50

Green Room

A-Frame

This spot almost never splits down the middle. This spot also very rarely goes unridden. I think I just got a shot of Big Foot!

Back Wash

This is what happens when outgoing water flows into incoming water. You don’t want to be on a wave when this happens.

Where

the city hits

the sea

Force

It looks beautiful but there is a lot of power pushing there

Notebook

As a kid I would drawl waves like this in my notebook at school.

ETC

I usually don’t shoot sunsets. I was hunting around for a place that was protected from the afternoon winds with Jamie Meistrell and ended up here. It’s illegal to surf inside the horseshoe, so I sat back and watched. As the “golden hour” approached, the sky turned pink. I went back to my car, grabbed my camera and shot away.

Explosive

Before I shot the sunset (previous page), I noticed two guys running around on jet skiis. Waves were expoding off the Redondo Breakwall and they were running around just inside of it.

Who’s Going To Fee The pond at Polliwog Park turns into a lake after most heavy rain storms. It’s best to bring flippers if you want to relax on the benches. I wonder what the “lady in white” use to do during the rain?

ed

The Ducks?

Wrinkled Backside A wave breaks just off the Redondo Beach Pier

Parting

shot

Blue skies, palm trees and flooded benches