Friday October 18, 2013
Sunrise session with minimal crowds, game on.
October 21, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: alpine live, alpine-live, Alpine-live.com, alpinelive, east coast, new england, new england surf, new hampshire, new hampshire surf, new hampshire surfing, surf photos, weather | Leave a comment
Fall on the Seacoast | October 1, 2013
Finally! What a release.
After a long, flat, ordinary summer and a dismal hurricane season (so far?), we’ve received a welcomed autumn swell. The small Easterly swell direction and funky tide made for wobbly and sometimes walled out conditions in many of our favorite spots. Alternatively, it lit up some not-so-frequented spots along the coast that accept the E swell exclusively. Regardless, I spent most of the morning Tuesday doing the run around bullshit. The ‘is it better over there?’ complex.
I face this conflict all the time when we go skiing. I ski at Bolton enough to know what spots will be poached first and which spots don’t see much traffic. The conflict often arises on powder days, evaluating the risk/reward for going to spot A on first chair vs. spot B or C? The classic maneuver is leaving your super secret stash for later in the day because you’re confident no one’s going to poach it. It’s more practical to ski out the more popular and usually better/steeper/deeper terrain until it’s tracked out.
Short but semi-relative tangent – My brother used to tell me that when he arrived in Bozeman, MT in 2007 and got his first season pass to Bridger, The Ridge terrain was preserved until the afternoon. Skiers wouldn’t hike The Ridge from first chair, primarily because everyone was under the ‘code’ that inbounds terrain was first to get tracked out and when it’s done, then everyone can pillage the ridge. This was well before the Slushman’s backcountry access lift was put in.
You’d think that a new lift put in place to turn previously out of bounds terrain into new resort sidecountry might help to spread skiers out but instead it seemed to just add more chaos, and with the chaos came the cave-in and relinquishment of the ‘code’. It’s difficult to draw a parallel here and I guess there’s really no way to compare the two sports in this manner.
…..BUT if there ever was a similar code in surfing, the last bit of the foundation caved in when the first stand up paddled into a wave.
Crowds aside, most of the time these small one day swell windows make for crunch time decisions on the high tide. My solution is simple, and probably common:
Follow the speed limit and scope every friggin spot in question.
At the least get some recon from a friend. As annoying and unnecessary as it may sound, I can relax knowing I made the best possible decision. Additionally, for as long as I can remember I haven’t had to endure any ‘Oh man, you should have been there’.
I’m sure everyone scored on this last swell. It looked like there were good waves at every spot I passed but for me, in the end it’s about the adventure and maximizing the potential of the day, the lighting, the subject or the equipment and it’s also about producing an image I’m happy and confident showing to other people. Unfortunately for me, these photos just don’t come from simply driving down to Rye and clicking the shutter.
The photographer has the ability to reference the images and prove that the team has made the best decision, in the case that they did make the best decision. Unfortunately Matt and I didn’t win on any images Tuesday, we didn’t even come close – but it’s good to work the rust out, remind the surfer of his weaknesses (just kidding, not his flailing arms) and explore new spots that we’ve never seen break.
DAMNNN it feels good to be shooting at the ocean again.
A little all over the place on today’s blog – it’s been a while since I posted anything and I may be in a state of seasonal confusion.
October 3, 2013 | Categories: Bolton, Surf Photos, Surf Related | Tags: alpine live, Alpine-live.com, alpinelive, bolton, Bolton Valley, Bozeman, bozeman montana, Bridger Bowl, bridget bowl, east coast, hurricane forecasting, hurricane swell, new england surf, new hampshire surf, ryan denning photography, Skiing, slushman's, slushman's lift, surf photography, surf photos | Leave a comment
Surf | 4-25-13
Last night at one of my favourite places in the world (I realize I say that a lot – this one for real though)
April 26, 2013 | Categories: Storm Chasing, Surf Photos, Surf Related | Tags: alpine live, alpine-live, Alpine-live.com, new hampshire, new hampshire surf, new hampshire surfing, surf, surf photos, surfing | 1 Comment
Spring
Spring is here and there’s been some nice weather down on the Seacoast. The skatepark is dry, there’s been some trace of surf the last few days and the sunsets have been gorgeous. I think it actually hit 60 the other day but it’s still Winter up in Vermont. Stowe is reporting 7-12″ in the last 48 hours! It’s going to be an awesome spring up there for sure – the resorts close down pretty soon but it’ll be prime for spring touring. There are deals galore if you’re looking for a touring setup, this is the time of year to shop.
On another note, I started a new website for my own personal work – check it out at www.ryandenning.com
April 3, 2013 | Categories: Bolton, Skate, Surf Photos, Surf Related | Tags: alpine live, alpine-live, Alpine-live.com, alpinelive, Bolton Valley, forecast, landscape, landscapes, new hampshire, new hampshire surf, new hampshire surfing, Powder, powder skiing, rye harbor, rye harbor new hampshire, rye harbor nh, seacoast, Skateboarding, Skiing, Snowboarding, Stowe, stowe mountain, surf, surf forecast, surf photos, surfing, vermont, VT, weather, winter surfing | 4 Comments
Surf | March 24, 2011
Onshore and snowy.
March 24, 2011 | Categories: Snow Photos, Snow Related, Surf Photos, Uncategorized | Tags: hampton beach, new england surfing, new hampshire surf, surf, surf photos, surfing new hampshire, winter surfing | Leave a comment
Surf | November 13, 2010
Chyea, solid today.
November 13, 2010 | Categories: Snow Photos, Snow Related | Tags: 2010 hurricane season, alpine-live, Alpine-live.com, east coast, forecast, hurricane forecast, hurricane forecasting, hurricane swell, Maine, new england, new england surf, new hampshire, new hampshire surf, new hampshire surfing, surf, surf photos, surfing, winter weather | Leave a comment
Surf | 11-6-10
Woke up this morning absurdly early because my sleep schedule is mangled, I could hear the ocean from my house and that usually means it’s pretty well raging. Stevie O’Hara from Pioneers was absolutely shredding, the majority of these photos are of him.
Edited to add that Kelly Slater has also won his 10th world title today. No one else in sports history has won 10 world titles. Congratulations Kelly!
November 6, 2010 | Categories: Surf Photos, Surf Related | Tags: 2010 hurricane season, east coast, hurricane forecasting, hurricane swell, Maine, mexico, Mike Stanek, new england, new england surf, new hampshire, new hampshire surf, new hampshire surfing, pioneers surf shop, steve o'hara, surf, surf forecast, surf photos, surfing, tobey parke, winter weather | Leave a comment
Igor Part Two – September 21, 2010
This morning was some of the finer surf I’ve seen all season. Hooked up with some boys in Maine and shot so many photos the camera over-heated. It was pumping to say the least, here is a little sample.
September 21, 2010 | Categories: Storm Chasing, Surf Photos | Tags: hurricane forecast, hurricane forecasting, Hurricane Igor, hurricane season, igor, Maine, new england, new england surf, surf, surf photos, surfing, weather | 1 Comment