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Grandpa update – week 5

grampa1

I got this email a few days ago.  For those of you following the ‘Grandpa’ story (original post here) or know our friend Chris, he is having a tough go of things after his motorcycle accident.  I was going to write this email into a story, but it speaks for itself. This shot is Chris on a smallish day at Padang Padang.  I can’t remember if he hit bottom, but he definitely got tossed around a bit. It was ridiculously shallow (always is).  For something even more impressive, see Grandpa’s xray with wired jawbone and missing teeth on the bottom of the post! Wow.

Now here’s Chris…

so I got up, saddled up the black knight, and headed up to the Bukit, to go for a swim, as I had not touched the water at Uluwatu for 5 weeks…………..it was nice to see old friends, and see that Big Jim, Edward, Ryan, were at (Spot edited out), and ‘ol Diga was at the Racetrack, pullin in……….a tea and a banana milkshake, was all I could do, there was no banana pancake today……….3 days ago I went to the dentist to have an overall look at what options I have…………the dentist brought in the oral surgeon, who throw the plastic surgeon (who set my jaw) straight under the bus…………in other words, he said we must try to reposition your jaw, now to fix your “open bite” before they have to do a major surgery and re-break your jaw……………the breaking of the jaw was bad enough, just ask Todd & Diga, a re-break was not part of my plan………..2 days ago the oral surgeon put braces on my teeth, closed my jaw with rubber-bands, and said come back tomorrow………once I showed up and sat down, he was so pleased with the rubber-banded jaw, that he pulled them out, replaced with wire and cranked it down tight, “repositioning” the jaw……….UNCOMFORTABLE……………….to say the least, but not as bad or painful as my head thought it would be………so it’s another 3 weeks eating through a syringe……….again……..juice and soup, but I have a new tool, delivered from the good ‘ol USA, actually a present from Piper, that Huey delivered, it’s a hand crank, food grinder, to mush food for baby’s, when I first got it, was when the plastic surgeon, cut the wires so I could open my mouth, and I didn’t need to grind any food, Piper said you could grind a steak or a cheeseburger in it, although those 2 items do not sound appealing to me, Dan brought me a cannelloni last nite to test the grinder…..

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……it worked, it made mush, it was a bit hard sucking it through my missing teeth and into my mouth, actually hurt to do it, I did it, then put the other 1/2 in and cranked it down to much and finished the cannelloni……….thanks Piper…………now the shoulder is on hold until after the braces come off, I see the dentist every 3 or 4 days to crank down the wires and “reposition” the jaw……..my visa expires on the 17th of July..

……..exactly 3 weeks from when the dentist wired me shut………and he said it will take 3 weeks no sooner……….I changed my ticket to Bangkok to the 18th………can’t wait to see what the doctors in Bangkok have to say about my shoulder…………hopefully it can be fixed and I can surf again………only time will tell…………….that is my story……..and I am sticking to it…………

Return to the Mentawai Islands

050509enam0577 copyI was in the Mentawai’s back in May on the Indies Trader 3 and will be returning again in less than 2 weeks.  We had a few small days on the last trip like this one, but anytime you can rip a turn like Australian Eddie here, it’s a fun day!  I am looking forward to getting back out there and shooting a group of friends I have had on several trips in the past.  As always, if you are looking for a photographer or videographer to capture your surf trip check out Mentawai Surf Photos.

Industrial Los Angeles

062309J_s125Last week I had an engagement photo shoot with a couple that is getting married in August.  They wanted an industrial look to the photos because all their friends had pictures showing them ‘frolicking on the beach’.  Now I am a beach guy and I even like to frolic on the beach once in awhile, but I hear what they are saying. Engagement beach shots are pretty cliche already. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to shoot in this old loft in downtown Los Angeles and got some great shots of them.  This was one of my favorites.  The afternoon light is incredible in this place.  Want some shots like this? Get in touch.  And don’t forget, I can be hired for surf photography too when the waves come back!

Surfing Java, Indonesia

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This is G-Land. It’s not an epic day or a bad day. The place always seems to have waves.  I have ridden some of the best lefts of my life here.  The atmosphere is what a surf trip should be- a dense jungle with basic accommodation, offshore winds and nothing to do but surf!

While it doesn’t have the variety that, say, the Mentawai Islands offers, it is still one of the best waves on the planet. If you go to Bali there is no reason not to spend a few days over in G-Land.

CPS – Canon Professional Services

cpsToday I just wanted to do a post for those pro photographers out there.  Canon Professional Services a.k.a the CPS program has been updated and it is easier than ever to become a member.  You used to have to show all kinds of published work and jump through hoops to become a member, but now it is as easy as having professional equipment and deriving at least 51% of your income from photography.  Simple.

The advantages to being a member of CPS are many.  First, you can have your equipment repaired or cleaned at a discounted rate (sometimes free) and, more importantly, you can get your equipment in a timely manner.  I dropped off two camera bodies at the repair center in Irvine and one was finished when I returned from lunch and the other was shipped to me the next day.  Here are some more stories about how awesome being a CPS member can be.  There are several levels depending on the equipment you have and how much you want to pay.  I have the gold plan, which was $100 and has already paid for itself.

The only thing difficult about the whole thing is finding the website!  I have it linked to the logo above or you can find the CPS website here and read all about it.  If you are a nikon user, I am sure they have a similar program and you may want to look into it.

Good luck and get out there and shoot!