Empire State Studios Show Opening 6/5 7PM

Looking forward to Saturday's opening. I am psyched to see Loreto and Matt's work. Join us if you can....... Empire State Studios 222 Merrick Road, Oceanside NY Opening Reception June 5th 7PM

4 out 5 pre-dawn sessions this work week...

not bad for new york.... keep it coming neptune!!!

Red Hot Lis Fish

We have been having a decent run of surf over the last several days. Hopefully the swell hangs on for a few more days. Waters warming up- the gloves are off and moving towards the three-two. This saturday at MolluskNYC Andy Kessler Foundation BBQ and movie screening. Should be a good time!!

Swallow tails rule!!

Vintage Caddy- the trunk can hold a 9'8 log with a glass-on fin.

lo-fi flare

funky little surprises are likely to occure when an old throw away camera is modified. I have been in a rut with shooting lately-- bare with me!!

NY Fish Fry(e) Part IV- The Pendo's

It was a pleasure to meet Steve and Cher Pendarvis at the Fry(e). So cool that they thought the event was worthwhile enough to travel from the epicenter of the fish to this lowly east coast outpost. Awesome to make a connection with a couple that are part of the early lineage of the fish platform. Such down to earth, stoked people.

Saltwater smile..

Now that its getting light at 4:45 AM, I have been able to dawn patrol during the week. So appreciative of starting the day this way. Absolutely beautiful morning today and the wave was actually okay-- a rarity around these parts!!

NY Fry(e)- part III: Desperate times call for Desperate Measures

This Danny Hess Hand Plane and a few alternative surfcrafts were about the only things that got any love at Saturdays Fish fry(e)..

NY Fish Fry(e) cont'd...

Papa Shipworm with this two other kids (Lis Keels). Mike was so amped on Saturday to get out to surf the shin splitters, gotta love his enthusiasm!!

A couple from the Ny Fish Fry(e)..

Casper
and the greenroomGood times on Saturday at the fish fry(e). Very mellow crowd with some beautiful surfboards on display. Unfortunately, Lake Atlantic was doing her thing... Funny the cops showed thinking that there was really gonna be a fish fry (deep fried fish with accompanied kegs). They were stoked to get some free tee's and see that the fry(e) was really just a very small gathering of people talking about surfboards. The cops were actually kinda annoyed to be bothered by such a trivial call- good thing they were not taken away from more pressing matters of crime.
I believe the line-up at the given spot will be safe from a new influx of crowds. Everyone take a deep breathe.

I shot a test roll with my new albeit very old Zeiss Contaflex 35 mm(gotta love German glass). I inadvertently over-exposed a good portion of the roll, due to some glitches with my hand held Gossen light meter. Cross processing the over exposed film- really bumped up the contrast and grain. I'll post up a few over the next couple of days

Empire State Studios and Salt Stained Eyes..

I am looking forward to my upcoming show at Empire State Studios. I will be showing a bunch of new photos along with fellow photographers, Matt Clark and Loreto Caceres. The opening reception is Saturday, June 5th at 7PM.
http://www.empirestatestudios.com

Fish Frye tomorrow- hopefully a little wave and some good light

Simms21 by John Cherry

I can not say enough about this board... so I'll let John Cherry do the talking,

" Hi Jack,

Congratulations…I’m stoked that you are looking forward to having the board. A lot of aloha went into it when it was made. Based on what you are used to riding and checking out your fish quiver on your blog, I think you will really like it. Yours was #3 in production, Morgan’s was #2, my brother Frank’s was #4. I’m shaping #14 tomorrow, another 6-3.

I hadn’t planned on the shape becoming a series model when I dreamed up #1 for myself. I just wanted to take some of the characteristics that I liked about the 10-0 reproduction Simmons that I ride and combine them with some of the modern fish/quad performance characteristics that work so well.

What is similar to the Original Simmons is the wide template, nose-to-tail, the subtle step-deck and the transitional rail. Transitional rail just means that the rail transitions evenly from a hard up rail at the nose to a hard down rail at the tail.

The original Simmons boards are wave catching machines because of their wide template. The center concave gives them great down-the-line speed. But they are heavy (32lbs) and the long center concave combined with the fins anchored on the end of the tail make them very difficult to turn.

The Simm 21’s are of course very light. I pulled the tail in just a tad and gave it a soft diamond outline instead of a squared off tailblock. I moved the twin keels from off of the corners of the tail to a modern fish position. Instead of a long parallel concave down the center of the bottom, like the original Simmons, I shaped a very subtle single into double concave bottom. It has a modern rail profile. It has a low, progressive rocker.

The end result is another wave-catching machine. The Simm-21’s paddle and catch waves like boards that are a foot or two longer. The low rocker combined with the modern concave set-up gives it superb hull speed. The twin-fish fin set-up combined with the soft diamond tail make the board as maneuverable as a modern fish. The trailer fin was added to provide a bit of tail drive that the fish don’t have.

The Simm-21’s would be another great desert-island board. Because of the increased bottom area they perform very well in mediocre or minimal surf conditions and they absolutely RIP in good surf...

Your new Simm 21 should last a long time. It is glassed with two layers of 6oz on the deck and single 6oz on the bottom. When I shape the boards to their thickness dimensions, it all comes off of the bottom, very little from the deck. This makes for a stronger deck under the glass. They are very sturdy. The t-band stringer is cedar and basswood……super sturdy.

Your fins are of course custom made. The twin template is one that Rich Pavel and I designed together.

I laminated African mahogany, white maple and lace sycamore to build your fin blanks, then templated, foiled and glassed them. Your board is 100% hand shaped, nose to fins, laminated by Gary Stuber at Moonlight Glassing.

I hope it puts you right where you like to be, many times over.

Aloha,

John Cherry"

Only one taker at dawn..

I really like the sense of aloneness this photograph captures. A desolate, stormy, cold morning with a fairly significant swell event. Only one taker at dawn.

shelter from the storm

This is a photograph from the last legitimate swell that we have had in these parts (well over a month ago). Pouring sideways rain, strong easterly winds and biting temperatures made seeking shelter a priority during the early morning surf check. Test run with my Healthways Mako Shark dive camera.. pure lower than lo-fi optics!!

Merry Prankster outpost..

It's good to see that individuality is alive an well.

An Accidental Horizon

I am not sure how it happened, but I like it....

A drive by..

A classic car located in an extremely surprising location...

twin fins of sorts....

I am gearing up to do a bunch of water photography this Spring and Summer. I have just finished the modification of my water-proofed Brownie Hawkeye and am excited to see what it can do. Looking for recommendations on good swim fins. Please comment if you have some knowledge in this area.

Toycam- Lo-fi Photography

I am pleased to announce my inclusion in a soon to be published photography book entitled: Toycam: Lo-fi Photography. Click the above photo for a better look at the announcement and photograph. The book will be release sometime in the early portion of the summer and will include several of my images and an interview. More information about the project can be found at Toy Camera book or here. It is so nice to have your work recognized by people who are passionate about photography.

A nice write up about the UnsOund Surf Art Show and Benefit Auction was done at Eastern Surf Magazine. Check out the article here . Thanks again to UnsOund and all the artists who made the auction a success and helped the Tommy Brull Foundation out!!

John Cherry Simms21

One of my favorite boards.

MMMMOLLUSK.....

random shot from my last trip into mollusk.

I need fishy pics for the fishfryny.blogspot.com send to brullj@gmail.com