Surf photography, Maui 1990s

When I moved to Maui in 1993, I continued my surf photography at places like Jaws, Hookipa, and south shores. It was great to watch people like Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama riding huge waves and trying new things like straps on surfboards. It is very exciting to watch a place like Jaws breaking with its rugged coastline, high cliffs, plus it is not that easy to get to. Back then the surfers didn't wear PFDs (personal floatation device).
Wind is always a factor on Maui, so naturally I shot a little bit of windsurfing.
A lot of my shots are posted on flickr.
Here are some of my favorite shots from the 90s on Maui.

Archie Kalepa at Honolua Bay 1990s

Charlie Solario at Maalaea 1990s

Dave Kalama testing footstraps at Hookipa 1990s

Ever style master Laird Hamilton at Hookipa. Blame Laird!

Thanksgiving Day, Dave Kalama at Jaws 1990s

Casual style at Jaws, not sure who this is. 1990s

Mike Waltze at Jaws 1990s

Josh Angulo at Hookipa, 1990s

Surf photography retro 80s by simone reddingius

My surf photography started in 1976, when I moved to Santa Barbara and lived near Rincon beach (the quality of the images was pretty bad so I won't post them). I loved to surf there, so after surfing or if it was too big for me, I would set up my tripod near the rocks and shoot whoever looked good on a wave.
In the early 80s, I started working at camera stores so I was able to buy better equipment. I even bought a used Scott Preiss water housing from a friend and experimented with water shots. One of them was eventually published in Surfing Magazine.
I would take pictures of my favorite surfers, they included Tommy Curren, Kim Mearig, Shaun Tomson and Andy Neumann.

I will never forget this wave, Tommy Curren got covered up on the take-off and he just wiggled out of it and did a big bottom turn and then hit the lip. 

Andy Neumann was (and still is) the stylemaster on a longboard. This was taken during a Surf 'N' Wear  Rincon Classic surf contest.

Shaun Tomson. This was black and white film that got damaged over the years of storage. Taken with the Scott Preiss waterhousing on a gray day.

Kim Mearig was always fun to shoot and watch. She was the most stylish woman surfer anywhere.

This is one of my favorite shots and it got published in Surfing Magazine, almost a center spread.
This is Tim Smally who was one of the hot young rippers at Rincon. 

The Golden 80s

The golden 80s. Golden for me as I was young and blossoming into the surfer I always wanted to be. Even though I lived closer to the beach, I still drove for miles to look for surf. My brother had given me his old camera and telephoto lens and someone at a local camera store put it on all the settings I needed to take pictures of surfing. 

When I eventually started working at the camera store that helped me, I was able to buy better equipment and take better pictures. I joined the WISA (Women’s International Surfing Association) and surfed competitavely. That took me all over California from Santa Cruz to Del Mar, I even went to Hawaii to compete in the 1980 US Amatuer Championships. 

 As my surf photography improved, a friend of mine introduced me to Larry Moore at Surfing Magazine, he took me under his wing and gave me a lot of coaching and press passes to shoot at OP Pro events in Huntington Beach. My work was published in Surfing Magazine and a couple of times in Surfer Magazine. My parents had given me their camper truck they called “Happy Red” so that was my home away from home. 

It was fun exploring different surf spots up and down the coast of California. 

My favorite place to surf and shoot though was Rincon. A perfect peeling right hand point wave that you can ride for a long time. 

I moved to Maui in 1993 and continued surfing and surf photography. The waves are much bigger here, and I enjoy shooting at Jaws (Peahi) and Hookipa on the north shore. This large surf washes up some beautiful treasures that I like to turn into jewelry.

This is me in a nutshell and my next blogs will be about the stuff I am and have been creating.

Aloha

Did a little bit of modeling for a California based agency.

Waiting for my heat to start. 

Taking pictures at Rincon

Aleeda wetsuit ad.

My Magic Bus. It took me quite a few places. I was sad to let it go.

Modeling a new style of swim suit. I still have my old tan lines.

The 70s

Fast forward to the 70s. We moved to California in 1964 and did a lot of camping in the mountains and near the beach. We lived about an hour inland so getting away was very necessary. I feel lucky that I had parents that loved the outdoors and we used to camp in tents or tent trailers doing all the cooking on a stove outside the tent. There was another family we often went camping with and they had a lot of kids so there was never a dull moment. Entertainment was hiking, sailing, skiing, playing in the water or building sandcastles in the sand. When we learned how to ski in the early 70s, we would even camp out in our tricked out Ford Econoline van that my dad fixed up with cabinets, a bed, shelves and a cool 8 track tape deck that would be blasting Eagles, Creedence, Jethro Tull, America or Santana. We would drive to Snow Summit or Mammoth at night and the three of us would sleep in the van and wake up slope side and go skiing for the day or the weekend. We would camp throughout California, back then you could just pack up and go on a whim.

Since most of my relatives lived in Holland, my parents took me there often when I was young. And we always went camping some where in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Greece. My grandpa had a tiny little Fiat that my mom and I would borrow and load up the camping gear. We always had the smallest tent and everything was stored outside of it. 

When we camped near the beach, I was always mesmerized by the breaking waves. I would watch the surfers carrying their boards, waxing them up and then dancing on the waves. I wanted that lifestyle. I thought it fit me. Hanging out at the beach, sun bleached hair, sunburned nose that was always raw. I met a lifeguard who took me under his wing and taught me about surfing and playing guitar. 

One day, my mom came home with a huge longboard that she had bought at a yard sale for a dollar. The fin was loose, but I didn’t know any better. It was my first surfboard. My dad some how tied it to the roof of our van and off we went. The fin eventually broke off but I still tried to ride it like that. The board kept drifting in different directions. My friend in high school said he could make a short board out of it and I believed him. Too bad I let him destroy it. It might have been worth something today. I ended up buying a real short board from another friend in high school and before you knew it, my girlfriend and I were ditching school to go to the beach.

Camping with my grandparents in France. We called this car the "Ugly Duckling"

Camping in Europe. Our tent is the tiny one.

Possibly my first camera

My first surfboard

Fishing with my grandpa

My mom skiing at Snow Summit with our red van in the background.

Camping at Carpinteria State Beach

Lifeguard Denny showing us a few tunes on the guitar

There was never a dull moment! Roasting marshmallows with the "Swanies"

70s surf chick

In 1976 after high school, we moved to Santa Barbara. Thats when my dreams of being a surfer came true. I was close to the beach and tried to go every day I could. My dad gave me $200 dollars and said “go and explore Santa Barbara and surfing”. So I did.

Welcome

Aloha and welcome to my blog. I'm new at this so please bear with me. I'm still working on the layout and design of my blog so things can still change.
I would like to introduce my photography and jewelry. You can click the links above that will take you directly to the websites.
Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions as I'm finding my way through blog world.

Simone