I took these shots on Winterton Beach in Norfolk, England last week, even though they are 6000 miles from California they feel strangely familiar. To my mind a spell is cast wherever sea or ocean meets land.

The new web site I designed for Liz Anah.

Liz Anah escaped from New Jersey at a young age, never looking back. Her spare, smoky vocal style and simple but unforgettable songs grew out of a journey that included stops in Michigan for school, a pilgrimage to an Ashram in India, and serious hard time teaching in the Oakland public schools. Liz Anah’s music has a kind of gritty innocence. Her songs are direct, potent stories of real-life heartache and shattered love, powered by an indomitable optimism that demands attention. (Excerpt from her website bio).

Liz's new CD realease 'Fade to Black' Photography by K.Stokes

I met Liz Anah through other local coastside musicians, namely Montara locals and good buddies Mark and Mike (The Fourth Street Experience). One night at Cafe Lucca open mike, Liz and I got talking after her set, she knew that I designed Mike McCalls CD ‘The Lone Cypress’ and worked with him on several photo-shoots. She told me that she had a new CD nearly ready for release and that she needed a design for the cover. We took it from there and agreed that I would shoot her for some promo shots and her CD cover and re-design her website to fit in with her new look. I’m really pleased with the result (so is Liz)! Visit the website www.lizanah.com it features several shots from the photo session taken one very cold day around the HMB boat yards. Liz wanted a gritty urban look, but also wanted to retain a feminine feel, I think we achieved what she was looking for. The final CD cover image was taken toward the end of the session in the afternoon light. ‘Fade to Black’ is Liz’s first CD release and you can get hold of a copy on her web site by clicking this link.

These shots were taken by me from the bluffs which are about a mile from the wave, thanks to the Canon 600 mm lens my buddy Michael has lent me I was able to get some half decent shots of some of the first heat waves. It’s great to see shots of the pit from a boat close up, but these distance shots really give you a sense of the scale and magnitude of these waves. The surfers truly are modern day gladiators! Enjoy my photos, by clicking the full screen viewer.

Here is the second installment on my ‘Waves and Riders’ surf photography series, this time the shots are mainly from sessions shot during the big storms that have been hitting the NorCal coast. I hope you enjoy (be sure to click on the ‘Fullscreen’ button in the middle of the image box to enjoy the work at full size).

Surfer Bart WIllems attached a cam to the nose of his board and paddled out to catch some waves at Mavericks, great footage, and as close as most of us will ever get to riding one of the waves out there.

This is my latest photographic project, I hope you enjoy my work, I had much fun making it. Big shout out to by buddy/photographer Michael Winokur for lending me his badass Canon 300mm lens. Most of these shots where taken either from Montara Beach or Surfers Beach. Make sure to click on the window and view full screen to get the full effect.

This time of year is my favorite time to enjoy the beach. Warm(ish), blustery and fresh all at the same time. The surf looks like gigantic wild white horses galloping toward shore as I take my stroll North up the beach, the large swell has the tow-in crowd at Mavericks getting all the pre-competition practice they can. The beach is real steep at the surf line, carved out deep by the relentless pounding waves. This combination of a steep shore and big surf can be lethal (the tragic loss of the Mother and daughter is still fresh in my mind) yet some  parents still foolishly allow their children to play in or near the surf line, choosing to ignore the posted warnings at the foot of the stairs.

As the day wears on the light becomes so beautiful I can’t resist going home to get my camera check out some of the shots in the gallery section. I know these are black and white but I’ll get around to posting the color ones soon.

Surfers Beach in miniature. ©KStokes 09

Playing around in Photoshop, I love the ‘Tilt Shift’ lens effect , looks like a tiny model scene. Click the photo to view full size and get the full effect.

Albatross chick dead from plastic consumption-Midway Atoll ©Chris Jordan

Midway
Message from the Gyre

“These photographs of albatross chicks were made just a few weeks ago on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.”

~cj, October 2009

(Reproduced from www.chrisjordan.com)

This guys work is incredible, please click here to check out his web site.

Inside the Devils Slide tunnel ©CalTrans. Photographer John Huseby

I was thinking just the other day how awesome it would be to get a tour inside one of the tunnel bores, and of course take my trusty Canon 20D with me.
Imagine being INSIDE the mountain deep under the rock which has not seen the light of day for probably many millions of years. Well chances of that happening for me are pretty slim, but there is a very lucky HMB photographer by the name of Larrs Howlett who got that chance. Here is a link to a slideshow gallery of his exciting visit into the very bowels of the mountain. Great shots, I’m very jealous…. There is also an Official Caltrans Photography Catalog by photographer John Huseby. Enjoy.