Since moving to Santa Cruz, I’ve often noticed people standing on surfboards and paddling around just offshore. That seems like fun, I’d think to myself. How lovely their silhouettes look at sunset as they glide across the water, and just imagine the photos you could get from that perspective.

Little did I know I’d be spending one Valentine’s Day at the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, jumping in and out of a car with a camera, as we drove up and down the length of the channel photographing paddleboarders in action for the website of a new SUP shop called Covewater Paddle Surf.

SUP means Standup Paddleboarding, and it’s become quite a popular pastime; this must be true, because The New York Times said so. Scott and Leslie Ruble are so passionate about sharing this sport that they opened the only dedicated Standup Paddleboarding shop on the West Coast north of Santa Barbara, and are busily purveying SUP equipment, accessories, classes and rentals.

It was Scott who drove me to and fro in the harbor that day, stopping at good vantage points to let me out for a minute or so to shoot SUP class groups as they made their way along the channel. Meanwhile, Leslie was in the water, teaching the art of SUP and looking like its best advertisement. I could tell that watching other people out in the water was making Scott want to get on his paddleboard, and the feeling was contagious. I totally want to try it, and of course I know exactly where I can rent equipment and take lessons now (that’s Covewater Paddle Surf, in case you didn’t catch it the first time).

SUP seems to inspire a strong reverence for the ocean (or lake, or even river- people use all of these for paddleboarding). It’s a slightly different spirituality than that of wave surfing, which focuses on the swell and the tides. SUP can make use of water in all states, calm or otherwise, and is devoted to exploring, observing, or just being there, out on the water.

As I picked out my favorite photos from that day to share with you, I was reminded of this poem by Philip Larkin, called Water:

If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.

And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-angled light
Would congregate endlessly.

The only person who got a “furious devout drench” that day was Jeffrey Kongslie, who was a great sport about it, and who really deserves his own category on this blog. In fact, I’m going to give him one right now.

Enjoy the photos, and don’t forget to try Standup Paddleboarding!

Before you see these sweet engagement photos of Sarah and Jon, you may need to get warmed up in the heart area, and shaken up in the brain area. So here is a love poem that should do the trick. This poem was written by e.e. cummings; I don’t think it has a title.

love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail

it is more mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky

This post is Part 2 of a 3-part series. Read Part 1 – Read Part 2 – Read Part 3

Another thing that was great about Liz and Gary’s wedding was that Gary’s side of the family had (mostly) come over from the U.K. to attend.  It was nice to discuss the fickleness of March weather in London with Gary’s sister, which is a topic that doesn’t usually come up in most weddings we shoot.

The fact that almost everyone had cameras was also something to be happy about.  Some photographers are annoyed by masses of people with point and shoot cameras, but how can it be bad for friends and family to want to take pictures of loved ones?  As a fan of photography, there’s not really any way that I can protest this.  Sometimes it means that we need to do a bit more maneuvering, or shout things like “look over here for a moment!”, but that’s a small price to pay.  After all, the wedding is about the families and friends, NOT the photographers.

Having other people taking photos also helps in some ways – it’s sometimes easier to get the close-up, unguarded shots of the happy couple if their attention is elsewhere!

Anyway – this particular wedding took place on the beach at dusk, and was a very quick ceremony, punctuated with bikers and joggers on the path directly behind the ceremony site.  Some of them kept right on going, some of them stopped to watch.  I think I would probably have stopped to watch, too.

The officiant was unique as well – her stole was festooned with a variety of colorful patches – one for each wedding she’d taken part in.   I think one of them was an ear of corn, and I’m kind of sad that I didn’t get the story behind that one.

On to the photos!

This post is Part 1 of a 3-part series. Read Part 1 – Read Part 2 – Read Part 3

Liz and Gary got married on the beach in Santa Monica, which is rather farther than our normal shoots, but we took it on because a) traveling is fun, and b) Liz was referred to us by my friend Sora, who I’ve known since high school.  Sora lives in South Korea but was taking an online writing class that Liz was also attending, and happened to mention that she was getting married, and the result is the photos you see below!

I shot this one solo, as it was logistically impossible for both me and Rebecca to be in Southern California at the same time, and while it was certainly different than shooting as part of a team, I think it turned out great!

I also enjoyed taking the bride’s Getting Ready shots, which is something that Rebecca usually handles, although that meant that I couldn’t get shots of Gary doing his Getting Ready thing.  I’m sure he’s pretty broken up about that…