Jay Watson Photography

Drift Surfing published my account of the Mavericks surf contest with my words and 28 full screen size images here. The piece is not a commentary on contests or corporate sponsors. It is about my personal experience of what it was like shooting from the media boat.
“Incoming” now viewable on www.driftsurfing.com

“The entire Mavericks experience was both awesome and horrible at the same time. On the 13th of February 2010, there was no place I would rather have been. Conditions were good. I heard thunder all day long and fans hooted even when waves went unridden. It was also the most physically demanding thing I have ever done with a camera. With all of that power tossing and turning the boat, my body wondered early on, “what did you get yourself into?”

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1AM Still Packing

The Build Up
As epic as the words may sound, it is really only half of the story that surrounded the day. Contestants voted on Wed Feb 10th to compete on Sat and the announcement was made public on Thursday Feb 11. I was shooting assignments on both Thursday and Friday leaving less than 2 hectic filled days to prepare for the waves. This included selecting my lenses, picking up rental gear, packing, researching more info on the surfers, picking up the media pass in Half Moon Bay, and lining up two back-up plans for boat access. I slept less than 3 hours the night before the event and was at the docks early Saturday morning at 6am. There was also the uncertainty I would even get a spot on the media boat the morning of the contest. The waiting list was 5 times longer than available spots, yet I had to prepare as if it was going to happen.

Maybe I was lucky to get a seat on the boat, but I really worked “it” to get there. If I didn’t prepare and was granted a spot, it would have shown in the images. It was better to play it safe than to be sorry for it later. This doesn’t happen everyday and the last contest was 2 years ago.

Queen Of Hearts

Darryl “Flea” Virostko in person.

Western swell with light winds from the south.

Ion Banner robbing trains.

The Aftermath
I was hung over on Valentines day from the shoot. It lasted for 2 weeks, but not from the motion sickness. It was due to late nights processing well over 1200 images, making selections, writing captions, and working on a layout and sequence for the piece. The writing alone included 5 edits in total. Then came the unexpected side of the story.

As I was working, I witnessed numerous journalists, papers, bloggers, and fans post their take on the event. Some of which were very good and similar to my own images. Why was I spending all this time on something already well covered? It was becoming ancient in today’s live status and real time world. Nobody wants to see images of President Obama’s inauguration 1 year later. True. Unless there is a unique perspective.

I can’t complete with news media outlets. They are more efficient and can bust out a story in hours. My goals are different and spending 2 weeks on the Mavs project forced me to choose some less typical images, and tell a less obvious story. Drift’s presentation for an online editorial publication is very original. They create both multi page features and short daily blog entries. As a feature, they ran all 28 of my selections FULL SCREEN which is a refreshing way for Mavs fans to view the waves online. So it was rewarding to read the promoter comment “one of the coolest contest-day perspectives we’ve seen, great stuff.”

That was the intention.

Special thanks to Glen Sakamoto and Joe Conway for the support. You can see the entire post of Mavericks on Drift Surfing. More effort went into it than simply pressing a button on a black box. Hope you enjoy it.

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UPDATE: Select images from the series “Our Only Summer Swell” won an honorable mention at the 2010 International Photography Awards in the editorial category.

Now on the newsstands is the October issue of Inked Magazine featuring a spread I shot of the San Francisco punk band Dead To Me.  Members Ian, Chicken, and Nathan are signed to Fat Wreck Chords and were 3 of the nicest chaps to photograph. They were awfully good sports about hiking around the wretched hobo-smelling sand dunes of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. It was also windy and cold, but the guys just cracked jokes and were stoked to be in Inked. Me too. Big shout to my homie and long time SF music photographer Jeremy Harris on this one.

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Outtake portraits from left to right: Ian (drums), Chicken (vocals & bass), and Nathan (guitar & vocals).

My selection for the band’s group shot.

Inked Mag selection for the group shot.

Note about the shoot: San Francisco’s dunes are a unique gem for city residents, but you would never know this is a “protected” area. We ran into some diplomat sleeping in a nest stocked with cardboard, dirty socks, and an empty bottle of Mad Dog. What time is the dinner party Sir Henry?

Covered: Porsche. San Carlos, CA © Jay Watson Photography

About the shoot: “Covered”

I have been working on a series titled “Covered.” I started seeing covered cars everywhere a few years ago and have been going out to find candidates a few times a month. It is a nice change from commercial work, but it has it’s frustrations. There are plenty of covered cars in California, and their popularity is something I find interesting. It says something about the lifestyle and culture of California. The biggest challenge is the locations. Often the cars are parked in driveways with distracting elements in the background. There almost always seems to be too much foliage, too many trees, too much house, not the right house, not enough profile, etc… This visual noise takes away from the form that is naturally created by the covering.

Technically these are very simple photos, but the hunting and gathering is where this project will succeed or fail. Time spent searching for locations and making final image selections is more important than the camera work. The image above might make the final cut, or it might hit the cutting room floor. I won’t know until I have more gems.

versatile – ver·sa·tile, adjective
from Webster’s dictionary:

3: capable of turning forward or backward, reversible, capable of moving laterally and up and down

4: having many uses or applications

26 year old Kevin Pomplun, CEO of SkyGrid. © Jay Watson Photography

Last week I shot a corporate executive portrait for a New York financial magazine. These editorial type of assignments some call “bread and butter” gigs and is something I get called for often. Sometimes these are word of mouth assignments. If I do a good job, the art director will most likely spread the word. Since these deadlines are normally VERY tight, the art directors need someone dependable.

This shoot was on Wed at 12 noon. Early edits were uploaded Thursday morning 10 am, selects were made by the art director 40 minutes later, and final images were transmitted on Thursday 2 pm (4:00 NY time). If you can work quickly and apply some creativity to these situations, you can find yourself to be “the go to guy” for a few different art directors

Is it stressful? Yes and No. Read the rest of this entry »

versatile – ver·sa·tile, adjective
from Webster’s dictionary:

1: changing or fluctuating readily : variable <a versatile disposition
2: embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills; also : turning with ease from one thing to another

Portrait of the bride @ Jay Watson Photography

Last week I shot a wedding. Yes a wedding. It does happen on occasion and is one of the last word of mouth businesses left in photography. Sometimes the chips fall and you have to ride the wave when something good falls in your lap. I got a call from a young couple in New York who liked my work and asked me to shoot their wedding in Sonora, CA. These are the types of clients you want. Someone who respects your vision and who really appreciates your effort. Not a bad gig. With the changing tide of commercial photography today, it is important for photographers to be more open towards shooting outside their normal genres. Wedding photography is similar to lifestyle, apparel, and editorial work so it can be a good fit for a flexible commercial shooter.

Wedding photography. Is it stressful? Well…not really. Read the rest of this entry »

A few images were posted recently from a fashion shoot I did for Garage Magazine, but I didn’t want to show too much before the mag hit the stands. Last week the official release party for issue 16 was held at the Irish Bank in downtown SF. Here are the rest of the spreads as they are in the mag.

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About the shoot:
I have been wanting to do a period theme piece based off the 1930′s Dust Bowl era for several years, and was able to convince the fellas at Garage to let me have a go at it. They were into it and after much collaboration it’s finally in print. The scope of the project had to change slightly in order to fit within the budget and creative needs of the magazine. All the  locations remained in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read the rest of this entry »

Fashion shoot for Vive La Reine clothing in San Francisco, CA. © Jay Watson Photography

This week Lexar.com has featured a clothing fashion shoot on their Digital Photography home page, which covers a fast pace assignment I did for the San Francisco clothing company Vive La Reine. More work goes into a clothing shoot then you might think. Read Behind A Clothing Shoot to see the rest.