Film or digital?

I started on film, but I also grew up making my home-movies through the home-video revolution. So I became, at an early age, very accustomed to the immediacy of VHS, HD and eventually digital. But it wasn’t until recently that I could say I trust or even like the look of digital imagery. To me it always felt like TV – not cinematic. This really drove the decision to shoot film on my three independent documentaries.

Today, I think technology has caught up and the images are amazing from all formats. Is it the Indian or the arrow? In the end, film will always be dear to my heart (and probably my preferred medium) but I embrace what the digital world now offers to both photographers and filmmakers. Let’s hope all formats stay around for a long time so we can creatively and fiscally decide from project to project what works best. 

When was the last time you used a single use (disposable) camera?

I took one to Italy while making my last film, Bella Vita. I like to have these around, ya sorta never know what you are going to get.  

What did you decide to shoot with your camera for this project?

This was the hardest part for me. 27 precious frames. Damn, I had so many different ideas and I really didn’t want to waste a shot. In the end, I knew I was going to be in Hawaii through the holidays so I thought there might be something fun to do there. When I heard that the Vans Triple Crown was going to run the Pipe contest I thought, huh, well there’s a really unique way to use this camera – basically, it is the last camera you would ever want (wide angle, manual advance, single shot film camera with no focus control or f-stop) at a modern surf contest. I think 95% of the photographers on the beach were shooting digital, long lens, rapid fire frames-per-second. Don’t miss a moment professor, Pipe is cracking and Lance Burkhart might win! But hey, why not flip the script and try something different – so that was my goal… Let’s see what we can get with the opposite format I’d normally choose for this particular event.  

Did you have any interesting experiences along the way?

I really enjoyed having to frame up, what I thought might be a great shot, and waiting, waiting, waiting for that little window of CLICK. Especially at Pipe. There were so many good waves that day, but I really tried to wait for what looked like a photographic moment. I also told myself, no multiples of the same setup. So I tried my best to change up every frame. I missed one epic shot. There was this young kid playing in the shore break with deep red trunks. He stopped right in front of me and watched a really good wave in the background. I shoulda pulled the trigger – moment missed. Bummer.

What was the biggest challenge (if any) you had with the project?

I found it funny how stressed I got about actually “covering” the story of the event – I kept thinking, oh, I got him going to his heat, now I need a wave. Oh dang, if he advances, I should stay and follow the story. I’m pathetic that way – let it go idiot – shoot some frames and have fun! I have issues. In the end, I’m happy with the framing, but had some technical issue with the camera – multiple frames came back blurry. Being that I was shooting static on a full sun day, I’m guessing this was some kind of registration issue on the low-fi, plastic camera. I’ve had so many rolls of super 16mm come back with heart-breaking flaws, it definitely makes you consider the benefits of digital and chimping your shots, making those in-the-moment adjustments, shooting more until you nail it, but where’s the magic in that? I’ll just call the blur artistic and make a day of it. 

What was your favorite image from the roll?

Look, Pipe is such a photographic spot, I hedged my bet pretty well. We could probably send a monkey drunk on absinthe to that event and they’d bag a banger image. But I will say, I thought this one was pretty cool: the one of an empty barrel and the bush in the foreground. I like that the foreground is dark and it’s a nice Pipe Moment. I’d probably crop it and re-frame a hair, but ya, that’s my favorite. Ironically, I’m more bummed on a few of the ones that came in blurry that might-have-been! Those what-if’s?! I was really hoping the one with the security guards was going to be epic. Those guys control that beach so well and I thought something over their shoulder with a banger surf moment would have been great – oh well! Maybe I need the absinthe.