Photographer Eric Stanger
www.vonstanger.com
Maverick’s Invitational Big Wave Contest 2013
After a 2 year wait, conditions were finally right and the decision was made to hold the Big Wave competition at Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay California, Sunday January 20, 2013. This would be the second time I was able to shoot the contest from a boat. The epic swell of the 2010 contest was the first. Conditions were very clean, with light offshore winds and not a cloud in the sky. With a 13-15 foot swell at a 18+ second period, meant that there would be a long lull in between sets of up to 20 minutes with an inconsistent wave size. Some Heats only saw a couple of decent sets push through making wave selection critical for the competitors to make it through to the next round. Local knowledge was definitely helpful making it into the finals with 3 of the 6 finalist hailing from Santa Cruz.
Photo 1 - Pre Contest warm up session saw quite a few decent sized glassy sets push through.
Photo 2 - Shawn Dollar and Ken ‘Skindog’ Collins taking a moment to assess the situation prior to Heat 1 as the sun comes up.
Photo 3 - Plenty of boats were out, making viewing difficult. Getting decent shots was very challenging. Compared to the 2010 contest, there were a lot more boats out. The Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol were also directing the larger boats to circle around counter clockwise in a big loop reducing the window to get a decent viewing angle. It was all a matter of luck of where the boat you were on was when the next set pushed through.
Photo 4 - With clean conditions and long lulls between sets, competitors seemed to be pushing the envelope a bit more. Here’s a 3 shot sequence of Shawn Dollar getting covered-up in the Semi-finals Heat 1.
Photo 5 - Peter Mel in red and Dave Wassel in white getting tangled-up on the drop in Round 1 Heat 1 while Ken Collins in yellow watches it unfold. The clean conditions also allowed for quite a few double take-offs. One going left, the other right.
Photo 6 - Zach Wormhoudt in the Semi Final Heat 2. Here he’s navigating through the tricky inside bowl section of the break. Zach would make it to the Finals and finish in 2nd.
Photo 7 - Shawn Dollar in green going right and Mark Healey in red taking the hard left line in Finals. Mark ended up taking 5th overall
Photo 8 - Peter Mel in red taking a more critical line and Shawn Dollar in blue in Semi Finals Heat 1. Mel would end winning the competition with Shawn taking 6th.
Camera - Canon 5D MarkII
Lens - Canon 100-400mm
Link to the complete contest photo-set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonstanger/sets/72157632577395949/
www.vonstanger.com
Maverick’s Invitational Big Wave Contest 2013
After a 2 year wait, conditions were finally right and the decision was made to hold the Big Wave competition at Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay California, Sunday January 20, 2013. This would be the second time I was able to shoot the contest from a boat. The epic swell of the 2010 contest was the first. Conditions were very clean, with light offshore winds and not a cloud in the sky. With a 13-15 foot swell at a 18+ second period, meant that there would be a long lull in between sets of up to 20 minutes with an inconsistent wave size. Some Heats only saw a couple of decent sets push through making wave selection critical for the competitors to make it through to the next round. Local knowledge was definitely helpful making it into the finals with 3 of the 6 finalist hailing from Santa Cruz.
Photo 1 - Pre Contest warm up session saw quite a few decent sized glassy sets push through.
Photo 2 - Shawn Dollar and Ken ‘Skindog’ Collins taking a moment to assess the situation prior to Heat 1 as the sun comes up.
Photo 3 - Plenty of boats were out, making viewing difficult. Getting decent shots was very challenging. Compared to the 2010 contest, there were a lot more boats out. The Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol were also directing the larger boats to circle around counter clockwise in a big loop reducing the window to get a decent viewing angle. It was all a matter of luck of where the boat you were on was when the next set pushed through.
Photo 4 - With clean conditions and long lulls between sets, competitors seemed to be pushing the envelope a bit more. Here’s a 3 shot sequence of Shawn Dollar getting covered-up in the Semi-finals Heat 1.
Photo 5 - Peter Mel in red and Dave Wassel in white getting tangled-up on the drop in Round 1 Heat 1 while Ken Collins in yellow watches it unfold. The clean conditions also allowed for quite a few double take-offs. One going left, the other right.
Photo 6 - Zach Wormhoudt in the Semi Final Heat 2. Here he’s navigating through the tricky inside bowl section of the break. Zach would make it to the Finals and finish in 2nd.
Photo 7 - Shawn Dollar in green going right and Mark Healey in red taking the hard left line in Finals. Mark ended up taking 5th overall
Photo 8 - Peter Mel in red taking a more critical line and Shawn Dollar in blue in Semi Finals Heat 1. Mel would end winning the competition with Shawn taking 6th.
Camera - Canon 5D MarkII
Lens - Canon 100-400mm
Link to the complete contest photo-set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonstanger/sets/72157632577395949/
