1971 Windansea. La Jolla, CA. “This was one of my first times that I went out to shoot from the water at Windansea. I had a brand new Scott Priess water housing and was floating on a Hodgeman raft. It was really difficult to manual focus while having to twist the stiff barrel of the housing. It’s even harder to manually focus the lens as the surfers are speeding towards you. I had spent so many years in the water surfing by that time, that going out there was pretty easy. When you are surfing you are always trying to paddle into the pit and catch the wave. When you are shooting photos you simply position yourself to avoid the waves –simple. Shooting surfing in this era, there was never anyone else doing it. No one to follow. Pretty bizarre how it has changed when I think back on it.”
– Jeff Divine
Find out more about Jeff and his work here.
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When they tore down the old La Jolla High School (1975?) my friends and I were rummaging through the debris and found an old attendance report from 1970 or 1971. I can’t remember exactly, but it listed Jeff with a string of unexcused absences for something like 10 straight days. I figure there must have been a primo swell firing off around that time, huh?
While looking closely at the picture above I noticed two of the riders in the photo. They guy with the beard is Root Swan and the one in front is Mark Ghio. Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end…