Photos by Fortman
pt. 2

We keep seeing James Fortman’s pictures around and we even see him at the beach
once in a while too. So we thought it was time to hit him up for some more of his stuff.
And he just keeps getting better. Above is Poles on Christmas Eve.

Later that same day, Brian Switzer finds some shade.
Brian told Fortman he didn’t have any pictures of himself surfing, so James took this for him.
Now he does….

Switzer again, same session.
Check out the afternoon sun shining through the lip.

Aaah, home sweet home..
We like the tilted horizon on this shot, mostly cuz it looks cool,
but also cuz we know how it irks the “professional” photographers.
We never got that rule. Our heads are on a swivel, so the horizon isn’t always perfectly level.
Deal with it.

Unidentified in a classic pose.
Check his right hand, dragging behind..

James says this guy, Brandon Smith, was getting five times more waves than anyone else.
Check out how much of his board is in the water…

A gorgeous morning for dawn patrol at everybody’s favorite spot.

A backlit grinder goes unridden.

The last moments of daylight make for a moody photo.
Notice the surfers reflection in the foreground.

Last drops of sun make for a surreal image.

Shaun Tomson ripping the top off a set wave.

Wow. This is our favorite shot, hands down.
Nice work.

High tide and still barreling.
No, he didn’t make it off the foam ball.

Shooting straight into the sun, through a beautiful green wave.
This makes us want to go surf, right now.

Lines, rolling in.


OK. Wow again. This is another favorite.
The glassy foreground texture, the sunlit spray, the boils from the dangerously shallow water,
the dude with a board in the background = exceptional photo.

Another late afternoon barrel slips through unridden.

The wispy clouds and the lip being feathered back by offshores are just beautiful
distractions from the fact that this guy is getting a sweet little barrel.

So inviting….

You know it’s glassy when you see the reflection of the wave in the wave!

James, getting intimate with the shore pound.
Look closely and notice the little blobs of foam caught in mid air.
Amazing.

Translucent lip, trapped in time.

This photo is so amazingly crystal clear, it’s makes another thing perfectly clear.
There’s no where else like this.
Makes us wanna say,
Viva Goleta.
And please, keep shooting James.