The Morning Show

Saturday morning in February, 2008.
The sun is out, the weekend warriors are filing in, and there’s surf!
What a way to start the weekend.

The crowd wasn’t thick, but it was well qualified. Most of
the guys out seemed to know the wave and how to ride it.
All the better for a photographer.

The swell was predicted, as usual these days, but the
perfect conditions were a bonus. And while the lulls could
get pretty long, the sets were well worth the wait.

Nice drop, into a nicer barrel.

Shooting into the morning sun can be a challenge,
unless you’re like me and you don’t really care!
Then it’s fine.

This guy knows the wave pretty well; that’s Doug Yartz from Surf Country.
He caught the lions share of set waves while we were there, and he had fun doing it.
That’s the whole idea, right?

Not only was he having fun, he was also directing traffic:
Waving someone else into a wave Doug knows is about to close out.

Morning is always the best time to see wildlife,
and this morning was no exception.
Everybody came out to greet the day.

Doug’s shop dog, Sammy, was on hand too, keeping
everybody in line and keeping tabs on his master.

There’s a lot of good surfers in Goleta, that’s why we started this website.
Like this guy above, who we don’t know, and the guy below, who we do know,
John Shields.

John is one of Goleta’s finest surfers and a hell of a nice guy.
This morning he was charging hard on a 10′ beast shaped in the 60’s by Rick Stoner.
The fact that he had no leash didn’t keep him from taking some chances with steep
drops and venturing deep into dark barrels.