JettyGirl: Surf Photos

We know what you're thinking. Mid-May is certainly not summer ...yet a trip to the beach earlier today sure felt like summer, so much so that we've decided to kick off Jettygirl's annual summer photo feature a bit early this year. The water's warming up, the sun's out and there's no May Gray to be seen. We'll be adding regularly to this photo feature over the next four months so check back often. We hope that all of you have a wonderful summer and for those of you on the globe who are entering winter shortly, we hope these images will keep you inspired as you're pulling on your 4/3 fullsuits. Enjoy! Kulia...

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Presented by InsuranceSurfers.com Although the outside section gets the lion's share of points, anyone who's either watched or participated in a surf contest at Huntington Pier knows that you have to leave an exclamation point in the shorebreak to get the crowds on their feet. Although Huntington's sandy peaks seem fairly harmless, the shorebreak is anything but easy to navigate. After hopping through the notorious Huntington Hop zone, the final section looms up quickly, often without a chance to regain speed and much of the time in only a few inches of water. It's a tough place to stick your...

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Unlike most of our readers I've been alive since the first shortboard airs were attempted. Early on they were scoffed at and labeled as "tricks for kids." Despite the backlash of the early days though, I can vividly remember even the grumpiest on-the-wave-face-only surfers saying things like, "If someone could do a functional air to make a section though, that would be acceptable." Fast forward a few decades to the modern era and it's an accepted fact that high-performance surfing also includes air time. Huge spins, flips and tweaks aside, punting airs to make sections isn't as commonplace as I'd think...

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Earlier this year I caught my first glimpse of Hawaii's Alessa Quizon at the Rob Machado Pro Jr. at Seaside Reef. To my eyes, Alessa's approach to the fickle reef was part precision, part wrecking ball. While others were dodging, she was attacking. Her performance was so eye-opening to me that I couldn't help but think that the four finalists must have been thanking their lucky stars that Alessa didn't come up with a backup score in the semis. Alessa blasted this Occy-like turn at the Supergirl Pro Jr in Oceanside this summer to the cheers and applause of everyone on the beach. Keep your eyes...

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As we embark on another season of sunshine, we feel that there's no better way to celebrate summer than to showcase a few photos from our favorite time of year. Our goal here (more or less) is to post an image or two every few days so check back often to see what's new. We wish you all the best of times this summer and for those of you on the globe who are entering winter right now, I hope these will keep you stoked as you're pulling on your fullsuits. Enjoy! Leila Hurst - Photo: Chris Grant / JettyGirl.com August 9 - A clean turn on a glassy wave will always be a timeless move. Leila Hurst...

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Rob Machado Seaside Pro Junior Photo Gallery Photos: Chris Grant / JettyGirl Online Surf Magazine This year marked a first for Rob Machado's annual contest, the addition of a Pro Junior event for the girls. In the challenging and shifty conditions of Seaside Reef, the pre-contest favorite, Lakey Peterson, lived up to expectations and took out the Final, defeating Hawaii's Nage' Melamed and Leila Hurst with California's Taylor Pitz rounding out the field. Here are a few moments from the event... Left: Up the beach from the competition site, Lakey Peterson paddled out into a drifting, current-filled,...

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After leaving King Cove, Alaska, I arrived in the Seattle airport with a new sense of appreciation for the simplest of things. I was stoked to pick up my truck that I had left in my uncle's driveway for three months and make my way down south. I decided I'd drive the entire Coast Hwy 1 from southern Oregon to my doorstep in Encinitas, California. This road trip not only provided some quality alone time but a much needed decompression from life in the cannery. Here it is, Odyssey, Part 4: solo road trip down the coast, a short trip to Baja, and some quality time at home. Enjoy. My...

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One lazy day last summer I cruised down to Lowers to do some shooting. As luck would have it, I ran into a couple of amazing people from South Carolina, Keenan Lineback and Meghan Whitney. Over the years Meghan and her husband Jim have shot some wonderful images of Keenan and it was fun to watch Meghan working with her favorite subject at one of California's best summertime spots. You'll probably be seeing more of Keenan on the pages of JettyGirl shortly because she is relocating to San Diego to attend college this upcoming Fall. I'm bummed that Meghan won't be able to shoot with Keenan as often...

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Photos & Words by Chris Grant | Presented by InsuranceSurfers.com In 2003 for no apparent reason that I can recall, I registered the domain name JettyGirl.com. Wanting to revisit a hobby I hadn't done much since high school, in the spring of 2005 I gathered together as many coins as I could find and purchased a Canon 20D along with a lens that was better known for bird photography than for surf photography, the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L. At times it's been humbling to set up my gear between professional photographers and their 600mm behemoths and at others I've been asked by a few pro surfers...

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These images were taken during the San Diego fires of October 2007. As dozens of firefighters raced down nearby streets, our family had packed away a small amount of treasures and documents for a quick escape from the flames which were two hillsides from our home. In the end, the winds shifted and smoke and ash rained down on us instead of burning embers. Sadly, hundreds of families in San Diego were not so lucky during this firestorm. As often happens in life, there are two sides to every coin. In this case, the same fires that wrecked people's lives resulted in atmospheric conditions that...

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