Surf Photo Friday - Jen Smith and Her Furry Friend, Colin, in Cardiff, California
Photos by Chris Grant
The year was 2007 and Jen Smith had just returned home from France after winning her first ASP Women's Longboard World Title. Though jet lagged and exhausted from the festivities, Jen met me for a quick surf at Cardiff Reef. Perhaps the reef itself sensed everyone's depleted energy levels and didn't really offer much in the way of quality waves. Jen rode a few, touched the nose a couple of times, and returned the beach to her anxiously waiting dog, Colin.
In retrospect, this session was never going to be about Jen riding waves. Instead, the lazy day was more about reconnecting---the return back to a normal pace of life in her beloved San Diego and to meeting up with friends of both the furry and human variety who were waiting to congratulate her on her world title. Looking back, I can't really remember anything from that day other than the look in Colin's eyes as he saw Jen leaving the water to take him for a walk. A world title is amazing no doubt, but the love of a good friend is priceless beyond words.
Thank you for dropping by for another installment of Surf Photo Friday. Have a great weekend everyone ...and as always, thank you for your support of Jettygirl. Please consider helping out with a "Pay Whatever You Like" subscription to the site. Every little bit helps!
Photo Credits: Chris Grant / Jettygirl.com
Previous Surf Photo Fridays | Stephanie Schechter, Family Surf Trip to Panama | Prue Jeffries on a Donald Takayama Quad | Sara Taylor Sequence | Get Stoked on Lady Shapers | The Session That Changed Everything | Justine Dupont and Pauline Ado in California | Role Models, Why They Still Matter | Surfing New Jersey's Polar Vortex Swells with the K Twins | Mele Saili and Hayden Lane, Cardiff Reef | Jill Manos Surfs the Freezing Water of Nova Scotia, Canada | Malia Ward, Chris Ward, & a Surf Photographer's Second Worst Nightmare | Chloe Buckley & the Tiny Five Hundred Dollar Wave | A Special Surf Session with Ashley Lloyd Thompson, Julie Cox, Alex Thompson, Chris Cuevas & Sheri Crummer | Kelly Nicely & the Pelican Session | Mary Osborne & Her Beloved 9'10" Cooperfish Single Fin | Kelia Moniz, Megan Godinez, Geodee Clark & Bruna Schmitz | Kamalehua Keohokapu | Claire Bevilacqua | Lulu Erkeneff | Alexa Frantz |Rebecca Woods | Silvana Lima | Alessa Quizon
Additional Resources:
Fin-First Takeoffs with Jennifer Smith - Jettygirl School of Sick Tricks
Jen Smith on Instagram - @jensmithyowza
Hawaiian Pro Designs
Sector 9 Skateboards
Soul Grind
Jen Smith's 2011 Interview with Liquid Salt
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Thank you for dropping by for another installment of Surf Photo Friday. Have a great weekend everyone ...and as always, thank you for your 
Surf Photo Friday - Prue Jeffries on a Donald Takayama Quad
In my experience it's best to whisper the words "photo shoot" when making plans with a surfer. Speaking the phrase out loud seems to be an open invitation for onshore winds, fog, and extreme tides to join the party. When you roll up to the beach bright and early and discover those unwanted guests have already set up shop, you're faced with two choices---shine it and be bummed all day or go for a surf despite the less-than-optimal conditions. We always opt for the latter.
Agreeing to meet at a local beach break in Encinitas, Prue Jeffries and I were greeted with exactly the type of conditions that make you question why you got out of bed. This day would have been a win-win regardless of whether we scored epic waves or not though, because my Australian friend is one of my favorite people in the world. If you're ever lucky enough to strike up a conversation with Prue, you're in for a treat as she's super smart, well-read, and can have a multi-layered discussion on virtually any topic. Of all the surfers I've worked with over the years, meeting up with her has caused me more sunburns than I can count due to our 3-hour, post-surf, parking lot talks.
A beautiful soul, an ultra-stylish goofyfoot, and a great friend...who better to showcase on Surf Photo Friday than Prue Jeffries, shown below riding one of her cherished Donald Takayama quads.
Thank you for dropping by for another installment of Surf Photo Friday. Have a great weekend everyone ...and as always, thank you for your 
Surf Photo Friday - Sara Taylor Sequence
In my dream I'm walking through a forest that suddenly opens up to a rugged-looking beach. Although it's basically deserted, to my right I notice a big pile of floatable objects ...doors, pieces of wood, an old barrel, and a couple of dinged-up surfboards from the 1980's. On the other side of the pile, I can hear that comforting sound of surf wax being applied to a board. As I move closer to take a look, a girl in a beanie tosses me the bar as she sprints by carrying a freshly waxed upright bass. It's Sara Taylor.
Although it could have been the late night chips-and-salsa, I think the dream originated from seeing Sara's Instagram earlier in the day ...tiny drinking fountains, dead squirrels, broken bones, snapped surfboards, turkeys, ancient TV's, and a donkey with a mohawk. Her eclectic tastes and style walk in perfect lockstep with her creative and electric surfing. If you sketched a surf move on a piece of paper and handed it to her, she could probably make it a reality.
I don't get to shoot with her often as she's busy filming surf/skate projects with her core group of underground limit-pushers, but I was really happy that our paths crossed once last summer. For one special hour at my favorite summertime break, Sara lit up the place with fins-free surfing and big lip blasts like the one pictured below. If you ever see her out in the lineup, don't blink when she's up and riding because you might just miss a turn you've never seen before.
Thank you for dropping by for another installment of Surf Photo Friday. Have a great weekend everyone ...and as always, thank you for your 
Surf Photo Friday - Get Stoked on Lady Shapers | Words and Photos by 
Surf Photo Friday - The Session That Changed Everything
Truth be told these photos are from two days, July 21 and 22, 2005, yet in my memory they've become one and the same surf session. A month or so earlier I had picked up my first SLR camera since owning an old Canon AE-1 back in high school. A good friend of mine and great surfer in his own rite, 
Surf Photo Friday - Justine Dupont and Pauline Ado in California
One of our favorite things about surfing is how the love of riding waves brings so many of us together regardless of country, culture or language. On the last morning that French surfers Justine Dupont and Pauline Ado spent in California, we made plans for a quick session before they jumped on the freeway to catch a flight from LAX later that afternoon. We were greeted by a bit of drizzle and zero sun, but we were also blessed with uncrowded, glassy rights.
It was such a pleasure to watch Pauline and Justine's different approaches to the same lineup. A surf coach could write a "how-to" textbook after watching Pauline surf. Her combination of speed, power, flow, and clean rail work left no doubt why she continues to be an annual threat on the Women's ASP World Tour. Justine Dupont took the the polar opposite approach. Where Pauline would go top to bottom as the wave lined up, Justine would routinely skip a section or two to build up crazy amounts of speed before launching a big air or fin-throw. Her surfing is electric and futuristic.
After an hour of shredding, the surfers headed up the trail and out of sight ...until next summer when we hope to do it all again.
Thank you for dropping by for another installment of Surf Photo Friday. Have a great weekend everyone ...and as always, thank you for your 
Surf Photo Friday - Role Models, Why They Still Matter
I opened the app to discover today's offerings---selfies, bikini photos, over-exaggerated poses, pets, last night's party pics---lined up like a never ending train of visual dominoes, same, same, and more of the same. But here's something, a group photo on Matt Biolos' Instagram.
"Big Thanks to @xococoho for coming down this morning and spending time with the girls from @shorecliffs_surf club. They were extremely pumped. You, Miss Coco, are a role model."
Seeing the bright faces and shiny smiles brought me back to being a young surfer myself. I was suddenly transported back to a day when I foolishly bumped rails with Shaun Tomson (while we were both sitting on our boards at Rincon). He could have called me an idiot, but he didn't. He smiled instead and I was an even bigger fan than before. I'll never forget the day, just as these young surfers will always remember the morning Coco Ho visited their local break and surfed with them before school.
Role models matter, more so today than ever before. Sexiest this, hottest that, Top 10 lists on every body part imaginable---I can't imagine what goes through the minds of young kids navigating a world where fame trumps everything else. False heroes with purchased social media followers and brain cell-killing reality shows are talked about ad nauseam while real heroes fly under the radar.
How many followers does your teacher have? Your doctor? Your local librarian? How about your parents or grandparents? While an educated guess would put their 
Surf Photo Friday - Surfing New Jersey's Polar Vortex Swells with the K Twins, Casey and Jessica Kwiecinski
Trading in last winter’s bikinis and suntans in Puerto Rico for this winter’s frostbite and polar vortex in New Jersey seemed like a crazy idea at first. However, the epic east coast swells of this winter made it clear that we chose wisely!
In one of the coldest New Jersey winters in memory, dawn patrols usually start with shoveling snow and the digging out of cars. After suiting up, we trek across the snow-covered sand and into the Atlantic – the very cold and dark Atlantic. The water is a whole different kind of cold and some mornings, the ocean is steaming. This "ocean smoke" is the result of the 38-degree water meeting the 2-degree air. It lends a dreamlike quality to the experience but suddenly you awake with the chill of the first duck dive! You are home!
Everybody knows that New Jersey normally gets some good waves this time of year, but this winter has been close to perfect almost every swell. The overhead barrels were our prize for staying home and laying low. We would just find an empty jetty and take turns catching some of the best waves we've ever surfed. It's safe to say that the majority of spots have shown their potential throughout these past few months and it is well worth the price of admission! It's always good to take a step back from traveling to other places and to realize that sometimes the greatest adventure is right where you began.
Peace and love!
Casey and Jess.
Thank you for dropping by for another installment of Surf Photo Friday. Have a great weekend everyone ...and as always, thank you for your 
Surf Photo Friday - Mele Saili and Hayden Lane, Cardiff Reef
Ever since they hit the market with their video lookbooks, we've been fans of 
Surf Photo Friday - Jill Manos Surfs the Freezing Water of Nova Scotia, Canada
Although we're late to the party, we've quickly grown to love 
