Peyton Willard - Surf Videographer

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Peyton Willard is a surf videographer, originally hailing from the US and who currently resides in Panesha, Portugal, home of the famous Supertubos Wave.
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He's extremely talented, humble, and has worked with many household named surfers, such as Italo Ferreira, with his work most likely hitting your feet without you even knowing it.
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If you ever wondered what it's like being a videographer, how the ecosystem works, or want to hear some interesting surf stories, then you're gonna enjoy this podcast with Peyton Willard.
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Okay.
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Um We're sitting in near Panish in Portugal.
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So maybe just talk through how you got here and um and what your kind of origin story is.
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Okay, so I originally started surf videography when I was 14, but before that I was super interested in weather meteorology.
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And my mom had a camera, and at the time I was nine or ten years old, so I couldn't drive myself to go and storm chase because I was super interested in that, especially seeing videos of like Kansas and Oklahoma and stuff and all the tornadoes.
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So I got my mom in the car and we started driving around and I was taking photos and videos, and there's, I mean, I have a full YouTube video or full separate YouTube channel from that whole uh ordeal of my life.
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But um, I just started taking photos that way.
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And then when I was about 13 or 14, I had a friend tell me um that he wanted me to come take photos of him surfing.
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So that was back in I believe 2017, and I took photos of him and I was super interested in it, and slowly, Jen surely just started taking more and more photos of my local city.
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And then once I turned 16 in America, you can drive.
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So I started driving as much as I could to New Smyrna Beach, met a bunch of pro surfers such as Michael Dunfey, Eric and Evan Geiselman, Noah Schweizer, and so on, and just continued to take photos and videos and continue on and on and on.
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And then the Hurricane Keddy swell came in, I believe, 2020.
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And this on the East Coast was one of the biggest swells that hit the East Coast in a very long time.
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And I was just filming in um St.
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Augustine, which is where I lived.
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And of course, Eric and Evan, guys on it, I was really, you know, trying to get in with them because they were pro-serfers on the QS.
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Uh, before the Challenger series was a thing, uh, they were upper level QS guys, 10,000s and all that.
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So I was trying to get in with them, and this swell came and they told me, Oh, we already have a filmer, uh, so we we're not gonna need you.
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So I was filming at the beach and I get a call, and they say, Hey, our filmer uh somehow randomly just got a stomachache and he can't come.
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So are you available?
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And I said, uh, yeah.
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And he said, Okay, be ready in an hour, we'll be there.
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So it went from me just filming on the beach to being in the car with Eric and Evan Geiselman uh up to the Outer Banks and actually went to Maryland, secret spot.
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Um, and uh and I went up there and filmed, and the waves were incredible.
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It's actually really similar to Supertubo's super crazy beach break.
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Um, but then from there, uh I filmed and got videos on Surfer Magazine and on Surfline, which just helped me make more and more connections within the media world.
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And then three years ago, we moved, me and my whole family moved to Portugal.
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Me and my brother originally did not want to, and I was afraid that if I did move here, I would lose everything that I had in Florida because I was kind of established there.
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And with being established there, I was afraid if I moved here, um, I would have to start over.
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But I moved here and the total opposite happened because no pro servers go to Florida.
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They all go to Portugal with Supertubos and Nazarene Aerosera, and also at the CT event.
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So my my surf videography career just started from down here and over the last seven or eight years just slowly inched to where it is now moving here and living in Portugal, which is my favorite place in the world that I've ever been.
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And um, yeah, I love it here.
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Is it maybe a video you shoot or do you do stills?
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What's your what kind of uh expertise or your passion?
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So when I first started surf uh media, I took photos for the first three or four years.
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And then from one of the friends that I made in U Smyrna, Michael Dunfey, he convinced me to start filming surfing.
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So I just started filming and I've been filming for I believe four or five years.
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I had a video I just posted on my Instagram yesterday of videos that I took in 2019 compared to now.
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So six years maybe?
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I don't know.
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I think I'm losing track of time.
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It's been a long time.
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Yeah, okay.
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And is that in water or land or both?
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Uh I've done both, but um filming in the water in Florida is much nicer than here because here the waves are 10 foot and they're trying to kill you.
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So I uh I mainly stick to land here for sure.
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Okay, so how do you go about even uh filming people on a day in Panish?
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Do you look for the weather conditions where it's breaking?
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Do you speak to your, you know, your network?
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How do you even know where to start filming or what a good day would be like?
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So it really depends because the problem with Portugal is when there is solid swell and the wind is straight east, straight east, which is offshore, everywhere is good.
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So all pro surfers don't usually just go to one spot.
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I mean, there could be, of course, Nazareth's pumping, supertubas could be pumping, Aricera, Carcovelo, Stan in Algarve, like anywhere could be good.
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So on those days, it's more or less just hoping and praying that I pull up to a spot where the best surfer that I could imagine be there and get the best clips.
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But where we live in Piniche, where I live in Panish, it's perfect because we get these massive northwest swells that come from the Atlantic and we get these howling north winds, which for everywhere else in Portugal is kind of a write-off because it's it's side shore, but supertubos, it's offshore.
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So most of the winter I kind of hang out at Supertubos because we have north wind and big swell majority of the winter.
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So everybody just kind of comes to supertubos.
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So if you look at my account or anything that I posted, probably 90% of it is supertubos because first I live 10 minutes away.
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And second, it's the best spot.
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Yeah.
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I was gonna ask you, like, I mean, Panish is blessed with lots of different kinds of um um breaks and different uh angles of facing.
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So what what are the both best spots here?
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Supertubos, like the best wave in your humble opinion.
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Uh when you say the best spots, you mean like within Panish?
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Yeah, around well, around Panish, yeah.
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Yeah, around Panish.
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Um yeah, so the way Supertu or the way Panish is, it's like a peninsula, so it sticks out.
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So north wind for supertubos is offshore.
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South wind on the other side of Panish is middle of the bay.
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And it's just like a giant bay.
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And um south wind or west wind can be offshore there.
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And then you also have Legide, South Wind.
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So pretty much no matter what, as long as the wind isn't northwest, somewhere as at least side offshore.
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But the best way by far is supertubos.
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Um, all the other waves are kind of like average beach breaks that you can find anywhere.
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Um, but supertubos is certainly the gem of Panish.
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And I mean, by far one of the best beach breaks in the world.
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So, what is a local surfer community?
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For you to be here to shoot people, you've got a great wave, which will probably attract good surfers.
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And Portugal has a rich pedigree of surfers.
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So, what's the local surf scene like here?
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Who are the people you're shooting?
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Um, so when it really depends, but at Supertubo's, there's a really strong bodyboard crew there.
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And if you go there and you've ever been there in a big day, I mean, it's pretty filled up with bodyboarders.
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And they are mainly the people who started surfing Supertubos and kind of overtook overtaken it uh because they only started surfing in Portugal within the 60s or 70s, and Supertubos at the time was a very dangerous wave, so it's slowly kind of inched forward to where people were pushing themselves to surf bigger and bigger and bigger.
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Um, but the surf scene, there's a couple surfers here.
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There is uh Gy Fonseca.
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Gee Fonseca is a QS guy, he doesn't do QS's anymore, but he is probably the main supertubos surfer.
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Then you also have uh Matiash Konhatu, Konotu, I don't know how to say his last name, but he is kind of the up-and-coming Panish surfer.
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He is precise.
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Like, if you want to say he's similar to a surfer, some say he's similar to Medina just because of how precise and his surfing is so crisp and clean.
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And um, he surfs supertubos a lot, and he's probably the best up and coming.
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There's a lot of bodyboarders, probably I don't know many of them, but the main bodyboarder I think is his name is Lauranja, and he's always has these like weird colored wetsuits, and uh he's kind of scary in the lineup.
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And uh and there's a bunch of other guys, but uh those are like the main main Portuguese guys that are here.
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And then a lot of people come from like Aerosara, Lisden, and and so on to come surf Supers, but with the local crew, those are probably the main names.
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So when people know Supertubos is gonna be good, I would expect a lot of uh other surfers from the other regions will come up.
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Is that the case?
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And do you see some of the uh the you know the famous Portuguese surfers coming up here, like Basca Ribeira and so forth?
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Yeah, it just really depends on what they're doing because a lot of them are basing their lives around competition.
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So if they're here and this swell is good, then they will most likely be here, but it really depends.
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But like you have Federico Moraes, who lives in Cash Caix, you have uh Vasco Gal, not Vashku Gama, he's the the Portuguese explorer, Vashku, Vashko Ribeiro.
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Um, I said his name, right?
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Vasco Ribeiro, yeah.
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Uh he lives in, I believe, Carcoveloish and and so on.
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So there's those are probably the two most famous pro surfers.
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You also have Tiago Perez, who was the first Portuguese surfer to make the tour.
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Um, he'll come up here every once in a while.
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But if Supertubos is good, it's most likely everybody will be here.
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Yeah, okay.
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And then you start to move around a little bit as well.
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Are you starting to like travel yourself with swells, or are there any interesting projects that you've been working on?
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So when it comes to traveling within Portugal, I don't really travel too much because you don't really need to.
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You drive an hour to Aracera, an hour to Nazareth, and I live in Panish.
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So there's not really a reason to leave because there's three world-class ways all next to me.
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Um but like last year, the year before that, I traveled a lot with the Challenger series.
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So the previous last summer, I went to Australia, and then after Australia for the Gold Coast and the Sydney event, I went to Indonesia for a month and filmed.
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Um the year before that, I went to South Africa and Australia, and then they come here to Portugal.
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So I've been mainly traveling around with competitions.
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This year I've been kind of restricted with my visa, so I haven't been able to actually leave the country.
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Um, but this year I'll be able to, luckily, but or not this year, next year I'll be able to, but this year I haven't been able to, so I've been pretty much stuck here.
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But being stuck in Portugal has led me to a lot more um free time, especially seeing like learning more about Portuguese history or seeing the churches and the buildings and stuff that has to do with Portugal, because Portugal is a lot more than just waves.
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Um but my future plan when I am able to leave uh this upcoming summer will hopefully be either Indonesia, maybe more Challenger.
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I certainly do want to see more CT events.
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I don't have any actual projects where I'm like, I'm gonna film this for a certain movie or anything.
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I'm more based around like social media, get clips out there and for pro surfers.
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So maybe talk about that a little bit about building your brand and about what you have to do as someone who's clearly very passionate about surfing and videography.
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When you talk about these trips and going on the Challenger series or Indonesia, is that where people have said to you, you know, we want to pay you to go and do a gig, or is that just you as promoting yourself and actually just working on your craft?
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How does that work as someone coming up in the industry?
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So when you come up with the industry, um you can all you can just go and take pictures at the beach and meet people, and that's a great thing.
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And I that's how I started.
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But the main thing you have to do, in my opinion, depending on the route you're wanting to go, I wanted pro surfers.
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I wanted to be around the CT.
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So I just went to local surf competitions, took photos of the people competing, made friends with them, and then of course they I met more friends from them, and then, or just go into bigger surf competitions because surf competitions is special because depending on who is there, it it attracts the best surfers of the region.
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So that's one way to get in there and meet all these people and become friends with them.
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So with the Challenger series and the in the in the CT event, especially here, um, I made so many connections and I don't necessarily I don't get paid to go to these spots.
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So what I do is I film and then I'll go and to their Instagram or whatever and DM them and say, hey, I had this clip of you.
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Do you want it?
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And they'll say yes, and then I'll send them the clip and then they'll pay me for the clip.
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So usually it's just selling the clips.
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I pretty much am just um freelancing everything.
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Now, sometimes I'll go to these places and they'll pay me.
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Um, like when I went to Indonesia, I had friends uh our surfers pay me to go and film, or I've been on surf trips with O'Neill or with Surfline um in the past.
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So there's multiple options of income that you can get with this.
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But if you're just starting out, and even for me continuing to this day, go to surf competitions, challenger series, QSs, local competitions, uh, CT, if your work is good, people will notice, especially at these places with high-level surfers.
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Nice.
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How do you try to differentiate yourself from all the other videographers?
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Do you set up in different places?
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Do you have a different eye for what makes a nice uh angle?
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What's your kind of uh you know, what's your edge there, and how is your stuff different?
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How would you describe your own photography?
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So I would uh describe my own surf videography as different because I try to find unique things.
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When you go to the beach, like say Supertubos, for instance, you go to the beach and there's 10 surf videographers and photographers there.
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They all always go to the same exact spot, they are right in the middle, they're all next to each other, they're all taking photos and videos, and it's like it's pointless because you post a video, they're gonna post a video, they look exactly the same.
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So um I really try to find different angles, I try to find unique perspectives, and you might miss waves.
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I've missed waves where um I'll go down the beach to film into the right, and then a good left comes through.
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So there's risk with good angles.
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But when you get rewarded with a good angle and a good clip from this angle, it it's a very, very, very good reward.
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I had this one clip that I filmed that Supertubas, everybody was filming on the beach, but I went up into the dune way off into the distance and filmed into the right.
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And Panish is in the background, it's a wide angle shot.
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This wave is coming in, and the way Supertubas works is it kind of apex into an A-frame, like comes together, comes together, comes together into an A-frame.
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So you can see the wave coming together.
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Frederico Mirage is dropping in, he's inside, traveling through the barrel, Panish is in the background, there's beach in the foreground, and then he gets spit out, which in my opinion is my all-time favorite clip.
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And it's just because you have to find different perspectives to set yourself apart from others, because that's the only way it is possible to become someone within this industry because normal doesn't cut it because everybody's normal.
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You have to set yourself apart, take risks, do big things, and um yeah, just take as many risks as you can, risk as you can.
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Distribution-wise, is it all Instagram, YouTube, social media, or the magazine still relevant or web pages?
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What's your what's your take on that?
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Uh it really depends.
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As we go further into the future, magazines are certainly becoming more relevant.
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I've had photos in the past get into a couple like local magazines in Florida.
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Um, but that was one time.
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Most of my distribution is through social media, especially Instagram.
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I do a lot of YouTube vlogs and stuff like that.
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Ugh, which I think YouTube is a great way to create a like a cult following, I guess you could say.
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Because on Instagram, people see your stuff and they just scroll.
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On YouTube, they're actually watching, learning who you are, learning your clips, and they see the personality behind the camera, which I think is very important if you're trying to build a brand with this.
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So it all depends on your perspective of what you're wanting to do.
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Um, there are web pages, of course, Surfline.
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Uh, Magic Seaweed is no longer Magic Seaweed, actually.
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But Surfline, uh, Surfer Magazine is still around, Stab, um, all of these are still web pages and people still look at them.
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But I think they're more or less becoming more and more relevant.
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And social media is going to be the only route to get your name out there, um, especially as it continues to grow in popularity with reels and TikTok and and everything.
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What about brands uh like Red Bull or O'Neal, like you've mentioned and so forth?
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Do they have their own people?
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Do they use freelance to have in-house people themselves?
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How does that work in the industry?
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So it really depends.
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Um, if it's an actual filming movie, like uh when I went to Mexico with O'Neal, they were filming a Grom movie.
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So just a bunch of surfer groms that come down and they and they surf.
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So I was getting paid by O'Neal to be the actual filmer of the surfers, and then they used all the clips and they had their little edit.
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Um, sometimes I'll be at the beach and uh film somebody like Italo Ferrera, I'll fill film Italo Ferreira, go to Red Bull, say, hey, I had these clips, and then they'll buy them.
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So it can go either way.
00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.440
Um, it really just depends on the situation.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:20.319
I've had people get mad at me because with surfing and surf ideography, surfers are very localized, right?
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:27.680
So, of course, if you go to a beach and you're and you're not a local and you try to catch the main set wave, everyone's gonna get mad at you.
00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:29.839
And it's the same with surf ideography.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:39.279
If you they have a surfer, if the filmer has a surfer, they kind of think of him as like their person and they're filming him.
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:47.839
So if you go and film a surfer that isn't if you go and film the filmer surfer, um, they'll get mad too.
00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:55.920
So you have to be respectful with a lot of things um within when it comes to brands, because a lot of brands try to keep things to themselves.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:02.640
So it really just depends on on everything, if that made any sense.
00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.640
Sounds like pretty competitive uh work environment.
00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:08.720
And there must be easier ways to make money.
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:09.680
So why do you do that?
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.240
What was is this just full passion?
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.039
You just love the the nature, the water, the surfers, the people.
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.920
Yeah what why why are you uh a videographer?
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:21.599
So it is competitive to some extent.
00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.039
It depends on where you are.
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:30.960
Of course, if you're in California or any of those spots where there's surf ideal surf videographic lore, like there's a million of them, super competitive.
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.960
Here I'm pretty much friends with everybody, so there's not really competition.
00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.599
And they more or less kind of stay with the Portuguese people for the most part.
00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:47.599
So there's not really any competition for me, but there's not really any competition regardless because everybody's friends.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:21:08.319
Um but with my future, like why I do it and and for reasoning of that, um I think it just kind of has to do with I love to be creative.
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:25.920
I guess I guess I could say I love the art of it, but I also love the social media aspect of it, and it kind of all ties in together because I love to post things on social media and people and people like the clips and stuff, and of course that's a driving factor.
00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:30.240
Um, I love to just make little edits and stuff.
00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:44.799
Uh I mean if you get a really good clip of somebody, it's such an adrenaline rush because like you don't really think about it, but when a surf when a filmer is like when I get like a clip, I'm like, whoa, it's such an adrenal adrenaline rush.
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:49.440
Or when a surfer likes a certain clip, or like um I don't know.
00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:53.599
I don't really I guess I do it more for the adrenaline rush.
00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.640
I mean, also it is my job and how I make money.
00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:09.200
Um, I just love to be creative and find different ways of doing Things but with the surf videography, I because I do not just surf videography.
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:13.039
Lately I've been doing like I told you guys before, Portuguese history and churches.
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.960
So I think I love to just be creative.
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.880
Not just when it comes to surf videography, but surf videography is my main passion.
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:25.519
But I think I just love creativity in finding things that are beautiful and filming them in the best way possible.
00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:26.799
Nice.
00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:27.759
Nice.
00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:33.039
Maybe you could tell uh talk through some uh some of your favorite trips there.
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.319
Because you mentioned you've been quite uh uh on a lot over the last few years.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.200
Maybe there's a couple that stand out and you could uh explain why.
00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.240
Was it the waves, the surfers, or there's just the situation?
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.640
Um, well, I would say my favorite surf trip.
00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:59.920
Probably I don't, it's really hard to say a favorite surf trip, but a top three favorite surf trip for me is my first surf trip where I went with Evan and Eric um to Maryland.
00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:04.079
So at the time I was 15 or 16, I think.
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:09.359
And I was going up with them, and I've I mean I've kind of barely knew them.
00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:13.039
And I thought we were going to the Outer Banks, and that's a 10-hour drive.
00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:16.319
And from what I heard, uh, we were going to Maryland.
00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:20.640
So I was I had a total different perspective of what the trip was going to be.
00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:24.000
So I was already like, okay, we're going to Maryland.
00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:25.200
Never even been to Maryland.
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:26.400
There's ways in Maryland.
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:27.839
I I have no idea.
00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:35.200
And then we get there, and we're staying at some dude named Simon's house, and we're sleeping on the couch.
00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:40.960
So, okay, we're sleeping at this dude named Simon's house with people that I've kind of know.
00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:42.880
And then we wake up super early.
00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:46.799
Now they drove, Dre drove throughout the whole night, and we took a three-hour break.
00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:56.640
And Eric got in the back, took his boards out of his uh board bag, and slept in his board bag that night just because he was uncomfortable in the car because we slept in a rest area.
00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:01.599
So we started driving after that, get there, we're at some random dude's house named Simon.
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.559
Now, Simon is a legend, but at the time I didn't know Simon.
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:07.680
So I called my mom and she was like, Hey, so where are you staying?
00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:09.359
And I said, Simon's house.
00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:12.160
And she said, Oh, who's Simon?
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:14.960
Because I mean, we didn't know who Simon was.
00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.400
So we filmed two days, super solid waves.
00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:19.519
Waves were firing.
00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:21.440
We uh had Mexican food that night.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:22.960
It was really, really good.
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:27.920
Then we drove to the outer banks, and everywhere, everybody was there for the swell.
00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:32.480
Well, the swell was so big that it washed over the outer banks and the bridges were closed.
00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:38.799
So we got there too late to see the actual main brakes because you have to cross the bridge to get to the outer islands.
00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:49.039
So we were stuck, we couldn't get to the actual waves, and then that night we couldn't find anywhere to stay because every hotel and motel was taken.
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:54.319
So, last case scenario, Eric randomly knew this guy that he kind of knew.
00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.640
Uh, called him up and said, Hey, can we stay at your house?
00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:57.440
And he said, Yeah.
00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:00.799
So we went there and we slept on his garage floor.
00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:06.079
So I think, and then the next day we drove four K hours home or whatever.
00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:17.119
So I think that's that's that trip was just unique because it was my first main surf experience on how every surf experience after that will be.
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:23.359
Because a surf trip, when it comes to like being easy, surf trips are not easy.
00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:27.920
If you think you're gonna go on a surf trip, like an actual last-minute surf trip, it's not gonna be easy.
00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:34.400
You're gonna have to figure everything out on the road, you're gonna sleep where you don't want to sleep, you're gonna wake up at 6 a.m.
00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:36.160
after driving all night.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:43.279
Like, I think that was uh a very eye-opening trip to the future of what I did.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:47.200
Um, and then I went to Indonesia and that was cool.
00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:50.480
And then at the very end, we got scammed by the taxi driver.
00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:59.599
Um, so I went to Lakey Peak, and Lakey Peak has a bunch of taxi drivers there, and they have a taxi association.
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.039
So not uh you can't just sat have somebody drive you to wherever you want to go.
00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.880
They have an association there, so everybody takes turns.
00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:18.079
Well, we went to our guy and we're like, hey, or the guy that was like the care keeper keeper of the house.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:22.079
And uh we were like, hey, um we're gonna need a taxi.
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:27.359
So we tried to get a so we had a flight from Dompu to Bali.
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:31.279
That's what our flight was, um that we needed to go.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:40.319
And we went to go book our flights, and we there was three of us, and the first friend got the flight, and then us two didn't, because so he got the last ticket on the flight.
00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:50.880
So we had to figure out how to bus or how to take a taxi from Lakey Peak to Bali, Dumpensar, which is roughly a 24-hour drive.
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:55.279
So we asked our guy, hey, we need a taxi, and he was like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:57.599
People drive to uh Bali all the time.
00:26:57.759 --> 00:26:59.920
And we were like, Oh, okay, perfect.
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.880
And his friend comes over, he's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're good.
00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:03.599
We got you.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:04.960
Um, we'll leave at this time.
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:14.799
It's gonna cost uh, I don't know, maybe 7 million Indonesian money, whatever it is, which is like, I don't know, 500 bucks or something.
00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:16.960
And we were like, oh, okay, that's great.
00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:18.960
And this was like four or five days before we left.
00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:27.119
And then two days before we left, he came up to us and said, Hey, if anybody comes up to you and says, Um, do you have a taxi ride to Bali?
00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:28.559
Or how are you getting to Bali?
00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:33.359
Just say, just say, uh, yeah, no, I have a friend.
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.200
Uh, he's gonna take us, no worries.
00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:38.880
Just like try to blow them off, try to say, like, hey, no, it's no worries.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:40.960
We got it all, we got it all figured out.
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.200
Um, and we didn't really understand.
00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:45.440
It was kind of like a okay.
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:54.400
And then the next day came, the day of, and he told us, hey, there's these people that are gonna be out front, and they're gonna be like, hey, you we have to take you.
00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:57.839
Uh, we're we're here for your taxi to take you to Bali.
00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:10.319
And they aren't gonna take you, but what we're gonna do is put your stuff in that car, they're gonna take you to the Dompoop bus station, and from the Dompo bus station, I'll come behind and pick you up and take you.
00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:12.400
And none of this made sense to us.
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:13.759
We were so confused.
00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:20.720
And the time came, and the taxi was out front, and we were like, no, we're not doing that.
00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:24.000
We're gonna put our stuff in this guy's car, the original guy's car.
00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:30.160
And he just kept saying, No, no, no, no, put your stuff in this car, put your stuff in this car, talking about the taxi.
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:31.839
And we were like, huh?
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:36.160
So we put the stuff in their car and we told them, take us to Dompu bus station.
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:37.359
Well, it was 9 p.m.
00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:40.319
at night, and they said, Dompu bus station is closed.
00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:44.400
So they kind of caught us in our lie, and we were like, just take us to the bus station.
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:46.240
We just want to go to the bus station.
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:49.839
And we were still trying to figure out what was happening.
00:28:50.319 --> 00:29:22.799
And um they eventually, and then our original guy just left, and they told us what happened, and what he was trying to do is scam us, and he tried to make us pay almost double the price to get to Bali, and he thought he was gonna get a free trip to Bali because we would pay for everything, and he was going outside of the taxi committee, so we had to take the original their taxi to Bali, and they wouldn't let us leave until we accepted their car to take us.
00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:36.799
So after about 30 minutes going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, we just got into the origin to their taxi and drove to Bali, and that was the longest 17 hours of my life because it was at midnight.
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:45.440
And if you've ever driven from Lakey Peak to Bali, it's like this all the way around, then it's giant semis and stuff everywhere, too.
00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:47.440
So we got no sleep.
00:29:47.680 --> 00:30:01.839
We got to the um ferry, eventually took the ferry over, and then my friend had his flight to uh a different country, and he had 30 minutes to spare.
00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:03.440
So we barely got there in time.
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:09.839
But I think that was probably the most extreme travel we've had, or I've ever had traveling, uh, was surfadiography.
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.319
So I'd say my first trip and my last trip were the most two extremes.
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.720
So all adventures, right?
00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:18.640
Yeah, all adventures.
00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:20.480
What was Lakey Peak like then?
00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:22.079
Uh did you score it with good waves?
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:23.519
Were there a good surface there?
00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:25.920
Well was it a worthwhile trip?
00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:29.759
Yeah, so Lake E peak, of course, is a bunch of lake waves around Lakey Peak.
00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:36.480
You have like cobblestones, um Lakey Peak, uh Lakey something, something.
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:37.759
There's a bunch of different waves.
00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.119
Uh but Lakey Peak, we scored a couple of times.
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:43.359
Like it's always fun waves there.
00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:49.680
But we don't want fun waves, we want the like the very dangerous, scary like death slabs.
00:30:49.920 --> 00:31:01.920
So there was one afternoon where it was super low tide, and for some reason, Lake E peak has 10-foot tides, which make no sense because that's the same tides we have in Portugal, but they're right next to the equator.
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:08.799
But regardless of that, they have 10-foot tides, so it was super low tide, and there was a super solid swell.
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:19.200
So some of the waves that were coming through were like chopu, just super underneath and just super throaty and thick and go and just spit.
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:22.480
It was only like three or four guys out, including my two friends.
00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:26.400
So that was they got both a couple like okay waves.
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.319
I mean, of course, they're really good waves, but okay to their standards.
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:34.480
And then um, yeah, that was probably the best session.
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:44.319
But Lake Etique, if if you want to go to Lake Etik, I would be, I would advise you the crowd because it is super crowded there.
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:47.359
But the waves are, I mean, perfect.
00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:57.440
I mean, in my opinion, it could almost be a CT level spot because you have the tower there, first off, and then the waves are just consistent and it's rippable at high tide, low tide, any tide, any swell.
00:31:57.599 --> 00:31:58.720
And it's always offshore.
00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:00.079
Or at least side shore.
00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:01.200
Where did you film from?
00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:02.480
Were you at Lakey Peak?
00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:06.480
I'm assuming not from the tower, from from the land, but how'd you get the shores?
00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:08.720
So that's actually another interesting story.
00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:11.279
So uh normally I film from the tower.
00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:17.759
Um, they usually have these little boats, like gondolo-looking things, like if you're a Venice or whatever, they just drive you out there.
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:21.519
And you get to the tower, and the tower has been beaten by waves.
00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:27.599
So the staircase isn't like this, it's kind of like like this, it's like super smooth.
00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:29.440
So you have to be very careful.
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:31.839
Um, but if you go there at low tide, it's fine.
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:36.559
You just walk across the reef and get on it and walk up the the staircase.
00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:43.920
But one day I went there when there was swell and the tide was higher, and there was like full-on like chest highways coming underneath the tower.
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:53.839
And I have two cameras: my blackmagic, which is uh my main camera, and then my Sony A7R3, which is my like backup B-roll camera.
00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:59.200
And I had the camera bag on my back, and um I was like, Oh, I have to go.
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:02.480
And they were like telling me, like, go, go, go, get on the staircase, get on the staircase.
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:08.640
And I'm on the front of the boat, and there's like chest tie ways coming through, going like this, and I'm holding onto the staircase trying to get on.
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:18.720
And right when I put one foot on the staircase, a s uh a wave comes and the boat goes back, and I'm just getting stretched and stretched and like this, and I eventually fall in the water.
00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:21.440
And um, thanks be to God.
00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:24.640
My camera, my black magic was fine.
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:33.680
Once I got out of the water, I was like, you know, sinking in the water with my bag, and I got out um floating with my camera gear, which is a crazy story.
00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:41.920
But um, once I got out, I got up there and water was like in the very corner of my bag, which is exactly where my Sony A7R3 was.
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:46.799
So my black magic and everything else was fine in my bag, but my Sony A7R3.
00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:48.079
So I lost that.
00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:54.960
So if you ever go to Lakey Peak the film and you're going on the tower, go at low tide and uh certainly stay away at high tide.
00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:03.759
Because even at high tide, when there's a big swell, it gets high enough to where um the swells would touch the bottom of the of the first story.
00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:05.599
So you have to be careful.
00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:14.480
But you have like the angle I filmed into the right where uh you have the jetty, you film into the to the right, which is kind of a cool angle.
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:15.679
Um, the tower.
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.360
You can also film from a boat, which I never did, but would have been cool.
00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:22.320
Um there's a bunch of different perspectives you can get.
00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:28.639
Many other videographers in the tower, or is that just something you just went and did on, you know, you could just get access to?
00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:30.400
Do you see lots of people up there?
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:32.639
Uh yeah, usually people go up there.
00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:43.360
Um of course you have like the local Indo crew, so there's a bunch of filmers there that are just trying to grind it out and make money for their families, and they're always in there in the tower.
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:48.719
Um, and then if like I when I was there, Noah Beshin came.
00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:54.639
Um, so his filmer, his filmer was I think his name is Ingress.
00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:57.199
Hopefully he doesn't watch this because I know his name.
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:01.599
Um but he was there, so like everybody kind of just chills in the tower.
00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:02.800
It's like the chill spot.
00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:04.400
It's the best spot to film.
00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:18.000
Um maybe talk about like some of the local crews that you've seen on your uh on your journeys, how you kind of stand out uh locations and local surfers, which you know no one will know their names, but you've just watched and gone, wow, they're incredible.
00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:18.639
Yeah.
00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:25.280
Well, I would say the craziest um local group by far is the Irish.
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:28.800
The Irish, so there's a big wave there called Mulligmore, right?
00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:31.360
And Mulligmore is just a big wave spot.
00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:37.519
I mean, it's pretty consistent, but it's scary because it's like an imperfect chopu.
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:43.039
So it'll have these giant barrels, but and you'll be in the barrel, and then last second it'll just clamp.
00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:46.639
So you'll be in like a 30-foot barrel and then it'll just clamp on you.
00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:48.800
So and then it's super deep water.
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:55.280
And um, Connor McGuire, who's kind of like the big wave guy there, he told us he got pushed so deep that it was completely black.
00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:58.960
So there's no like it's really, really hard to touch the bottom there.
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:02.480
But you'll just find random Irish people.
00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:12.239
They all can kind of surf, like they have a very unique style, like they can stay on the board and they could push themselves, but they cannot like like I'm not I'm not dissing the Irish.
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:17.599
The Irish are are crazy people, but the surfing is uh a very unique style.
00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:30.000
So they'll just like they may not be able to do a turn on a a waist high wave, but for some reason the whole local crew is out there every morning before work at Bullockmore when it's 40 foot, they get a quick paddle session in.
00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:32.719
Like it, I mean, they're crazy there.
00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:43.039
And they'll there's so many slab waves, and I guess they all just kind of grew up with slabs because there's not really beach breaks there, that um yeah, it's just a normal day, it's just a double overhead slab.
00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:45.599
I'm just gonna go for a morning surf and go to work.
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:46.320
Wow.
00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:48.880
It also sounds like just the quality of the waves there.
00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:56.320
Uh I mean, Ireland's blessed with a huge coastline, and it although it's hardly a hidden gem, it it it is an amazing place to visit.
00:36:56.480 --> 00:36:58.800
Where else have you uh been in in Irelands?
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:05.840
Uh so the two main spots uh in Bundurin, which is where you have a couple waves.
00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:09.199
Um I don't know if I'm gonna give location.
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:14.239
No, I just just just just stick to uh stick to the main stuff, like what's it called, uh main peak.
00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:14.559
Yeah.
00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:18.239
Inside and all the ones anything which is in Storm Rider's guide or stuff like that.
00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:18.880
Yeah, yeah.
00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:22.559
So of course you have Bundur and Main Peak, which is like a lower type wave, super fun.
00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:24.880
Then you have Mulligmore, which is like 10 minutes away.
00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:29.840
And Mulligmore is one of the craziest big waves, sir, big waves in the world.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:39.199
Nathan Florence, I think two or three years ago, got a psycho one there, probably maybe not the best one ever ridden, but his uh his backside there is crazy.
00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:40.960
It had to be a 30 or 40-foot barrel.
00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:47.360
Um and then Carter McGuire got a crazy one there that they claim to be about 60 foot, which is the biggest wave ever surfed there.
00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:50.719
Um and when it's 60 foot, it'll still barrel, which is crazy.
00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:59.199
Then you have A-Line's, which is in Lahinch, and it's literally right at the bottom of the cliffs in Moher.
00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:05.599
So you have the cliffs that are raging 700 feet, 200 meters, 300 meters, or whatever.
00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:12.000
And at the very bottom of it is just a random slab that's a right, that's one of the best waves in the world.
00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:19.119
If you want to see clips of this that are like insane, you Tom Lowe has a bunch of waves from there, um, UK guy.
00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:27.039
And then uh Russell Bjerk, in one of his latest edits, at the very end section, he has a crazy session there.
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:38.880
Um, but it's just unique because you're in the water and you look up and you're at one of the most beautiful places in the world because you have these black cliffs and the green grass and everything.
00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:41.760
So those are like the two main spots.
00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:46.480
I've heard of other, I've been to a couple other spots and there's like good waves.
00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:53.440
Um, and I've heard of other waves that I need to go searching for um that are pretty crazy as well.
00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:56.719
But I think most people just kind of stick to the main areas.
00:38:56.880 --> 00:38:59.440
So if you venture out, you can find empty waves.
00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:10.800
Yeah, and some of the nicest people as well, whether they're non-surfers, just farmers in the pub and stuff like that, the people, yeah, like the surfers, as long as you're kind of like polite and respectful, they're very much into sharing and so forth.
00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:14.000
I have to my personal experience is the Irish surfers are just fantastic.
00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:25.519
Yeah, they're super nice, and then it's like they'll go surf Mulligmore, and then at the end of the day, which I mean it's like four o'clock, it's dark there uh in the winter, everybody just goes to the pub and drinks againn and chills.
00:39:25.599 --> 00:39:27.360
It's it's like the daily thing there.
00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:28.559
It's cool, it's super cool.
00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:29.760
Yeah, nice.
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:33.840
Um, why don't we spend a little bit of time on uh how your gear has changed?
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:43.840
Just like surfing and photography and videography, it's very easy to go and buy some expensive camera and not know how to use it, but whereas actually you just got to get out there and take photos, shoot video.
00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:50.559
So mainly talk about what you started with, and then you've mentioned you've got a black magic camera now and you've got backup cameras and so forth.
00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:56.159
So maybe just talk about the evolution of your equipment and um why you choose stuff and what it gives you.
00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:56.559
Okay.
00:39:57.199 --> 00:40:05.599
Well, I would say the first thing is don't go first and buy expensive equipment because it might be expensive equipment, but it doesn't help you.
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:19.119
What helps you is knowing your gear and experience because I've seen people that own reds and um the red is like probably the the main main camera, uh the best camera around for like cinematography and all that.
00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:20.079
They use it for movies.
00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:26.000
People will go buy reds and um their their clips will look like they filmed it off their iPhone.
00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:28.400
So you just you have to learn your gear.
00:40:28.639 --> 00:40:38.960
When I first started, I took photos with uh a Nikon D40, which at the time was 10 years old, so now it's probably almost 20 years old, 17 or 18 years old.
00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:41.760
So a really old camera, I just had a kit lens.
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:51.360
And then um for Christmas, when I was I don't know how old, I got a Nikon D7000 just for photos and stuff.
00:40:51.519 --> 00:41:04.159
Um and it did the job, and I had this random little 100 to 300 tameron lens, and I mean it did the job, it was like kind of fuzzy in the lens uh when it took pictures, but overall at the time I was happy.
00:41:04.719 --> 00:41:35.519
And then from there I upgraded to the Cerny A6000, and at this time I was taking photos, and uh I had a 70 to 200 kit lens for that camera, and at the time I was happy with it, but with no matter what the gear is, as long as you are getting experience from it, it doesn't really matter because you can still make uh bad equipment, take good photos, you just have to know how to use your gear.
00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:55.679
And then after I got the Sonye 6000, I also had a water housing for it, so I took some photos in the water, and I think when I got this camera, it's a huge upgrade from the Nikon D7000, not just from quality of the camera, but I think from my ability to take photos too, perspectives and all that went up.
00:41:55.920 --> 00:42:08.960
And then after that, I got the Nikon or Sony A7R3, and I also had at the time a 100 no 150 to 600 uh G Master Sony lens or something.
00:42:09.039 --> 00:42:09.840
I think something like that.
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:15.039
And that's the most exp those that was the most expensive thing I've ever had in my life at that time.
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:18.320
I mean, that was like$4,000 of camera gear right there.
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:23.519
And when I took photos with it, it's insane.
00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:26.159
The quality of the lens there is incredible.
00:42:26.480 --> 00:42:29.119
Um the autofocus is great.
00:42:29.199 --> 00:42:40.559
So I went from that, then I started filming with the Sony A7R3, and I learned while filming like autofocus and stuff on it is great.
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:47.840
But when it comes to surfing, when you have white water in front of your surfer or something in the background, then autofocus isn't good.
00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:52.960
So I had to learn, which actually I was in Ireland, how to manually focus.
00:42:53.519 --> 00:42:56.800
So I learned how to manually focus on that camera, kind of.
00:42:56.960 --> 00:42:58.719
It was like a very lazy way to doing it.
00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:00.960
I just kind of walked in my focus and left it.
00:43:01.119 --> 00:43:04.559
Um, still using autofocus, it was like a mandatory thing.
00:43:04.800 --> 00:43:07.840
Or if I needed to use manual focus, then I would use it.
00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:15.920
Uh, and then I also started to learn how to use manual settings for my surfadiography and then learning frame rate and all that good stuff.
00:43:16.239 --> 00:43:20.960
And learning more about exporting, uh, because exporting to social media is a big thing.
00:43:21.119 --> 00:43:31.519
You can't just go export a video at full quality and post it on social media and expect it to look good because Instagram compresses, so you have to meet Instagram's compression at its compression.
00:43:31.599 --> 00:43:36.159
So you have to lower the video to meet Instagram, and then that way it'll look the best.
00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:38.480
And I learned that along the way as well.
00:43:38.719 --> 00:43:50.320
And then a little later on, probably four or four, four years ago or so, um, I got a Blackmagic 6K Pro, which is an actual cinema camera.
00:43:50.480 --> 00:43:52.639
And it's like a red but cheap.
00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:59.519
And in my opinion, if you don't want to spend the money on a red, but you want the cinematography look.
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:06.719
You must buy a um buy a black magic because the quality is incredible.
00:44:06.880 --> 00:44:10.159
6K, it's like$2,000, maybe$2,400.
00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:13.840
Um so yeah, definitely buy one of those.
00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:16.719
And then I also bought a Canon 150 to 600.
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:20.159
And with the Black Magic, there is no autofocus on the camera.
00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:21.760
It is horrendous.
00:44:21.840 --> 00:44:22.480
It doesn't work.
00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:26.159
And you can try to touch screen and it'll try to do something, but it doesn't actually do anything.
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:28.320
So you have to learn how to manually focus it.
00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:32.000
So when you learn how to manually focus, there's two ways you can do it.
00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:35.199
You can just go and focus it and have a high aperture.
00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:38.480
So we'll say like F11, F12, and just focus it.
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:40.880
This is what I did at the fr at the start.
00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:45.440
I would just put it at one point, leave it, and then just push record and all that.
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:48.960
And with higher aperture, everything was kind of in focus.
00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:53.360
And if you go earlier into my Instagram page, you can see the quality difference.
00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:59.360
Um I mean, you know, I was learning, so uh it was a learning aspect.
00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:11.199
And then I went to Brazil at a wave pool, and I couldn't do what I wanted to do because where I was filming in the wave pool, they're coming towards you and they're coming.
00:45:11.280 --> 00:45:15.280
I mean, the wave is probably 50 yards long, 100 yards long.
00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:18.239
So you can't just leave it in one focus.
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:23.920
So you have to manually turn the focus ring as they're coming closer to you to stay in focus.
00:45:24.159 --> 00:45:27.280
So that is where I learned.
00:45:27.519 --> 00:45:31.840
I learned how to manually focus on a trip that I was getting paid for.
00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:36.239
So I could have totally blew the whole trip, but I learned pretty quickly, luckily.
00:45:36.480 --> 00:45:48.000
Um, and it was actually a really, really important trip because that was the first time the Brazil Perfect for Swell wave pool was being filmed, and that's where like Stab and all those guys started to publicly post it.
00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:58.880
So I learned how to manually focus there properly, and then since then just kind of um critiqued and uh got better at it.
00:45:58.960 --> 00:46:04.719
And then I got a Canon 70 to 200 F4, which is a miracle lens, it is so sharp.
00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:12.800
If you're gonna buy a lens, Sigma lenses are, which is what I used previously, they're nice, but they're kind of fuzzy on the sharpness.
00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:24.000
So if you buy an actual Canon lens, and even if it's like a fixed aperture f4, f 5.6, f2.8, it is a million times sharper.
00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:29.360
So I have a 70 to 200, which for most beach breaks where I am now, it works perfectly.
00:46:29.519 --> 00:46:32.559
It is so sharp, and um, yeah, that's where I'm at right now.
00:46:32.639 --> 00:46:50.159
I have a black magic black magic 6K Pro, Canon 70 to 200 F4, and a Sigma, no, yeah, Sigma 150 to 600, and um a 787R3, which was uh wet, so it doesn't work anymore.
00:46:50.559 --> 00:47:05.519
Yeah, you've you've you've uh taken people through uh what is actually a huge conversation about shooting in MPEG, shooting in Raw, having LUTs, the glass you put in front of the camera, and then any kind of camera person, the shutter speed, the F-stop, and so forth.
00:47:05.679 --> 00:47:11.280
You've kind of you you've you've taken us on a journey from like amateur all the way through to cinematography there.
00:47:11.519 --> 00:47:11.920
Yeah, yeah.
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:16.400
Well, you don't just automatically go to black magic and then oh wow, he takes photos and videos.
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:20.639
Like it's not the camera that takes the photos and the videos, it's the the human being.
00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:27.119
So I was just trying to show that, like, yeah, I had all these cameras throughout the years, but I've also been doing it for eight years.
00:47:27.199 --> 00:47:32.239
So if I was a beginner with the same camera setup I have now, yeah, it would be a million times different.
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:36.719
Like it doesn't really matter, it takes time and a lot of work.
00:47:36.880 --> 00:47:44.079
I mean, I've put in countless eight-hour days on the beach in the scorching sun and snow, rain.
00:47:44.400 --> 00:47:50.880
So you have to sacrifice a lot in order to try to be the best that you possibly can at something.
00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:53.199
I mean, it's just it's what it is.
00:47:53.920 --> 00:47:56.800
Talk uh you touched about going to the Brazilian wave pool.
00:47:56.880 --> 00:48:04.320
Uh, maybe you could just talk about which wave pool it was, why you were there, did you shoot any of the like the Italo uh footage or anything like that?
00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:04.559
Yeah.
00:48:04.880 --> 00:48:08.000
Just talk about uh the your experience in Brazil.
00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:19.039
Well, so Brazil is actually a really interesting story for travel as well, because I was filming in the Smyrna, just filming at the beach, and I get a and I actually I wasn't filming, I was surfing.
00:48:19.199 --> 00:48:32.480
And I when I got out of the water, I got a call and a text, well, a missed call and a text from Evan Geiselman saying, uh, well, he his my nickname is Big Phi, because Fi is a really big slang camera.
00:48:32.639 --> 00:48:37.519
It was in the US Mipatar, and I would call everything Fi because it was like a another way of saying fire.
00:48:37.679 --> 00:48:40.000
Like, that's cool, that's sick, that's fire, it's fi.
00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:41.599
So he called me Big Phi.
00:48:41.920 --> 00:48:44.880
So he said, uh, Big Phi, you're going to Brazil.
00:48:45.119 --> 00:48:47.360
And I was like, okay.
00:48:47.519 --> 00:48:50.639
So I called him and I said, So what's happening?
00:48:50.719 --> 00:48:54.320
And he said, uh, we're going to Brazil and we are leaving tonight.
00:48:55.039 --> 00:48:56.079
So this was the morning.
00:48:56.159 --> 00:48:57.119
I'm in New Smyrna.
00:48:57.199 --> 00:49:01.280
I have to drive an hour back to my house, begin all my camera stuff, and drive an hour back.
00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:03.920
And our flight was that night at like, I don't know, 10 p.m.
00:49:04.079 --> 00:49:04.480
or something.
00:49:04.639 --> 00:49:19.760
And then apparently we almost, if you're gonna travel sometimes, know who you're gonna travel with because not all pro servers know how to travel because we almost missed our flight uh because of Eric not understanding uh how flights, you know, the time works.
00:49:20.320 --> 00:49:32.480
Um, but uh we got on our flight and we went there and we were supposed to get first class tickets because perfect swell, they always get first class tickets, and we were like, oh, we're gonna get first class, this is gonna be epic.
00:49:32.639 --> 00:49:36.320
And then we get there and we're in the very last row on the plane.
00:49:36.400 --> 00:49:40.800
And I was in the middle of two people and they were had their own row in uh economy.
00:49:40.880 --> 00:49:42.159
So that was kind of a downer.
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:47.920
But either way, we're in Brazil now, and uh it was a perfect swell wave pool.
00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:53.760
Uh, in my opinion, it's the best wave pool in the world because it's just the length of it, the power of it.
00:49:53.840 --> 00:50:00.960
Like the Kelly Slater wave pool is long, but everybody that I've ever talked to try that has tried to surf it, it's so hard to surf.
00:50:01.039 --> 00:50:02.159
It doesn't really have power.
00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:06.320
Of course, when you try to get barrel, the barrel, when you try to get barreled, the barrel has power.
00:50:06.480 --> 00:50:10.800
But when you try to do turns, it's super soft and you have to like be very careful.
00:50:11.840 --> 00:50:16.480
So um this wave pool though is powerful all the way through.
00:50:16.639 --> 00:50:28.000
And from the way they explained it to me is like the Kelly Slater wave pool, the way they the way they formed the wave is from the top of the of the water, and they had that train thing that comes through and it kind of makes a wave.
00:50:28.239 --> 00:50:33.599
The way the perfect swell makes the wave is underneath uh on the on the ground.
00:50:33.679 --> 00:50:36.719
So it's kind of like the topography of the ground or whatever.
00:50:36.800 --> 00:50:38.079
I mean, however they do it.
00:50:38.239 --> 00:50:42.800
Um, but it's more ocean-like compared to like the Kelly Snyder wave pool.
00:50:43.039 --> 00:50:49.440
And this was the first time that we ever saw like uh the double air, the double air wave and stuff.
00:50:49.519 --> 00:50:54.639
So like you've seen clips of Beetle where he does like an alley oop and then a giant straight air or something on the same wave.
00:50:54.880 --> 00:50:59.679
Um where there was also waves where two people could surf at the same time.
00:50:59.840 --> 00:51:10.719
They have like two A-frame wedges at the same time, two airways at the same time, and a bunch of different stuff that was like at the time, uh at the time it was like revolutionary.
00:51:10.800 --> 00:51:12.079
I mean, it's still revolutionary.
00:51:12.239 --> 00:51:14.159
Two people can surf the same wave at the same time.
00:51:14.239 --> 00:51:15.119
It's crazy.
00:51:15.360 --> 00:51:24.159
Um, but that was the first time that it was kind of noticed, and it was still underground, and they were still building the apartments, and the whey pool wasn't completely done yet.
00:51:24.320 --> 00:51:28.880
And I think the whey pool only had like 70% capacity of water at the time, too.
00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:40.639
But me and my now friend Bruno, at the time I didn't know him, uh, were filming, and it was Evan, Eric, Miguel Pupo, and Samuel Pupo, and they're both on tour.
00:51:40.880 --> 00:51:48.639
And um, two days of just solid eight-hour sessions of just filming them doing some of the craziest airs.
00:51:48.800 --> 00:51:50.480
Eric did a couple backflips.
00:51:50.719 --> 00:51:55.679
Evan did some of the craziest um backside full rows I've seen.
00:51:56.400 --> 00:51:59.599
Uh, and then I got the surf too as well, which was epic.
00:51:59.679 --> 00:52:01.039
I got a couple of waves.
00:52:01.280 --> 00:52:07.440
Um I I didn't know I could bring a board, but apparently I was allowed to bring a board.
00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:08.719
Uh, but I didn't.
00:52:08.800 --> 00:52:12.480
So Eric has his signature soft text, softboard or whatever.
00:52:12.639 --> 00:52:16.079
So I went out there with a soft top and got a couple waves.
00:52:16.239 --> 00:52:18.400
But uh, yeah, no, that wave pool.
00:52:18.559 --> 00:52:23.039
Um, I'm stating it now, for the record, it's the best wave pool in the world right now.
00:52:23.519 --> 00:52:28.639
Yeah, the the guys behind it, perfect swell, like they've they've got some interesting stuff going on.
00:52:28.880 --> 00:52:33.199
I think they're doing smaller pools for people's backgardens.
00:52:33.280 --> 00:52:38.159
Well, you'd obviously have to be a probably a high net worth person to be able to build that when I say small, relatively small.
00:52:38.239 --> 00:52:38.400
Yeah.
00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:43.280
They're also talking about doing one, the largest, the longest uh in the States and so forth.
00:52:43.360 --> 00:52:47.039
I mean, they they seem to be really tapped into making some interesting projects.
00:52:47.280 --> 00:52:48.400
Yeah, they're they're epic.
00:52:48.480 --> 00:52:50.480
I've been to the one in Waco too.
00:52:50.880 --> 00:52:57.679
Uh that was kind of like the main, the first like wave pool where you got to see all the crazy airs and stuff.
00:52:57.840 --> 00:52:59.360
And Waco is cool too.
00:52:59.440 --> 00:53:09.519
But so Waco, from what I've heard, is 20 panels long, and the one in Waco or the one in Brazil is 40, so it's double the length of Waco.
00:53:09.760 --> 00:53:10.159
Yeah.
00:53:10.320 --> 00:53:10.639
Yeah.
00:53:11.519 --> 00:53:13.360
You touched on Mail to film some guy.
00:53:13.440 --> 00:53:16.880
I mean, there's levels to the game in these sports uh or pastimes.
00:53:17.119 --> 00:53:24.880
I mean, surfing's definitely one of these where you surf next to someone who's pretty good, and it's pretty inspiring to see what's possible, and it makes you think, well, how do I do that?
00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:27.280
Or how I you know, I want to learn how to do that.
00:53:27.519 --> 00:53:31.760
Who are the who are the most inspirational surfers you've seen before in front of your lens?
00:53:32.880 --> 00:53:41.679
Um, I would say the best surfers that I've filmed in front of my lens, it really depends on the conditions.
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:45.039
Um, Itola Ferreira, of course, is crazy.
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:57.599
I've never seen I I've filmed a couple of clips of John John that have been good, but anytime the waves are like really good, he never seems to be out, or he's like taking a break from the tour, so he's not here.
00:53:57.920 --> 00:54:02.079
Or I have not really seen much of Gabriel Medina.
00:54:02.480 --> 00:54:08.880
Um, I would love to film more Medina, but he's just not really like he's taking breaks from tour and stuff.
00:54:09.199 --> 00:54:17.920
So as of right now, probably Italo Ferreira all around is my is the most exciting to film because he can go get barreled.
00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:22.400
He does the craziest airs, his turns are so technical and beautiful.
00:54:22.639 --> 00:54:31.679
And I know a lot of people I love to read or you know, reading Instagram comments, everybody complains about his style, but um, or how he just does airs all day.
00:54:31.840 --> 00:54:42.559
But I mean, in my opinion, it's way more exciting to film somebody like him doing I mean airs that 99.999% of people in the world cannot even fathom.
00:54:43.039 --> 00:54:49.119
Uh when it comes to like style, there's this one guy, his name is Taro Watanabe.
00:54:49.599 --> 00:54:51.360
Um, he's a guy from California.
00:54:51.440 --> 00:54:53.840
He does QS, he might be on the Challenger series.
00:54:53.920 --> 00:54:58.239
His middle name is actually Kelly Slater, so his name is Taro Kelly Slater Watanabe.
00:54:58.880 --> 00:55:02.880
Um, but his style is perfect.
00:55:03.119 --> 00:55:10.639
Like it's so like I could film him doing a roundhouse over and over and over and over again, and I wouldn't get bored.
00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:16.719
So that that um and he rips too, like he can do a bunch of different things as well, airs and all that.
00:55:16.880 --> 00:55:20.559
And he's a power surfer, but his style is just perfect.
00:55:20.800 --> 00:55:25.679
Uh when it comes to like inspiring surfers, probably that worked the hardest.
00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:29.199
Um, what because when you say inspiring, that kind of what I think.
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:41.440
Where from what I've seen, I would have to say eat a little Ferrari because when the CT is here, he is surfing three times a day, and each session is an hour to two hours.
00:55:41.599 --> 00:55:48.880
He's he's there at the crack of dawn, first one in the water, he's there at noon, and he's there in the last one in the water in the evening.
00:55:49.119 --> 00:55:54.000
He comes um and that's all his his day is is just surf, surf, surf, surf, surf.
00:55:54.239 --> 00:56:02.480
And a lot of the CT guys, of course, work hard and all that, work hard and all that, but I think Ethilo is just levels beyond.
00:56:02.800 --> 00:56:16.719
Um, I don't know if it's just love for it or just loving the grind for it, but he's in my opinion, he's he's levels above others when it comes to um like the inspiration of work.
00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:20.400
And he does other things other than surfing as well.
00:56:20.559 --> 00:56:36.159
If you look at his social media, he's trying, he's certainly trying to become more of a a star instead of just like surfing, because within the surf industry, there's money, but there's a cap to how much money you can really fully make.
00:56:36.320 --> 00:56:40.719
Like I think the most paid surfer is John John, maybe McDemon now.
00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:48.880
And um, I mean, he's making pennies on the dollar to what other professional athletes and other sports are making.
00:56:49.039 --> 00:56:50.159
And he's the best of the best.
00:56:50.239 --> 00:56:53.199
I mean, he's three-time world champion, he's a Brazilian superstar.
00:56:53.440 --> 00:57:07.920
So I think Italo is trying to do more than just surfing, and I think it's a good idea, and it shows uh it's even more aspiring that you're doing that you're reaching out for more, I guess.
00:57:08.239 --> 00:57:12.000
I think you can see that reflected in the brands that he uh has on his boards.
00:57:12.159 --> 00:57:17.280
A lot of them are non-surf brands, and that's a whole different conversation about what happened to the surfing brand in the industry.
00:57:17.519 --> 00:57:17.679
Yeah.
00:57:17.840 --> 00:57:31.920
But if there's eyeballs uh and in Brazil, Brazilian storm, but also just the Brazilian surfing population and the draw for the media, um, it's good to see he gets different exposure and brands like coming to it rather than just the surf stuff.
00:57:32.079 --> 00:57:35.679
Yeah, like he has Nike um on the nose.
00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:38.320
He does have Nike on the nose, I think.
00:57:38.559 --> 00:57:44.239
Which Nike wasn't surfing and then they left surfing, and then now he's like the only surfer sponsored by Nike.
00:57:44.880 --> 00:58:03.119
So um I think just and even when you look at a lot of the surf brand or a lot of the surfers around the world, there are a lot of the surf brands like the big ones of Neil Billabong and all those are kind of disappearing off the nose, or the uh the stickers are kind of disappearing off the nose.
00:58:03.280 --> 00:58:13.360
And there's some random, you know, Hawaiian uh company on there, like a lot of the Hawaiians, like uh Zika Lau, Zeke Lau, he has a random brand.
00:58:13.679 --> 00:58:18.880
Um Leor Leonard Leonardo for Leonardo Fear of Violet.
00:58:19.039 --> 00:58:19.199
Yeah.
00:58:19.360 --> 00:58:22.159
Leonardo Fear of You know what I was talking about.
00:58:22.239 --> 00:58:23.840
His brand is like K Way.
00:58:23.920 --> 00:58:27.599
No one's ever heard of K Way before, but he's they get sponsored by them.
00:58:27.679 --> 00:58:36.159
So I think finding money outside of surfing is probably the best way to stay like stay professional in surfing.
00:58:36.480 --> 00:58:36.800
Yeah.
00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:38.639
Yeah, it's like comes across really well.
00:58:38.719 --> 00:58:40.480
The stab in the dark, which he did.
00:58:40.639 --> 00:58:40.800
Yeah.
00:58:41.119 --> 00:58:47.280
You just see a full of Brazilian positive energy and stuff like that, and just the real, real genuine appetite for surfing.
00:58:47.360 --> 00:58:48.719
That seems to be what you're saying as well.
00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:49.280
Yeah.
00:58:49.360 --> 00:58:55.519
And I think a lot of people think, like, when you look at his Instagram, it's kind of, I mean, self-centered in a lot of ways.
00:58:55.840 --> 00:58:58.639
But I mean, social media is social media.
00:58:58.719 --> 00:59:01.280
When you meet him in person, he's one of the nicest people I've ever met.
00:59:01.440 --> 00:59:02.480
He's super genuine.
00:59:02.559 --> 00:59:07.360
I mean, I'm a nobody and he's a superstar in Brazil, and he like knows my name.
00:59:07.519 --> 00:59:12.000
Like anytime he sees me, he comes up to me and says, Hey, Payne, gives you a handshake and stuff, like talks to me.
00:59:12.239 --> 00:59:13.280
Super genuine.
00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:15.920
Um, everybody is part of the Italo crew.
00:59:16.079 --> 00:59:20.880
His manager's name is Marcos, something, super nice, genuine guy.
00:59:20.960 --> 00:59:22.400
They're all they're all super good.
00:59:22.559 --> 00:59:30.559
So, like they say, you can't judge a book by its cover, so you can't really judge people by their social media because I mean, such a different world.
00:59:30.800 --> 00:59:32.239
Yeah, yeah, sure.
00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:35.039
What about um Portuguese surfers then?
00:59:35.119 --> 00:59:36.079
Uh up and coming.
00:59:36.159 --> 00:59:37.360
Have you got your eye on anyone?
00:59:37.440 --> 00:59:44.960
Uh it looks like it's probably gonna another generation coming through to have like the pedigree of Australia and America for the competitive surfing.
00:59:45.199 --> 00:59:51.519
Is anyone that you're you've seen, like uh locally or just from around Portugal that is worth shouting out?
00:59:51.840 --> 00:59:58.960
Uh so the best surfers that are up and coming, just surfers, not like has to do with competitions or anything.
00:59:59.119 --> 01:00:04.480
Uh, there's this one kid named Joao Mendoza, and he just came out with a surf movie uh a few days ago.
01:00:04.559 --> 01:00:08.880
He's sponsored by Billabong, and he is psycho in the barrel.
01:00:08.960 --> 01:00:10.559
He'll go on anything.
01:00:10.719 --> 01:00:14.079
His style in the barrel is super fun to watch.
01:00:14.239 --> 01:00:17.599
He'll go to like slabs like the cave and stuff and surf.
01:00:17.840 --> 01:00:26.800
I mean, there's a photo of him on Instagram, and it's a photo of the water coming off the ledge of cave, so it's almost dry.
01:00:26.960 --> 01:00:29.679
He's on top of the ledge while the wave is barreling over him.
01:00:29.760 --> 01:00:32.000
And like you like, it's it's a mind-blowing photo.
01:00:32.159 --> 01:00:34.559
It doesn't really make sense when you really think about it.
01:00:34.800 --> 01:00:42.239
Um you have uh Guy Ribero, I think I say his say his name right.
01:00:42.400 --> 01:00:49.280
He's from uh Cush de Caporica, and he was on the Challenger series uh two years ago.
01:00:49.440 --> 01:00:52.000
I think right now he's number one in the QS in Europe.
01:00:52.239 --> 01:01:00.000
He's probably the highest like ranked QS guy behind like Frederico Maraesh and all those.
01:01:00.079 --> 01:01:03.440
He's probably the up-and-coming um Portuguese QS guy.
01:01:03.599 --> 01:01:08.880
Uh, you also have a couple of the couple of the local boys in Arasera, like Martin Carashko.
01:01:09.199 --> 01:01:11.760
Um, he's gnarly, he charges.
01:01:12.159 --> 01:01:16.239
Uh you have Afonso Atunish, he's really good.
01:01:16.559 --> 01:01:20.559
Charges in the barrel, and his surfing is just super fun to watch as well.
01:01:20.960 --> 01:01:22.800
Rips, QS guy.
01:01:23.039 --> 01:01:27.039
Um uh what's this guy's name?
01:01:27.199 --> 01:01:29.760
Uh Matias Konatu.
01:01:30.079 --> 01:01:33.119
Konotu, um, C-A-N-H-O-T-O.
01:01:33.599 --> 01:01:37.519
He is probably the up-and-coming Portuguese person, at least out of Panish.
01:01:38.000 --> 01:01:39.280
His style is good.
01:01:39.840 --> 01:01:47.280
Uh he charges, his surfing is incredible to watch, like just perfect.
01:01:47.519 --> 01:01:49.599
Um, fundamentals are perfect.
01:01:49.920 --> 01:01:57.280
Um the girls' side, there is Teresa Bonavlot.
01:01:57.599 --> 01:02:03.199
Teresa Bonavlot was on, she almost qualified for tour last year to two years ago.
01:02:03.360 --> 01:02:06.400
She does a lot of stuff uh with wild cards and stuff.
01:02:06.880 --> 01:02:11.199
Then you have um what's her name?
01:02:13.440 --> 01:02:15.440
If I could think of it, I'll give her a shout out.
01:02:15.519 --> 01:02:20.639
Uh then you have then the this other girl named Francisca Velska.
01:02:21.440 --> 01:02:22.719
Portuguese names are so hard.
01:02:23.280 --> 01:02:26.639
Francisca Velska Velska something.
01:02:26.960 --> 01:02:31.920
Um she rips and she does really well in the Challenger series.
01:02:32.079 --> 01:02:42.559
The girls in Portugal, like compared to the rest of the world, the girls in Portugal, I think, are on a different level as well because they don't even just like they surf well, but they hit mean sections.
01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:43.360
They get barreled.
01:02:43.440 --> 01:02:48.480
Like I have a uh a click of Teresa Bonavillot at Supertuba's getting barreled with like a double overhead wave.
01:02:48.719 --> 01:02:51.280
Like the girls are gnarly here as well.
01:02:51.519 --> 01:02:58.800
Um Francisco There's so there's so many surfers here.
01:02:59.199 --> 01:03:10.000
I think the level, like when you have good waves all the time, the level of surfers is so high that everybody can like can surf.
01:03:10.719 --> 01:03:19.760
But like in Florida, there's a lot of people that think they can surf, but it's just because they're surfing waist-high waves that are like no little stuff.
01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:25.039
But the people here, like everybody can kind of surf because I mean you have waves to surf all day, every day.
01:03:25.280 --> 01:03:27.199
There's uh very rarely it's flat.
01:03:27.360 --> 01:03:28.480
If it's flat, you go to Nazare.
01:03:28.880 --> 01:03:29.920
There's waves there.
01:03:30.400 --> 01:03:31.679
And maybe for Yen.
01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:36.400
I mean, I purposely not mention Nazare because it's it's a different kettle of fish, right?
01:03:36.480 --> 01:03:40.000
It's a different experience to like the normal surfing we've been talking about.
01:03:40.239 --> 01:03:43.920
Um yeah, what's your what's your experience being with Nazare?
01:03:44.480 --> 01:03:46.239
Um just let's start there.
01:03:47.360 --> 01:03:49.199
So Nazare, I love Nazare.
01:03:49.679 --> 01:03:52.159
Um there's so much history within Nazare.
01:03:52.800 --> 01:04:00.400
Uh of course the big waves have been popular there for the last I don't know, 20 or 30 years when uh Garrett MacMindea.
01:04:01.519 --> 01:04:02.000
McManera.
01:04:02.239 --> 01:04:03.360
Macminera, yeah.
01:04:03.519 --> 01:04:09.760
When he came and saw it, but they were towing and surfing that wave before Garrett came in, like the local guys.
01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:13.280
But of course, once Garrett came here, it kind of exploded.
01:04:13.599 --> 01:04:20.800
Um but there's so much history within Nazareth uh that have that spans all the way back to the 700s.
01:04:20.880 --> 01:04:26.880
Like Nazareth isn't just some random place with big waves, it's it's been it's been around the block.
01:04:27.199 --> 01:04:47.599
Um, especially with like um like relics within like the Catholic Church and stuff, and like uh when the invasion of the Moors came, um there's hermitages there, uh a Visigothic king became a monk there when they're uh when he was fleeting.
01:04:47.840 --> 01:04:49.599
That's actually a really interesting story.
01:04:49.679 --> 01:04:51.519
Um, do you want to get outside of surfing stuff?
01:04:51.679 --> 01:04:52.079
You can do.
01:04:52.320 --> 01:04:53.519
You can speak by whatever you want.
01:04:53.679 --> 01:04:54.000
Okay.
01:04:54.880 --> 01:04:56.159
This is a really interesting story.
01:04:56.239 --> 01:04:58.000
I have a lot of stories.
01:04:58.159 --> 01:04:59.840
Um, so this one story.
01:05:00.159 --> 01:05:03.599
So you have Jesus Christ and Nazare, right?
01:05:03.760 --> 01:05:06.480
And his mother's name is Mary, and his father is Joseph.
01:05:06.639 --> 01:05:11.199
So Joseph, this is uh based around a statue that they have at Nazareth.
01:05:11.360 --> 01:05:17.039
Uh and it's in the Suntuario de Nose Senora de Nazare, which is a church there, which was built around it.
01:05:17.280 --> 01:05:21.760
So in the first century AD, um, Jesus and Joseph and all of them.
01:05:21.920 --> 01:05:36.000
So Joseph, according to tradition, uh sculpted this little wooden statue of Mary with Jesus, and Saint Luke the Evangelist, who is the guy who wrote the Gospel of Luke, according to tradition, painted it.
01:05:36.239 --> 01:05:42.800
And it was held there, but in the fourth century, it was taken from there to Spain, so which is like the 300s.
01:05:42.960 --> 01:05:44.559
So it was held there for a long time.
01:05:44.719 --> 01:05:52.239
And at the time, the Visigoths, it wasn't Spain at the time, it was the Visigoth uh Empire, was like or surrounding the area.
01:05:52.800 --> 01:05:59.760
And in 711 AD, the Muslims came, the Moors came from uh African Sahara and came across.
01:06:00.239 --> 01:06:05.920
Cross and invaded Portugal and Spain, the Iberian Peninsula, because at the time it wasn't called that.
01:06:06.079 --> 01:06:20.480
So the Visigothic king and a random person, uh, I think it was a monk, uh, took a boat and uh and fleed from Spain and took a boat and were fleeing to the north, as most Christians were at the time.
01:06:20.719 --> 01:06:30.800
But and they held they had the statue of Mary from the first century, but they crash-landed at Praia do Nord, which is where the big waves are on the on the north side of the cliff.
01:06:31.039 --> 01:06:39.599
So they crash-landed there and um they came on, they had the statue, and they decided to stay there.
01:06:39.760 --> 01:06:44.960
And there's this grotto, which a grotto is just cave in Portuguese, uh, on the side of the cliff.
01:06:45.039 --> 01:07:10.480
And if you go there today, you can see the exact spot where they had the statue, because there's a there's a whole um altar there, and then you can see the cave where the statue was, and um altar, a little chapel, but they held the statue in the grotto, in the cave, uh, during the Muslim conquest, and the Visigothic king decided to become a hermit monk, and he lived there to protect the statue with the monk that he was with.
01:07:10.719 --> 01:07:26.000
So it's just crazy to think that the highest of the highest a king came down to be a hermit monk, probably, I mean, the lowest of the low, poverty, uh trying to survive um with the land and everything to protect the one statue.
01:07:26.400 --> 01:07:34.480
And um yeah, so that statue that the whole tradition is around is based in Nazareth, and you can see it in Nazareth today.
01:07:34.719 --> 01:07:35.599
Yeah, wow.
01:07:35.920 --> 01:07:42.480
So there's that um there's there's a lot that comes from Nazare outside of the waves.
01:07:42.719 --> 01:07:44.000
Yeah, special place then.
01:07:44.159 --> 01:07:45.760
Yeah, it's super special.
01:07:46.000 --> 01:07:51.760
And um, I mean, Nazareth before the waves, of course, there was it was a major fishing hub, one of the ports.
01:07:51.920 --> 01:07:55.599
You have Panish, Lisbon, I think Nazire were the three main ports.
01:07:56.000 --> 01:07:59.760
And um and yeah, Nazare is a very special place.
01:08:00.079 --> 01:08:07.599
Yeah, it's interesting when we on that headland, the the classic shot you always see of the big waves and the headland, but when you go and stand on the headland, it is impressive.
01:08:07.840 --> 01:08:22.640
Yeah, it's mind-blowing because uh if you've ever been on the lighthouse, that like fort thing, you go to the very end of it, and right in front of the rocks is First Peak, which is where they tow into the like the craziest A-frame ones is right in front of that rock.
01:08:22.880 --> 01:08:30.640
And you see the waves, and they don't even look real because they're mountains of water that are like 50, 60 feet tall coming towards you.
01:08:31.279 --> 01:08:32.800
It's just so bizarre.
01:08:33.039 --> 01:08:49.279
And the way that the whole topography of the bottom works, too, like the Nazareth Canyon stretches five col either five kilometers or five miles, and that's a big difference, but it's one of those too deep, and it goes super shallow, like it just goes right in Nazareth.
01:08:49.520 --> 01:08:51.840
So the dynamics of the wave is just insane.
01:08:52.159 --> 01:09:01.039
It seems to uh correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's got like a double refraction, it's got the big main canyon, but it's also got another one coming in the side, so it's this huge, it's this double uh effect.
01:09:01.359 --> 01:09:10.800
Yeah, yeah, it's crazy too, because if you go there on a big day, the right side, the north side, it'll be 30, 40 foot, and you go on the left side and it's like five foot closeouts on the beach.
01:09:10.960 --> 01:09:17.600
Like because the Nazareth Canyon is just such an influence where the waves are that there's no influence, it's just normal.
01:09:17.840 --> 01:09:18.880
Yeah, wow.
01:09:19.359 --> 01:09:25.199
But the it's actually a fun fact the Nazareth Canyon has a little finger that stretches to supertubos.
01:09:25.439 --> 01:09:28.239
That's why supertubos is such a good wave, the way it is.
01:09:28.560 --> 01:09:31.680
So supertubos underneath the sand is a reef.
01:09:32.159 --> 01:09:37.039
So the reason that supertubos is supertubos is because the reef holds the sand there.
01:09:37.199 --> 01:09:41.359
Because if you go look at the rest of the beach, it's just all closeouts and and terrible.
01:09:41.520 --> 01:09:48.880
But because there's a reef underneath holding the sand there, um you get like pretty consistent bars.
01:09:48.960 --> 01:09:53.279
Like if you go there, it's always a left, a right, and a split peak in the middle.
01:09:53.439 --> 01:10:07.680
And if you go there on a really big day, too, everywhere else on the beach might just be big, but if you go to supertubos, because there's so much energy coming onto that reef that it'll cap out the back and wash through like a second reefing pipe or something like that.
01:10:08.000 --> 01:10:13.039
So there's a reef, and then a finger of the canyon comes straight up to the beach.
01:10:13.199 --> 01:10:19.439
So you go from really deep to really shallow, and then you have the reef right there, so which creates supertubos.
01:10:19.760 --> 01:10:20.640
Yeah, wow.
01:10:20.960 --> 01:10:21.600
Wow.
01:10:22.239 --> 01:10:25.039
What about um uh filming down at Nazare?
01:10:25.359 --> 01:10:26.399
Have you done much stuff down there?
01:10:26.800 --> 01:10:27.359
Yeah.
01:10:27.680 --> 01:10:32.880
So um I've worked with WSL once and Nazare.
01:10:33.199 --> 01:10:36.960
I did their social media for the Nazarei Toe Challenge.
01:10:37.199 --> 01:10:44.000
Um, I just like filmed and stuff, sent it to them, and then they did whatever they wanted, but it was with my phone, which was the easiest gig ever.
01:10:44.239 --> 01:10:45.119
So thankful for that.
01:10:45.279 --> 01:10:46.000
That was epic.
01:10:46.079 --> 01:10:49.840
I got I got a wristband to go around and all I had to do is take cell phone videos.
01:10:50.159 --> 01:11:02.800
Um, but no, Nazare is like when it's big, big, it's super interesting to film because you like some of my most viral videos that I've ever filmed are from Nazare.
01:11:03.199 --> 01:11:07.760
I think my most viral video is on TikTok and it's at six million views.
01:11:08.560 --> 01:11:13.520
So I always try to go there and film when it's big just because of the virality of the place.
01:11:13.760 --> 01:11:19.199
But when it's small, like if it's like waist high here, you go there, it'll be like double overhead.
01:11:19.359 --> 01:11:21.600
And it's one of the most perfect beach breaks in the world.
01:11:21.760 --> 01:11:25.600
It doesn't throw like Supertube is unless the wind is offshore.
01:11:26.000 --> 01:11:33.760
But it no matter what, one foot, I've surfed there when I was waist high to 100 foot, it does the same exact A-frame thing.
01:11:34.079 --> 01:11:35.840
So it's just a special wave.
01:11:35.920 --> 01:11:43.359
And I try to film, I normally go down there when it's smaller because the big wave stuff doesn't really interest me as much.
01:11:43.520 --> 01:12:01.840
Uh, but when it's like an actual beach break on the inside, I try to film as much as I can because I mean it's by far it's it's in it's uh insane because I've been there during uh a swell that was like two foot at 20 seconds, and any beach break in the world, 20 seconds would be a closeout, right?
01:12:02.000 --> 01:12:03.920
In Nazareth, it was still doing the same bit.
01:12:04.960 --> 01:12:11.760
And then last then last year there was this one sandbank, had to be one of the most perfect sand danks I've ever seen in Nazarera.
01:12:12.239 --> 01:12:16.479
Um there's this clip of Italy that I have there because it was during a Red Bull camp.
01:12:16.560 --> 01:12:38.319
So Itala was there, and it was it was bizarre because there was like a south swell and the north swell, and it was mixing, but the south swell was dominant, so it was like a sweeping wave all the way down the beach, and it looked like Skeleton Bay, to where it was just like it would some of the boys would barrel all the way through, some of the waves would just be super rippable.
01:12:38.399 --> 01:12:40.159
It looked like snapper rocks almost.
01:12:40.399 --> 01:12:42.159
So that was probably the best sandbar I've ever seen.
01:12:42.319 --> 01:12:50.560
Adolela was getting like the clip of him dropping in, uh giant snap, barrel, alley oop, and then layback on one wave.
01:12:50.800 --> 01:12:54.479
Like, like it's the sand changes a lot there.
01:12:54.720 --> 01:12:57.760
So it's a cre it's a crazy voice.
01:12:59.039 --> 01:13:00.159
Anything else we should cover?
01:13:00.640 --> 01:13:06.880
We're over an hour now, so anything else that you think we should be discussing, anything that you're passionate about, would you like to get out there?
01:13:07.840 --> 01:13:35.199
Um I mean I guess like I said before, uh this year I've been kind of stuck in Portugal in the way, but with being stuck here, it's kind of given me an opportunity to take a break from surfadiography and explore more of the history, the culture, and the church within uh Portugal, which I think is a blessing because there's so much history.
01:13:35.439 --> 01:13:44.239
And it's crazy when you can just drive down the street here and there's a random building that's older than the United States, which is where I'm from.
01:13:44.479 --> 01:13:46.159
So I find that very interesting.
01:13:46.239 --> 01:13:52.159
And I'd say I'm very passionate about um history and theology nowadays as well.
01:13:52.479 --> 01:13:53.439
Nice, nice.
01:13:53.760 --> 01:13:54.000
Yeah.
01:13:54.239 --> 01:13:55.840
Okay, and how do people find you?
01:13:56.000 --> 01:13:57.439
What's what's your socials?
01:13:57.600 --> 01:13:59.199
What's your contact stuff?
01:13:59.920 --> 01:14:00.159
Yeah.
01:14:00.319 --> 01:14:02.319
How do how do people hook up with your work?
01:14:02.640 --> 01:14:05.840
So on Instagram, I am at Peyton Willard underscore.
01:14:06.079 --> 01:14:08.560
Uh on YouTube, I am just Peyton Willard.
01:14:08.640 --> 01:14:11.600
And if you see a video of Supertubo's, it's my video.
01:14:12.000 --> 01:14:13.840
Um I'm on TikTok.
01:14:13.920 --> 01:14:16.720
I don't post as often on there, but there's a lot of content on there as well.
01:14:16.880 --> 01:14:18.479
Peyton Willard underscore.
01:14:18.960 --> 01:14:23.840
Um uh if you want to send me money on Revolute, it's on Peyton Willard unders.
01:14:24.000 --> 01:14:25.039
No, I'm just kidding.
01:14:27.039 --> 01:14:29.359
Uh I think that's all the social media I really have.
01:14:29.439 --> 01:14:30.720
So if you want to find me, you can do that.
01:14:30.800 --> 01:14:33.199
Or Supertubo's aspiring, I'll be on the beach.
01:14:33.439 --> 01:14:33.760
Cool.
01:14:34.000 --> 01:14:35.680
Payton, thank you so much for your time, right?
01:14:35.920 --> 01:14:36.560
Yeah, of course.
01:14:36.640 --> 01:14:37.039
Yeah.