Riding the Santa Cruz Swell

A surfer in a black wetsuit carves along the face of a large green wave in Santa Cruz, California, leaving a spray of water behind.

More than a decade ago, I spent some time in Santa Cruz along with the rest of Automattic for the Grand Meetup that year. I’ve already posted a few sunrise photos on the beach, but these photos of surfers riding the waves have been in my TODO folder for a long time.


Apertureƒ/4
CameraCanon EOS 6D
Focal length105mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/2000s

Dawn at the Bar & Grill

As the sun slowly rose over Santa Cruz, I found myself drawn to a quaint restaurant nestled along the beach front. The golden morning rays cast a mesmerizing shadow of a street lamp on the building, while inside, a diligent worker was already busy prepping for the day ahead.


Apertureƒ/4
CameraCanon EOS 6D
Focal length105mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/1250s

A Morning Walk in Santa Cruz

Way back in 2013, at the Automattic Grand Meetup, I took an early morning walk along the promenade in Santa Cruz. The sun had already risen, but the world was quiet, and I enjoyed a solitary walk before the day’s work had to be done.


Apertureƒ/4
CameraCanon EOS 6D
Focal length24mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/1000s

Fire Dancers in Santa Cruz

One from a few months back. Automattic held their annual grand meetup in California this year and we split our time between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. On our final night in Santa Cruz there was a small party for everyone and fire dancers appeared to entertain us. I was across the poll from them and guessed a long exposure might work better than an instant of time frozen by a brazen flash in the dark!

Early morning Santa Cruz Wharf

This was the view from my hotel room at The Dream Inn, Santa Cruz last week. Seems like a million miles away now, but in fact it’s only about, oh, maybe six thousand miles.

Anyway, I was there with almost all of Automattic for our annual meetup. It’s a fabulous location, the early morning light is amazing and the people I was with were great.

Lots more photos to follow, but in the meantime, check out photos by Kevin, John, Krista, Marcus and Beau and when I find more I’ll link to them from here!