July 5th 2016: Growing poppies

We're a nation known for cutting down tall poppies, but what if we changed that? What if we embraced the success of our countrymen and even added value to their efforts?

We already do that in Olympic sport – in fact we've made a science out of that process and that's why our athletes are able to tap peak performance. In Rio in 2016, there won't be anything, but positive energy and pinnacle moments. But, for now at least, surfing still has to piece it together alone. To do that we actually have to work together to give our shiniest stars the best chance of success.

To be truly successful, our surf athletes must step beyond the norm, away from what we did yesterday and be prepared to do the things that others won't. They need to forge a new path. That means sticking their heads way up and that's not a natural or comfortable place to be for anyone – especially for a surfer. Then it requires a team gathering around them and doing whatever is required to help them achieve their goals and the small steps along the way.

We could learn a lot from the Aussies here and I hope we can change our approach for the better. With the broadcast efforts of World Surf League combining with the perfect storm of new media, I venture we're about to see a boom in the sport of surfing. Let's do our best to make sure we have some Kiwis in that mix and let's get behind them and learn to celebrate success.

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS We've been lucky enough to have the latest Canon EOS-1D X Mark II in our hands for the past few weeks. This camera is the Formula 1 of the sport's photography world and state-of-the-art in so many ways. Most of these images this week were shot with it. Here's our top five favourite things about it:

1) Auto-focus that out thinks me. Seriously, this is unbelievably fast and accurate. Boosts my success rate through the roof.
2) Auto-focus in live view video mode ... so epic for filmmaking.
3) 14fps – that's 28 frames for just one of Nat Parson's tail waft reos.
4) 4K video capture at 60fps and 120fps in full HD (that's geek speak for awesome film capabilities)
5) That 1D build quality is just flawless ... Formula 1.