Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Everyone loves a snow day and last week the whole country got one. They even had snow on the mountain bike trails around Rotorua – that's like two dreams rolled into one right there. And if you had your finger on the pulse you'd have racked up freshies on your nearest mountain. Treble Cone went nuts on the Friday (and we have it on good authority that as you read this there'll be fresh tracks to be had – like 30-40cm of new snow in Saddle Basin).
I was too busy prepping for Fiji to get up the hill, but I did manage to get out in the water to test some new bits and pieces with the water housing kit. Shooting reefbreak waves is always a lot of fun, but there is always that decision: shoot from the boat in the channel and cover nearly every turn? Or jump in the water and focus my energy on 10% of the wave? Even though I prefer to swim, it usually ends up being a mixture so that I can capture all the shots I need. And with four of the best young surfers in New Zealand with me in Fiji that will mean lots of explosive surfing, critical turns and hopefully a barrel or two. I'll be chasing a variety of action shots of each of these guys and hoping to capture some extras as well. One of those extras is some underwater shots with the barrels, reef and hopefully surfers in frame. The other is to add to my new Energised Series with a series of Cloudbreak – the waves imploding on the reef and the power of this wave, which would have to be among the world's most beautiful lefthanders.
So that's my next 10 days laid out for me. We'll have a special report to offer up along the way to keep you up to date and there'll be a bunch of posts on social media. And we've teamed up with the super creative Jono Smit to add some films from Fiji to the Box of Light YouTube channel, too. Stay connected.
See you in the islands ... Derek
PS We have our Week 4 TC Pass winner ... congratulations to April Aotearoa. Check your messages to see how you can collect your day pass to Treble Cone! We still have two more to giveaway so share our post on Facebook to get an extra entry in ...
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: