chris straley (photographs)

Moving

2010-10-24T08:56:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! If you have noticed my lack of entries it is because I have a new blog. Check it out as I won't be updating this anymore.

http://www.chrisstraleyphotographs.com

Enjoy, share and comment!

New Blog

2010-09-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

I am excited to say that my new blog is live and looks great. I will not be updating this blog anymore. Please subscribe to:

http://www.chrisstraleyphotographs.com

Thanks!

Update...

2010-08-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all-
I am back. My friend Cody just put the finishing touches on my new blog last week and we will be transferring all the data to the new blog very soon. I got back from a quick little trip down to El Salvador for one of the surf magazines with some groms. The weather and waves were pretty average and I did the best I could do with what I was given. Kind of wish I would have made my way to somewhere in Mexico like Cabo, so at least we would have clear water. Pretty crazy how much it rains there. Here are some images from the trip. I will be updating way more as I have been truly lagging with the whole blog and twitter thing. I need to get on top of this shit. Until next time...

Red Bull Illume

2010-07-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

So I have been chosen as one of 250 semi-finalist in the 2010 Red Bull Illume contest. This is something that I am so excited as I have been kicking my self for not entering a while back. This is a gallery that Red Bull put together with all the semi-finalists in the Surf category. Enjoy and pray that I make it to the finals!

New Blog

2010-07-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give you a quick peak at my new blog that my good friend Cody is working on for me. I am going to be moving away from the Blogger format and into a more custom format. My concept on this new blog is to use it to keep my readers informed as to what I am up to, as well as post behind the scenes videos, photography tips, gear that I am using and anything else that I think you may find helpful. Here is a little screen grab of the rnd. 1 of my new blog. Let me know what you think!

More Film...

2010-07-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

I received my first camera for Christmas when I was 18. About 10 years ago or so. I never really got into using it for the first year or so. Then I picked it up and well the rest is history. When I first started shooting digital was really only something that Sports Illustrated and high fashion photographers were toying with. The rest of us were still shooting film. So needless to say I didn't have the luxury of just checking exposure on the back of the camera. Well I have put the digital camera down for the summer and I am concentrating on getting back to my roots. Shooting film. I have already posted some work with film, but for the next couple weeks I will be shooting a lot of film with the US Open coming to town. Here are a couple images as I am still getting my footing with focus and exposure back. Please check back soon for more of this work. Oh yeah, I am also really excited to say that my wife and I are going to Spain and Portugal for the WCT and then to cruise for a week. When I am there I will be shooting only film the whole time. Really excited to take this little adventure!

Bali Belly

2010-07-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

I just returned home after a ten day trip to Bali to work on the new Reef ad campaign. The trip was long due to what I am guessing was a bacteria infection in my stomach. Painful and super annoying! As far as photos go we had a few fun days of surf around Bali. Attached are some images I shot with my old Leica m6 that I broke out. I am really enjoying shooting film again and will continue to due so until I totally screw stuff up. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Graduation Day

2010-07-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

On June 17th my little sister graduated from the place where I raised hell 10 years ago to the day pretty much. Good old Carlsbad High. She made us proud graduating with honors wearing a gold robe and heading out to Creighton for College. Congrats to my baby sister!

Surfing Lightbox

2010-07-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

Surfing magazine just posted a light box documenting the Reef C2C movie. It was 95% my photos along with Jimmy Wilson's photos from El Salvador. It was pretty amazing to see good design attached to my photos. I really wish one of the magazines would have picked up the trips to run a massive editorial piece. I really need to say thanks to the guys at Surfing magazine for making this all happen. Travis, Pete, and and Art Dept. at Surfing is the best in the industry and I am proud to have my photos attached with their magazine. Thanks again guys!

Recent Ads

2010-06-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple recent ads that ran in Surfing Magazine that I shot for Famous Wax. They have an amazing team to work with over there. Thanks again to Sam and Allen for giving me some freedom to make these happen!
Client: Famous Wax
Creative: Libre Design
Photographer: Chris Straley

Panama

2010-05-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some images that were shot while I was down in Panama a couple weeks ago working with the guys over at Libre and Reef. We spent 10 days or so in Bocas Del Toro working on some new imagery for 2011. We lucked out and had some amazing weather. Here are a couple images that weren't chosen from the 200gb I shot. When I get the ok I will post more images that were chosen. Really need to send out a huge thanks to Justin and the guys at Libre Design for working their butts off to produce this campaign.

British Virgin Islands

2010-05-13T16:39:00.001-07:00

Ah. I have been slammed. I really wanted to try and get a blog update right after getting back from the Virgin Islands, but I was thrown in about twenty different directions. I am getting my act together and will update a bit more frequently. So here are some images form the British Virgin Islands trip I went on. It was amazing. My first wake board trip and it was probably one of the best. I had Parks Bonifay, JD Webb, and Collin Harrington. Amazing crew on an amazing boat. There will be an upcoming article in Alliance Wake board with all my images. Keep your eye out on the newsstands. Enjoy.

Eagle Creek

2010-05-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

So Eagle Creek is a new client of mine and I was in the studio doing a bit of work for them last week. I spent about three days shooting and two days working on post as well as working on an upcoming photo shoot. It was a pleasure dealing with Robin the art director on getting some new imagery improve things. Here is a little behind the scenes photo.

OC Weekly

2010-04-29T18:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a recent cover of the OC Weekly that was shot on a C2C trip! The cover was inconjuction with a extreme filmakers article based around the Newport Beach Film Festival. Enjoy!

Panama

2010-04-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I arrived on the Caribbean side of Panama. Weather has been pretty bad with cloudy skies and a lot of rain. Today was sent scouting and shooting product. In all of my travels I have never made it over here. It is interesting. A mixture of Latin and Caribbean culture making it pretty diverse. Tomorrow we are finishing up with shooting the guys product and starting on the girls. Here are a couple images from the traveling.

Shoe Shine?

2010-03-10T07:15:00.001-08:00

Right when I got off the plane in Puerto Rico I was approached by this man. He said, " let me shine your shoes, shiny shoes means happy feet and happy feet means happy man.". I laughed and said you can't shine canvas Vans and instead took his photo.

Virgin Islands

2010-03-09T07:50:00.001-08:00

I am currently en route to the British Virgin Islands. I will be spending 10 days hopefully scoring waves and shooting wakeboarding. The trip will consist of 4 surfers and 3 wakeboarders. I am pretty excited to shoot wake as it is something I have been wanting to do for a couple years now. I really need to thank the guys at Fuel TV and Red Bull for making this possible. I have an extremely hectic flight schedule getting there as I booked my ticket so late. It is kind of cool shooting wake as it isn't dependant on waves so really the only variable is weather which looks good.

I will update on how the trip went on my way back home.

CONGRATS TAJ

2010-03-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Taj Burrow for winning Quiksilver Pro in OZ as well as Burleigh Pro and Pipe!

Alana Blanchard for Reef

2010-03-02T10:22:00.000-08:00

So a while back I went over to Hawaii with the Reef team to photographs there newest athlete Alana Blanchard. We had marginal weather with rain, wind, and some sun light. Everyone at Reef was happy with the images that were delivered to them a couple weeks ago. Here are a couple out takes.

Week with the Champ!

2010-03-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

Since my last blog post I have been pretty darn busy. I just got home from spending two weeks with the current world champ Mick Fanning. We had a great time. It is always so inspirational to hang out with someone like Mick. The waves were pretty fun. Nothing amazing though. We did a couple sessions at D-Bah, Snapper, and some fun little beach breaks. I was primarily there to shoot with Mick for an upcoming catalog. I am glad to be home, and know I am editing images. I am currently working on a campaign that I can discuss in a couple weeks when I get the OK from the agency, but things are looking really good. As for the coming weeks, I am trying to get on this wakeboard trip to British Virgin Islands in a couple weeks. That could be really cool. And then I am off to Central America for about two weeks for a Reef photo shoot. I will keep you up to date. I may also try videoing some of the planning meetings so you can get an insight at what goes on in the planning for these international photo shoots.

02.05.2010

2010-02-05T20:24:00.001-08:00

So I am just about to land back in San Diego after spending the past five days on the island of Oahu working on an upcoming ad campaign. The trip was interesting. We had crazy weather with 15 mph winds all day, rain and clouds which really made photographing challenging. But we ended up getting some really cool stuff. I am pretty happy that with this last minute trip we were able to walk away with some images that can be used for the next couple months until I head to the carribean to start a new campaign. I would like to once again thanks Cody and Lindy for trusting all my semi crazy ideas to make thus all possible. I will be updating my blog within the next couple weeks with images from the shoot as well as a little video.

New Year!

2010-01-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

I probably should apologize for not posting a blog entry for about three weeks or so..... These last couple weeks have been so crazy. California has seen the most rain it has gotten in years, my office flooded, I was stuck in a studio shooting sandals and now I am off to Hawaii for a week to work on a new ad campaign. So that was the short version. Here is how my last couple weeks have really gone. I have been getting up for the past two or three weeks at about 6am to hunt for surf. It is hard. Hit and miss with getting good waves and I have been missing this year. Oh well. I finally got the studio up and running and minus the small river I had during "the white squall" everything is ok. Last week was spent in a dark warm place photographing sandals with the guys at Libre Design for Reef. We shot some really cool stuff and although time consuming I had a great time. This week was filled with meetings (coffee with Cole Barash, meetings with Libre and Aframe, meetings with Spy Optic and Reef and now I am just editing images for an upcoming Surfing Magazine article). Next up is packing my bags for Hawaii where I will be spending the week shooting Alana Blanchard for an new ad campaign as well as hooking up with a couple other guys too.

New Business Cards

2009-12-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

So after all the hype I was trying to create regarding a new look a while back has finally paid off. As many of you have seen my updated website I also wanted to show you the amazing business cards Libre Design out of Encinitas designed for me. I am so excited and proud to give these out. Let me know what you think.....

Alana Blanchard

2009-12-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

So while in Hawaii I had an opportunity to work with Alana Blanchard. She is a young up and coming female surfer from Kauai. She is an amazing surfer and competed on the WCT for women this year. I have spent some time with her and her family in the past in Europe as well as at there house in Kauai. Above are a couple images I shot in about 10 minutes I had before she headed to town to hang out with some of her friends. She is easy to work with as you can see in the images above. So I am currently working on opening a small office space in Encinitas where I can meet with clients and possibly sell prints. I will post some images of the space and post the address so you can stop by if your in the area!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all!

Mahalo Hawaii

2009-12-17T21:02:00.001-08:00

So I just finished up with another two week stint on the north shore were I captured what was said to be the best image of Mick Fanning celebrating his world title. I have so much stuff to do, work on, and think about in the next couple days. I will update this as soon as I have time to breath. Until then....

Aloha

2009-11-26T18:36:00.001-08:00

So I just returned home today after a two week stint on the North Shore of Oahu. Normally the North Shore is a cake walk having crystal clear water, sunny skies, and light winds. This trip on the other hand had brown water from all the rivers breaking open, bad winds, and cloudy skies. I worked hard though and nailed some really cool photos for an coming coming Reef catalog. Also while I was there I worked on a little personal project shoot portraits of the top pros in a little studio I built. Things went well but I didn't get everyone I wanted to get. While I was there I also nailed down three more athletes for the Famous campaign. It went great as well and those ads should be out within the next couple months. I had time to work on some surf culture stuff for my personal book as well, but not as much as I would have liked.

So with that being said, I will more that likely be heading back over to the North Shore to nail down more personal work as well as document my good friend Mick Fanning hopefully winning the world title! I have so much going on the next week or so until I head back over to Hawaii.

I will update with more images that I shot!

Date Shake

2009-10-08T21:39:00.001-07:00

So my wife and I did a little road trip out to Palm Springs last weekend for a friends wedding. Here are a couple images from the Shields Date farm. Enjoy.

Water Tower

2009-10-03T16:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo I shot with my iPhone the other day while riding my mountain bike at the water tower. It was amazing: double rainbow, sun, rain, clouds and the moon! The word amazing can't even describe what went one.

New website!

2009-10-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

So after blogging, tweeting, and facebooking I have finally updated my website. Libre Designs did an amazing job choosing a font, color palette, and logo for the new look. Yesterday I just saw the final proof before print of my new letter press business cards and custom dvds. I can't wait to see the final product in my hand. My website isn't fully done as I am currently working on a new sport portfolio where I will showcase, biking, kayaking, free diving, running and some other sports. I can't promise when that will be up, but I will be updating the blog with out takes from those shoots. Please check out my new site, spend sometime on there and let me know what you think.

hey DJ play that song!

2009-09-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Shot some photos of a couple of my friends who are amazing DJ's. Paul Fisher and Leigh Sedley really rock the house. I shot some pretty neat photos of these guys for them to have and promote themselves with. Hope you enjoy.

Website Sneak Peak

2009-09-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

So I have finally gotten to the final stage of launching the new site. My website designer is tweaking the final little bits before it goes live this weekend. Everything is looking good. I am pretty stoked as I will have quite about more content on the site. So posted above is the direction that I am taking with the business....bright colorful and fun. Please comment and let me know what you think!

G'day mate....

2009-08-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

This past week I got home from a last minute trip to the Gold Coast of Australia. I went over there to work on getting some images of Mick Fanning for Reefs new ad campaign as well as Rip Curls wetsuit campaign. Well I did both. Got some great action images of Mick as well as some cool lifestyle images as well.

Below is the view from my bathroom. Honest to god. Pretty cool to wake up on the 17th floor of a sky rise and this is what you see. I am heading to El Salvador for my final Reef trip of the year from September 4 through the 11th. Then I am free for a while. I will update later in the week with some screen shoots of the new website. Came out killer. Putting the final touch on images and the new look. Should be launched this week!!!

Richard Avedon in San Diego

2009-08-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Laura and I went down to check out the Richard Avedon exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art. Avedon was one of the first fashion photographers in the United States and basically the Annie Leibowitz of the 60's through 2004. I was impressed as he seemed to photograph everyone before they " made it big ". Here is a photo I shot of a wall of his prints. Go check it out as it is super cool!

Australia or bust!

2009-08-18T17:05:00.001-07:00

So I am currently about 30,000 feet in the air about an hour out of Sydney. Pretty excited as I am spending the next week chasing waves with Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson for a piece for one of the surf magazines. Should be fun. I will hopefully be updating my blog if I have Internet and some good photos. Well until next time!

US Open

2009-07-26T18:44:00.001-07:00

So it has been a while. I have been pretty darn busy working on getting images together for the new site. It is coming along really well. I just finished up a five day stint up in Huntington Beach shooting the US Open of Surfing. It was fun. Above are a couple moments I captured. Just want to say congrats to my good friend Brett Simpson for winning the event and taking home $100,000 bucks.

Get organized

2009-06-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

So I know I have been mumbling about a new look, website and other stuff for a while now, but it is finally coming. I have a meeting this week with Justin over at Libre to finish things up. We are collaborating on some really cool stuff and just finished a kick ass Reef project for the womens swim campaign. Just wanted to let yo know most o my focus is going into a new brand for myself. Talk soon.

chris straley
chris straley photographs
www.chrisstraley.com

Just a test

2009-06-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

chris straley
chris straley photographs
www.chrisstraley.com

Bali

2009-06-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

So we just left the most amazing place. It is called Desa Seni. It is an eco friendly resort that grows all their own organic fruits and vegetables. They have delicious meals and great fresh fruit drinks. The rooms are these really funky Javanese huts that have fully been restored and modernized. This place is truly amazing with a capital A! Below are some photos of the grounds but they don't do the place justice. I will update with more surf and some video I have been shooting while I have been here.

Freedom III

2009-06-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

So about a week or so I got off a two week boat trip to the Indonesian Island chain called Mentawai's. It was awesome. I had a fun crew, an amazing boat and some really good waves. So guys were calling some of the best waves they had ever had. So below are a couple images, I am saving the best for all the magazines that are going to eat this trip up. right now I am currently in Bali hanging out with my wife and friends. We are having a blast. I will try and update with some Bali photos tomorrow the following day. Until next time....

I heart boobs

2009-04-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

I just finished up getting a couple images ready for an I love boobs(breast cancer) charity event next week. I will be a featured artist along with others. The event will take place on the rooftop of the Hardrock hotel in San Diego, CA. In the coming weeks I have a lot going. Billabong, Xcel, Perry Ellis( Gotcha and Redsand ), as well as Reef mens and womens catalog shoot. I will be also heading out o t boat trip in the middle of May and then hopefuly hitting up Bali. I will update with some images. Talk to you soon. Here are the three images I am submitting for the event,

Finally home

2009-04-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

So I got home late last night and slept all day. Just wanted to give you a couple more images for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy. Happy Easter.

Caroline Islands

2009-04-10T06:32:00.001-07:00

I am currently in Honolulu, Hi waiting 10 hours for my plane to San Diego. Had a pretty good trip. Great waves, but bad weather. Here are a couple images. I will be updating a lot as my new website is finished as well as a bunch of other stuff. A lot going on in the next two months. AHHHHH.

Interview

2009-03-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

So I recently did an interview for an emerging photographers website called too much chocolate. It was really cool. Had some good questions that will give you insight in me about where I am from and how I run my business. Enjoy. I will try and post photos from Australia.
Week 11: Chris Straley
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

The rotating gallery features the work of a young emerging photographer as well as an interview with him/her, and will change every Wednesday. The gallery is based off ‘collective curatorship’, where the photographer from week 1 chooses and interviews a photographer for week 2, week 2 chooses/interviews week 3, etc. There is only one stipulation to the process: Next weeks photographer has to be someone he/she has not had direct contact with yet. Ideally, this will take the gallery on a linked tour around the internet, and exploring and unearthing new photographers as it goes.

This week’s interview finds newly minted PDN 30 member Cole Barash interviewing Chris Straley. Things are a little out of whack- this interview was intended for last week, but since I brought Harry Mitchell into the gallery to pinch-hit, I’m running Cole’s interview this week; Harry (last week’s gallerist) will resume the interviews next week. This is Cole’s interview and curation from here on out…

Cole Barash: So Chris, give us a little background check: where you’re from, your age, what you shoot, and vanilla or chocolate?

Chris Straley: I was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1981. Which makes me now 27 … I think. Moved to Carlsbad, California when I was about 3 or so. And I have been living here ever since. I started shooting surfing but now am branching out into commercial advertising within the action sports industry. And as chocolate or vanilla… I would say swirl. Bet the best of both worlds.

CB: How did you get into shooting?

CS: I grew up in and around the ocean so that was really what got me into shooting photos. Most of the kids that were my age in high school surfed really well. I would go to the beach and shoot photos in the morning then surf all afternoon. Being about 19 or so at the time I could really relate to the pro surfers with girls, partying, and girls which allowed access not many other photographer would get. So I became the pros best friend. Worked out really well. As I got better they got better. And well here we are now. It has been an amazing adventure. Wouldn’t trade it for the world!

CB: Did you go to school for photography? Where did/are you learning all of your lighting? Experimenting, workshops, books?

CS: No school. All self taught. Just looking at images online and seeing where lights hits peoples bodies. Lots of observation.

CB: I really like your document style of shooting surfing and the lifestyle in it. What’s your approach to this? Do you capture moments as you see them? Or do you see an environment or scene and then put a bit of direction into it?

CS: Really good question. I would say my approach is somewhat photo journalistic. I mostly would just say I capture moments as I see them. Most of the top pros don’t really like to be put in a setup scene unless it is for an opening spread for the magazine. So with that being said scouting is kind of out of the question unless it is something that is planned. I have really come to find that I make the best photographs when I am not really trying to. Not sure if that is a god thing or bad. But it has seemed to work pretty well for.
CB: Do you prefer shooting in the studio or out in location?

CS: I really enjoy both. I like location because it really tests your knowledge of light and how to use it. But in the studio I have been trying a lot of new things with seven light setups trying to really light my subject well. It also depends on the person whom you are photographing. If someone has a lot of personality then a white or black backdrop might be perfect. But if someone is more reserved, then I feel like an environment that compliments the person works best. So I guess it really just depends.

CB: You said you had recently just finished a shoot for American Express. That’s a pretty heavy gig. What were you shooting? Did you receive the job word of mouth or by showing your book around?

CS: Yeah I worked on an advertising campaign with two of the best pro surfers in the world. We shot in Hawaii on two different islands. It was all natural light with use of reflectors and scrim jims. Really quick run and gun style work. It was fun though. I was approached by a creative agency through a recommendation from an employee at Transworld media.

CB: Do you have a rep? If so, how did you go about going to get one?

CS: No rep as of yet. I am really hoping to get one though. I feel like I am ready to take that next step and work with larger clients. After working with companies like Quiksilver, Reef, Spy Optic, Anon Optic, as well as American Express and Nike I feel confident that I can satisfy most clients needs.

CB: I also understand that you are doing a pretty insane future assignment for NIKE. Fill us in a bit on that. Are you excited, what are you doing to prep?

CS: Yeah the Nike gig is going to be amazing from what I know. It is still in the planning stages but I will be photographing Nike’s most elite athletes around the world that are under 25. I really have not gotten the full logistics yet, but I know it is going to be amazing. As for prep, I am doing research on where the athlete is from as well as where their home field of practice is. I really can’t wait for this!!!

CB: Did you start shooting surfing and then have the urge to start to branch out? If so, why?

CS: Yeah I started with surfing because it was a way for me to hang out with my friends and have a good time. We would hang out down at the beach all day surfing and chasing girls. I really didn’t start shooting lifestyle and portraits until I bought a Hasselblad from a local camera store. It was a whole new can of worms. I had to really learn light, composition, and how to manual focus quickly to capture moments. It really opened my eyes to people like Annie Leibowitz, Henri Cartier Bresson and many others. I really feel like the Hasselblad got me hooked. From then came shooting lifestyle portraits and now well…. ad campaigns.

CB: Are you working on any personal projects?

CS: Yeah I am shooting a bunch of stuff right now. I have four main models right now that I am working with. I am working on shooting really high fashion stuff to expand my portfolio. I am having a blast learning and figuring things out. I will also be traveling around the world for about five months this year working for Transworld Surf magazine documenting surf lifestyle. I am also in the final stages of finishing a coffee table book about the surfing lifestlye. Turned out really neat.

CB: What are you using for equipment?

CS: For equipment I shoot with the Canon 1ds mark III as well as the Canon 1d mark III. I love them both. As for lens I mostly use the 20mm f2.8, 35mm f1.4L, 24-70mm f2.8L as well as the 85mm f1.2L II. I also have a 300mm f2.8 L IS as well as the 600mm f4 L IS. I also will rent digital Hasselblads when I need to . I own two Profoto 7a’s, two Profoto 7b’s as well as one Acute 600b. I really love shooting with the Profoto ring flash. I travel extremely heavy because I never really now who I am going to run into or what situation I may find. I always find myself saying “be prepared!”

CB: What direction are you going? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

CS: I am trying to evolve into becoming a better lifestyle photographer. I really love working in the action sports industry sue to the laid-back personalities and locations we shoot in. I would love to have the opportunity to work on large commercial jobs as well. I really hope that is in my future. I would love to see myself with a small office near the beach working on large commercial ad campaigns creating good photographs.

CB: Thanks for your time Chris! Any last words….

CS: Just would like to say thanks Cole for choosing me as well as toomuchchoclate.org for putting together a site for emerging photographers to get inspiration! Thanks.

Please make sure to RSS these interviews (head down to the very bottom of this page) and please share/link this interview on your website/blog, or in the real world!

Australia or bust!

2009-03-03T16:23:00.000-08:00

Leaving for a two week trip down under. I have a laundry list of stuff to take care of including two pro spotlight portraits for Transworld Surf, an campaign for Reef as well as for Spy. I will be working on some new personal work down there as well. Here is half of my luggage I a bring. I a also have two other pelican cases with more lighting gear. I will try and update within the first couple days with some cool stuff!

Excited for tomorrow....

2009-02-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

Spent all day getting ready for tomorrow. I am doing a photo shoot tomorrow at Transworld. I am pretty darn excited to use there new studio space. It is absolutely amazing. I will update in the next couple days with behind the scenes as well as some new stuff I shot. Also leaving for Australia in exactly one week to shoot a whole bunch of new stuff for Transworld. I have three pro spotlights, as well as two ad campaigns. Cant wait.

Gotcha!!!

2009-02-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Just finished up with the first of hopefully many shoots with Perry Ellis. It was amazing working with those guys. First class service all the way. I really enjoyed working with both of there athletes Christian and Rob. Have to say Rob is an amazing skater. Can't wait to have a beer with him on the Gold Coast when we meet up in Australia. Also definitely need to give a huge thanks to Justin, Micah, and Jordan at Libre. They really have been pushing for me lately and I am stoked. Thanks again to Devon and everyone at Perry Ellis. I will have more from them in a couple months!

Early Morning....

2009-02-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

The other morning I woke up around 4:45am to meet up with Mike Losness in San Clemente to shoot a couple quick portraits for his new sponsor Reef. The day prior we had huge fluffy clouds surrounding San Diego county. I thought it would be cool to photograph someone in them. Well I didn't quite get exactly what I wanted, but we acheived what was needed. Also just finished my first of many days working with Perry Ellis. I will update on Monday or Tuesday with some images.

Something olde

2009-01-27T08:05:00.001-08:00

Last fall I drove up the coast to do some work for Patagonia surf prgram. I hung out with the Malloy brothers shooting in and around Ojai. It was amazing time I had. Here are a couple portraits that I shot of Chris Malloy that at going to be used for an Outside article coming out soon.

Summer 2009_Reef

2009-01-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some outtakes from the Reef Summer 2009 mens apparel catalog shoot.

Old Stuff....

2009-01-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

So here are a some older photos that I have had around for a while. The black background is WQS warrior Austin Ware. These were shot for Reef International for POP content.

The other young lad is Mitch Coleborn. Mitch is one of the hot up and comers. He has been featured in Taylor Steele movies, had covers of magazines and is one of new progressive kids out there. These were shot for Transworld Surf as well a STAB for upcoming articles.

Face of Transworld Surf

2009-01-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

I was asked by a very good friend/ older brother type Chris Cote to shoot a group of images for a Bonnier Publication Project. I was honored as someone like Chris has such a name in and out of the action sport industry much like a celebrity. Just wanted to post this because I like how it came out!

Studio time:{

2009-01-15T22:34:00.000-08:00

Transworld hired me to shoot there largest buyers guide ever! 75 pairs of sandals, 173 pairs of trunks, sunglasses, wax, traction, leashes, sunglasses. Basically everything but the kitchen sink. So needless to say my last couple days have been boring, frustrating, and lonely. But yet kind of fun. I have s lot coming up. So keep checking back for new stuff.

Bonjour!

2009-01-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

Laura and I just back back from our week long trip to Paris. It was amazing. Everything about Paris. The cobble stone streets, the smell of warm baguettes in the morning, and the most amazing wine. It was really one of my first vacations I have had in about three years. We went to all the museums, a famous cemetery where Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison are buried, as well as ate some of the most amazing meals I have had in a long time. Here are some images that I snapped along the way. going on this trip inspired me to put a travel section on my new website. Justin over a Libre is still hard at work on the new creative that I am taking on. Really excited! Happy New Year!

From the road

2009-01-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

I am in Paris, France right now working, and living life with my new wife. Here are a couple little updates that I thought looked cool. I will be home in a wee or so!

Outside Magazine

2008-12-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

A while back a shot some images of Rob Machado on the big island of Hawaii for an upcoming issue of Outside magazine. Here are a couple out takes. Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!

Just got hitched!!!!

2008-12-23T21:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend has been something I haven't talked about on my blog, but I can't control it. I GOT MARRIED! Laura and I tied the knot this past Saturday December 20th at 11:00am in the morning. We lucked out and had an absolutely perfect day without a cloud in the sky. A couple days before and after the wedding San Diego had some of the most rain we have had in years! Below are a couple photos that friends took from the wedding. We are heading on our honeymoon for a little under two weeks to Paris in a couple days. Can't wait. Hopefully I can update with some photos of snow filled streets of the 7th bank in Paris and fireworks lighting up the sky around the Eiffel Tower. Until then.....

Aloha also means goodbye!

2008-12-23T20:59:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple photos that were shot for the new Reef mens catalog and for international usage. Really like the photo of the rainbow and the two perfect waves. Pretty picture perfect as they say!

Long time.....

2008-12-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

Well it has been two months since my last post. I have done so much work in the last two months that I will probably be posting within the next couple days. First up will be the Reef womans fall/holiday campaign. It was a long couple days right before left for my second trip to Hawaii. We shot locally and really made the best of the budget they had. There last campaign looked amazing and this one looks even better.

Time Off.....

2008-10-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

Just finished up a couple week stress filled week orchestrating, shooting, editing, and color correcting the mens' and womens' catalog for Summer 2009 at Reef. We shot some really neat things. Somethings worked great, others didn't. I am pretty happy with the outcome. I have sometime off where I am spending time doing some promo work. Libre Designs is still working on my branding identity. We almost have things nailed down. I am really excited. I have bee updating my website as well as working on a couple books. I posted a couple images that were outtakes from the girls shoot. Hope you enjoy. Look for an update to my site probably next week.

New Creative

2008-09-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hello out there on the wonderful worldwide web. I am blogging to let you know that I just finished up meeting with my new creative agency that is will working on creating hopefully a whole new look for me. I sat down with Justin Heit the owner of Libre and we discussed future plans I have as well as plans as he has for me. I can't wait. I have been shooting a lot these past couple weeks and I have two stacked weeks ahead with shoots almost everyday for something or someone different. So keep an eye out for a new redesign of my website, blog, and just really cool new creative shit! Thanks everyone for looking and have a great week end!

Boat Trip

2008-09-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned in my last post I have just returned from what seemed to be a never ending boat trip. Two weeks on a boat with no waves made me go stir crazy. Well I am at home, the magazine has seen the photos and I will be working my ass off for the next month or so shooting Reef's ad campaign for Summer 2009, Shooting a Transworld Surf Pro Spotlight, covering part of the Boost mobile pro, shooting a new ad campaign for Sun Diego Board shops, as well as try and keep myself sane. I will update this early next week!

Julian Wilson

2008-09-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

So I have been beyond absent from this blog site for a while. I just spent the past month roaming around Bali shooting the new Reef footwear ad campaign. Shot some amazing images of Mick Fanning. Then spent two weeks on a boat looking for new waves in a secret island change in the Indian Ocean. I will update with some photos I got on the trip. Look for an article in an upcoming Transworld Surf magazine, Australian Surfing Life, as well as Wavelength magazine hopefully.

Below is for a Pro-spotlight I shot of Julian Wilson before I left for Bali. We didn't have much time, so I just choose to shoot him in all natural light under and around the Seal Beach pier. Until next time.....

7.17.2008

2008-07-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

A few outtakes from the past couple Reef footwear and apparel shoots!

5.29.2008

2008-05-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

Viva la Mexico!!!! Just got back from another Transworld Surf magazine down to the famous Mexican pipeline also known as Puerto Escondido. Things went well. Waves were fun the whole time and I got some pretty darn good photos as well as a lot of sun. Hopefully I even lost a couple pounds. We flew down in a private jet and it was first class. This is hopefully the opening spread to the article. Look for it within the next couple months. I leave on next Friday for Costa Rica to shoot the whole Reef Apparel and footwear campaign for Spring 2009. A lot of work in only nine days. Wish me luck!

5.17.2008

2008-05-17T18:01:00.001-07:00

So I just got home from Samoa which is part of the South Pacific Island chain. The trip was an editorial trip for Transworld Surf Magazine. Had an amazing group of some of the best juniors in the world. Saw everything from amazing barrel riding to kurrpt flips to rodeo flips to kids that could handle there liqour. Had a great trip!! Look for the trip coming out in about three months or so. Taking off to Mexico with the Reef team to start shooting the Spring 2009 catalog and POP. I will update while I am on the road.

Land Down Under

2008-03-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well I just got home from the land down under. Thats right good old Australia. Here is an image I shot from the window of my room where I was staying. Not bad... not bad! Spent three weeks on the gold coast shooting Reef's ad campaign as well as some portraits from Transworld. My time in Oz was spent looking for waves, tracking down top name athletes, and trying to recover images from my laptop that took a shit while on the trip. Lost two weeks worth of work, down the drain. But I pushed through and came home with some good stuff. I will try and get a couple images up from the trip soon!

Timmy Reyes Workout

2008-01-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

Today was an extremely busy day. I woke up and drive up to Corona Del Mar to meet with Timmy Reyes at his facility that he trains at for the WCT. I wanted to capture him in the raw working out and doing exercises that has helped him recover from his knee surgery. He has had the flu for the past couple days, so he didn't go 100% but I still felt there are some very good images in the batch. Enjoy!

Santa Barbara

2008-01-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove up to Santa Barbara to do some work with Bobby Martinez for Reef International. We shot mostly around his house due the the rain that California has been getting for the past day or so. There was hail, lightning and thunder. Here are some out takes of stuff that didn't make the book.

Sun Diego Team.....

2008-01-20T20:57:00.000-08:00

Last week I spent a quick day in the studio shooting some images of the surf team for Sun Diego board shops. It was a long day of arranging schedules so everyone could make it. I think we shot everyone with the exception of two guys who are you of town.

Matix Clothing

2008-01-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

I just finished up shooting some images of Matix clothing team riders. We shot locally in San Diego. All of the left over images will more than likely be used as editorial for MundoRAD! based out of Puerto Rico. Happy New Year!

Winter in San Diego

2007-12-24T16:14:00.000-08:00

When I first watched Anchorman I wondered why they choose San Diego for the setting of the movie. Then I remembered that I(we) honestly live in the most beautiful city in the world. This was a view from a couple nights ago in Coranado. Enjoy....

Crunk Juice

2007-12-16T17:53:00.000-08:00

Last night was my sisters sweet 16 birthday. By her request she wanted to rent out this ghetto place inland Southern California for a dance party. It was crazy. People freakin, breakin, and crunkin! Along with shooting some photos of her and her friends, I shot some crunkin! It was hot!

Homeward Bound

2007-12-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

Late last night I finally made it home. The last month or soI have been cooking under the Hawaiian sun and I am glad to be thawing out in California for a while. My plan is to stay home for at least a month or so and really put some long awaited time into my book and site. Keep youer eyes out fo the new Spy Optic ad campaign coming in the following month.

Hawaii.....bra!

2007-12-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

I am still here. I think I have turned into a pineapple. It has rained for the past couple days and the waves have been huge and out of control. The last couple days we have been working on the Spy ad campaign and I have designated John Oda as my assistent. So I am off to Kauai tomorrow for the day to work on somemore of the Spy stuff. Hopefully the rain will stop and the weather will clear. Can't wait to get home.......

Back to Hawaii

2007-11-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

Deja Vu from about 9 days ago. Here I am sitting at the San Diego airport getting on another flight back to Hawaii for about two weeks or so. This go around will be mostly work for Spy Optics with very little editorial work. I am working on one huge project scheduled for tomorrow. Can't wait to see if it turns out. Here are some images I shot from the previous week.

Hawaii

2007-11-13T20:41:00.001-08:00

Well it is that time of year again when I spend a month or so in Hawaii for the winter season. Got into Oahu yesterday afternoon to stay at the Reef house for a week. I stumbled down to the beach right before the sun went down and snapped this little collage of photos. I stole this from Embry Rucker. As for trip I have 8 days here then back home for a couple days where I will spend time with my lovely and beautiful girlfriend, and then I am back to Oahu to finish the Spy ad campaign. I will update this with somemore cool photos.

Rip Curl

2007-11-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

This past week has been crazy busy for me. I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting ready for Hawaii. But during all the commotion I received a phone call from Sean Taylor letting me know he had some work for me now that he had picked up Rip Curl as a new sponser. So we shot some photos and this is a couple that looked good that didn't make the book. I will update in Hawaii.

Art....

2007-11-05T07:34:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I made it up to San Clemente to shoot some photos of Mike Losness inhis studio and around his art work. He has a unique style blending fiberglass, resin and paints on a canvas to create some remarkable work. I shot these more for a personal aspect and then decided that I would contact CMYK and see if they were intereseted in doing a piece on Mike and his art. They were. Here are some of the out takes of the images I created.

California on fire.....

2007-11-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

Well as most of the United States has seen literally more than half of southern California is on fire, was on fire, or was some how effected by the fires. My family and friends all made it through the fire some barely missing flames by less than a quater mile. I had the oppprtunity and some free time the last couple days to drive inland to see what type of damage was done. I was amazed at what had and hadn't burned. Here are some images of only a small percentage of what I saw on my exploration.

Interviews

2007-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent article on the local news paper called the Coast News in Southern California.

A snappy gig: Chris Straley focuses on surf greats

Not many people live the life that Chris Straley does. He has a job that takes him around the world to some of the best breaks known to man, with some of the best athletes in the sport of surfing. No, he’s not a pro. He’s a surf photographer, and he’s already making a name for himself at the ripe age of only 25. He’s a prime example of what kind of amazing results you can achieve when you combine hard work and determination with a little natural talent. I sat down with this Carlsbad local and asked him a few questions about how he got involved in one of the best jobs ever.

The X: Chris, how did you get started in photography?

CS: My mom bought me a camera the year I graduated from high school for Christmas, and I never used it until the end of that summer. It was a cheap, entry-level Canon camera that you would buy at any camera shop.

X: How did that lead into surf photography? How did you get your first photos published? And for what publication?

CS: I just started shooting guys like Che Stang, the Franco brothers, Dane Johnson — the local Carlsbad surfers. I think the first publication was this Encinitas magazine called Automatic. I started developing a relationship with the editor Mike Migdol and he encouraged me to get into it.

X: Did you go to any schools or take any classes on photography?

CS: I took two classes at Palomar (College): Beginning Black and White and Beginning Color. And I never finished the beginning black and white class.

X: What magazines/publications have you worked for?

CS: Lets see, I’ve done work for Surfing Magazine, Surfer, TransWorld Surf, Automatic, Surf Europe, Australian Surfing Life, Stab Magazine, Flow Japan, Mundo Rad, Sports Illustrated, Outside Magazine, Men’s Health, Best Life, CMYK, and some others.

X: How did you go from struggling to get into a local magazine to getting into all those huge ones?

CS: Actually, I just started calling magazines out of the blue and requesting to talk to the photo editor and leaving messages about showing them some photos. I would go up there and show them what I had shot and they would critique my stuff, they would tell me what I was doing wrong, or give me tips. A lot of times, it was something I was doing wrong so I would work on that until I built relationships with them and eventually I got it right.

X: Who do you like to photograph the most? Is there a particular person you really connect with?

CS: I really like shooting with Dane Reynolds but there’s a group of young kids that are in Taylor Steele’s videos [one of the biggest names in surf movies] for the last couple years, and I’ve traveled with them a lot and I’ve got to really enjoy photographing them ‘cause they’re pushing the bar and it takes me with them. Guys like Mike Lossness, Dane, and Rye Craike because they’re the best of the best talent.

X: Tell us a little about the world of professional surf photography. What does a typical day entail for you?

CS: Well, at home, it’s pretty boring unless there’s a crazy swell, which usually isn’t the case. When I’m on a trip somewhere it sounds like I’m living the life of luxury but it’s actually really hard work. Traveling from 10 to 30 hours to get where you’re going, sleeping in airports, baggage overage costs, airlines losing your luggage, all that.

But once you’re there, you’re up at the crack of dawn and you’re shooting all day. You might be able to get a bite to eat but you’re pretty much shooting all day long and it’s pretty hard work. A lot of time spent in the sun.

X: What’s the best shoot you’ve been on?

CS: I did a trip for Taylor Steele and he invited me to go to Bali with him two years ago with a crazy crew I could’ve never dreamed about. I got to hang out with Kelly Slater for a month, Taj Burrow, and Mike Lossness. I got the cover shot of Taj jumping out of a helicopter into a wave for an Australian mag. It was pretty much a dream trip — nothing more I could’ve asked for.

X: Where can people find your work? Can people hire you to take shots of them surfing?

CS: I don’t do any private stuff just because I have other commitments. But you can look at my work in TransWorld Surf every month or my Web site, www.chrisstraley.com, which will show you the last two and a half years of my best work. I’m working on shooting more outside of the surf industry for advertising campaigns and I can be contacted about that through my Web site as well.

X: Best and worst part of the job?

CS: Worst part is definitely being away from home for so long. And being away from my girlfriend and friends. Sometimes you feel like you miss out on a lot like graduations, birthdays, and everyday life stuff.

Best part, I get to party, hang with the best surfers in the world, I get to travel for free, and I’m able to live a life that many won’t ever get to experience.

Europe

2007-09-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Just returned form a three week stint in Europe..... It was fun. We stayed ina an amazing house and had a lot of fun. The job was shooting Spy Optic 2008 sunglass campaign. We got some really good images and I will be finishing up the remainder of the campaing in Hawaii during the Pipe Masters. Check out my site to see some of the images...