LOGISTICS
Let’s take it from the start here; this whole operation kicks off at least a year prior to the shoot. Dates and tickets have to be booked, cameramen hired, accommodation and transport organized, graphics finalized, rider availability checked and boards and sails delivered to and stored on location. Talking numbers – for the 2015 shoot there were fifty windsurf boards, sixty sups and paddles, twenty triple board bags, sixty five sails, sixteen booms and twenty five masts. All that mountain of equipment has to be shot from a variety of angles and often with different combos of rider. Not to mention we are photographing Fanatic Boards and North sails so essentially there are two totally different shoots happening at the same time! Yep there is an enormous amount of gear and once we are on location and everything is being rigged on the very first morning of the shoot you suddenly realize what a daunting task you are facing. At this moment there is certainly an element of pressure for the organizers, the team and in particular yours truly! Obviously shipping all this gear to Hawaii is not a cheap exercise; renting a house, vans and hiring photographers and a video cameraman is a huge investment so there is little room for error here. Mess up your shots on any given day and that may have been your only possible chance to shoot that particular piece of equipment. So yes, looking from the balcony on the opening morning at all this enormous amount of shiny new equipment being rigged, it suddenly hits you how important, how much money and how much work has gone into this whole operation. Pressure? – you bet – on the first day until we have nailed a few decent shots and the ball is rolling I am definitely feeling it! I suppose the riders have to deliver the goods too, but all they have to do is windsurf; surely that part can’t be too hard can it?
