Ahhhhhhh Tahiti.
The land of hula girls and grass shacks.

Not really, but ones mind does wander with just the thought of this South Pacific paradise.

Although totally way out of my budget for a holiday destination, the opportunity to a couple of weeks working in Tahit's warm waters is always inviting. After spending time in the USA on holidays with the family, I caught up again with the "Liquid" crew of JP, Scott, Dana Brown, & Jillian. My assistant and main support man Sinclair Black joined me there also after shooting another sequence in Rapa Nui.

Our Tahitian subjects were the local surfers Poto, Raimana, Arsene, and Manoa. These great surfers were joined by three of the worlds greatest female surfers. They included Keala Kennelly, and Rochelle Ballard and current World Champion Layne Beachley.

It was the first real opportunity I've had with working with all three of these talented wahines (that's Hawaiian for girls) and what a great group of ladies they proved to be. It is easy to see why they are considered the best in the world at the moment.

From the first surf we all had together at the famous break at Teahupoo, it was apparent that the three ladies, chosen to star in the film "LIQUID", had every intention of showing the world how good female surfers really are. Keala was the first to charge into a big solid 6 ft wave and pulled into the tube like a master. I was staring straight into the barrel and got a good look at her, eyes wide open as she weaved her way thru this grinding tube.

Next was Rochelle who did a late take off and then pulled the rail up into the tube for a great, deep ride. Layne was next pulling hard turns and heavy snaps off the top.

During the next two weeks we had great surf and weather almost everyday that ranged in the 3-8 ft range. Each of the girls had one day or another where they stood out slightly from the others, but the standard was always very high.

We had a great day on an outer island left in the 4-8 ft range and a fast tubular right on a reef pass not far from Teahupoo that was . The footage was captured from a special scaffolding built on the reef, from a helicopter and finally my water angles.

This year I worked again with my friend "Poto". No one knows the reefs in Tahiti better and with his driving the jet ski, I was able to get some great tracking angles right next to the surfers while they were riding the wave.

Our man from last years Oxbow Tahiti trip, still photographer Tim McKenna, is to be congratulated for taking care of all the location logistics.

It was a fantastic 14 days shoot and producer/cameraman John Paul Beegley was dealing with the miles of footage we all shot.

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