Skimboarding

I'm out of town for a couple days.  I'm not going far, and I'll have details about my adventures for you tomorow or Wednesday (depending on how much writing time I can carve out for myself.)

I've spent a lot of time beach hopping lately, which isn't unusual for me any this time of year.  Most of the tourists are gone, and the weather is great.

I love photographing the beaches, but I also love meeting new people.

This is Austin Keen:

Austin is a local skimboarder.

I stopped by Aliso Beach last week after having run a few errands.  I wanted to take a couple scenery shots before the sun set.

(No, Austin was not what I had in mind ....)

Aliso Beach

As I was leaving the beach, I met Austin.

He's very passionate about his sport, and he was happy to let me photograph him for awhile.

Skimboarder, Austin Keen.

I hadn't planned on shooting any people.  I found myself wishing I had brought my telephoto lens to take photos of the skimboarders in action.

Regardless, I wanted to photograph Austin because he has The California Look.

Austin invited me to come back and get more shots.

He wants everyone to learn more about the sport of skimboarding.  

Do you know what skimboarding is?

Skimboarding is a sport which began here in Orange County.  (Lifeguards in Laguna Beach invented it.)

A skimboard is smaller than a surfboard.  It's dropped on the sand, where's there's a little water from a wave, and then the rider stands on it and glides along the surface of the water.  The skimboarder might skim just along the sand.  More often, the skimboarder rides/skims out into the ocean.  Then he/she rides a wave back to shore, similar to surfing.  

I've tried skimboarding, and it isn't as easy as it looks.  

Surfers and skimboarders make for awesome photos.

Next time, I'll get some action shots.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Comments

[Neeroc]

Please, next time you see Austin thank him for adding just what was missing to my breakfast.

Oh and the nice thing about skim boarding is that places like my frozen northern province, with it's lack of appreciable surf can still participate, since we have shore aplenty.

[Jan]

Sounds a lot like boogie-boarding. Do you stand on a skim board, or lie down on it like a boogie board?

[dogmother]

Great shots. I love the B&W.

[Kathy]

My son has a skim board and uses it when we go back East - I've tried it and it is NOT easy! LOL And hellooooo Austin. My goodness he's adorable. :)

[Mike Ep]

For Jan, you stand on a Skimboard, but you start at the shoreline instead of out at sea. It's similar to surfing half the time, but instead of widing back the wave, you can choose to skim along the thin layer of water until you stop. It's quite fun, but falling can hurt if the sand is rough, or worse, the sea shells.

[karen]

You really do live in a pretty cool area :-)