Surfing city Biarritz, a warm fall view

I'm going to Nicaragua very soon at the end of November, but before that I decided to spend 2 weeks in Biarritz in order to do some pictures and work in some photo shoots for one of the brands I endorse.
The Havaiii Co. is a clothing company inspired by travelers, explorers and global citizens. This is how I identify myself with the brand and that's how I enjoy very much myself working with them taking their pictures and writing a blog about my adventures: Tales of Wander.

Apart from that, I spent two great weeks photographing one of the most beautiful surfing cities and meeting interesting people around.
October has given us a great summer weather and me and my photographs are very thankful for that.

Biarritz, I'm in love!

Sunset at the Grande Plage when waves were huge and light was insane 

Cam, just finished one big session at La Grande Plage

Sunset

By night at La Grande Plage

Andy Wauman, artist and photographer. Gutterdust.com

I found my little corner of Venice :))

Cam, hues of blue

Photoshoot for the Havaiii Co.

Sunset backlight surf at La Grande plage

Big waves!

Sunset and helicopter

View and Cote des Basques at the background, sick sunset

Sunset and cote des Basques

Fisherman and moon

Simone and Cote des Basques at the background

Last days of light..

Big day of surf at Cote des Basques

Selfie X Havaiii co.

 

One of my fav pictures photoshooting

Insane light, I'm in love

Collaboration Ale Romo X Havaiii.com

Today I feel so blessed and very excited to announce you my most recent collaboration with the guys of Havaiii.com.
Havaii is a clothing and accessories company inspired in the love of traveling and exploring new and exciting horizons. Just like me! That's why this collaboration was perfect match of what we are both doing in separate. Our seeking of adventure and exploring brought us together in this collaboration and we are both hoping that this work will inspire you to live your life by design, doing whatever you want to do while exploring this beautiful world.

From today I'm gonna be their ambassador, taking the brand to new adventures.
Appart from that, we will be doing a couple of things. The team liked so much my blog, that offered me to have my own space at their site to write about my adventures. The name of the blog will be "Tales of Wander" and will be under "Explore and Discover".
Among this, we will prepare a limited edition collection based on my pictures and some other interesting stuff I will tell you as things develop.

A while ago, when I knew about them, I got to read their Manifesto, which inspired me and hooked me in to collaborate with them. You will like it for sure.
Here it is:

"To the adventure seeking individuals, the global citizens guided by wanderlust, the forever exploring discoverers of our modern times. This is your community across continents, your belonging to global unity. This is your life of expressing who you truly are; expressing your unique self through style. A style inspired by the universal love for travelling this beautiful planet of ours and exploring the adventurous unknown.
This is your culture, your vogue. This is HAVAIII."

Following some of their clothing. To check out all their catalogue go to: http://havaiii.com

Also be sure to check out my profile and our collaboration much better explained with some of my pictures here: http://havaiii.com/pages/ale-romo-x-havaiii

 

Gary Parker: Globetrotter artist and WAVES for development

Gary Parker, is a Graphic Designer and Australian Photographer. He grew up in the hills around Melbourne, Australia. Now he lives in Victoria, Canada, but he travels the world working on his online magazine "Sea Stoke", surfing and volunteering for amazing causes.

I never met Gary in person, I started to talk with him last year when I submitted to Sea Stoke my California vision project. From the very first minute I knew he was a very nice and inspiring person. Surprisingly he was as well in Maderas beach, Nicaragua one year before me, so we have a lot of friends in common.
I hope someday I can have the opportunity to meet this great character in person and be able to take his photograph.. I will be more than stoked!
In the meanwhile I interviewed him for my blog, so here we go:

- Gary, what is an Aussie like you doing in Canada?  What brought you there anyway?
I have been on the road with my girlfriend for nearly two years now. We kind of hopped around central America & Mexico for a while before buying a van in the states and driving north.  Canada was where we ended up for a while funnily enough. It is really beautiful here and has been nice to kind of plant the feet for a little while, save some money and plan the next adventure.

Gelid surf. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Van life. One of my fav pics of Gary. Photocred ©Gary Parker

- When did you decide to be a photographer, and what kind of photography do you enjoy the most?
I don't think I ever really decided to be a photographer, in fact I still am not sure what to call myself as I love all visual mediums.  However photography was always something I loved as a medium.  I love exploring the world around me with a camera in hand as well as creating worlds.

-Why did you create Sea Stoke magazine, and how did being a surfer help shape this?
As surfers we all have a pretty deep connection to the ocean.  For a number of years I worked for one of the bigger surf companies, creating artwork for apparel amongst other things.  At first it was my dream job, but over time i began to loose what it was that drew me to surfing in the first place.  I felt disconnected in a way from the ocean, something I felt hard to deal with.  Over a few beers with a friend one night we bounced around the idea of a platform to bring creative folk together who also shared this connection to the sea.  Not so much focused on material value, competitions or anything like that… just real stories and real issues.  Then it kind of began from then on. Sea Stoke was born.

Fabulous black and white. Photocred ©Gary Parker

In between moments. Photocred ©Gary Parker

-I hear you are in Peru doing some amazing volunteer work, can you tell us a little more about it?  Why did you decide to go there?  How can people help contribute to the cause?
The last month and a half I was working with WAVES for Development, a small organization that are based in the north of Peru, in a town called Lobitos.  The opportunity actually arose from an interview I did with Forest Woodward for our last issue.  Forest is an amazing photographer and he  was the one who suggested the idea that I should come down and get involved with an audio visual workshop they were running at WAVES.  A few emails back and forth between Dave the founder of WAVES and two weeks later I was down there.  It was truly an amazing experience, one that in fact has lead me to work on a film to help create a more sustainable community and bring awareness to some of the issues they have down there.  I would highly encourage anyone to volunteer their time with WAVES.  They can check out their website here:  http://www.wavesfordevelopment.org

-What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I am hanging out on Vancouver Island for a little longer and then I fly back to Peru in August to continue working on our film.  After that I have a blank canvas. 

Thank you Gary!
Following are some pics of his stay in Lobitos, Peru. 

• Be sure to visit his online magazine: http://seastoke.com/ and show some love by sharing the word about this great project.
• Also he started a raising campaign for the film he's doing in Peru. Go to this link to donate

Working on some art with the kids in Lobitos. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Good times! Photocred ©Gary Parker

Lobitos, Peru and its amazing waves. Photocred ©Gary Parker

A little buddy having fun with paint. Photocred ©Gary Parker

El señor Gary Parker. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Fun kids ready for surf. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Amazing pic, silhouettes and sunset. Photocred ©Gary Parker

By night in Peru. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Amazing left-hander. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Gary and team of WAVES for development at work in Peru. Photocred ©Gary Parker

Inspirational Wednesdays: Lex Weinstein, a gypsea surfer and ocean inspired stylist

I’ve been following Lex Weinstein's blog for a while now. I personally don’t know a lot of women bloggers with an ocean and surf inspiration in Spanish, so looking here and there I found her. From the first moment I got fascinated by her story, and all the amazing travels she has done.

I wanted to interviewed her so bad because she is the perfect representation of the whole concept behind my blog about following our dreams, be courageous about it, and living our lives by design rather than by default. Lex exchanged the security of a typical work in an office to fully pursue her dreams with all the pros and the cons.

She was born in Virginia beach, VA and traveled pretty much all over the world, following her passion for “fashion stylist”. She actually won a contest for Reef not long ago, and now she’s doing some amazing projects for other people like Rhythm Australia, one of my favorite surf brands from some years now.

I hope we’re gonna meet in person in the future and I could take her picture in a sunny day, surfing and documenting "one day" with this great fashion styler.

All the pics used here are courtesy of Lex's blog, much of them taken by amazing photographer Carly Brown. Here we go with the questions!

-Lex, how did you passed from having a perfect nice job, to big adventurer and traveler? Do you recall a moment in particular? Did you have it always clear inside of you, or you had a moment of enlightenment in the middle of something? 

I always knew having a life revolved around work was not the life for me. I knew that no matter how much society engrains in us that the ultimate goal is to accumulate more stuff and find pride in a job title, my true calling was to find what made me happy and do it as much as possible. Then I figured out a way to make money doing it so I could continue to travel and inspire others to do the same. I've been doing it ever since. 

-How your family and friends reacted when you made this life changing decision? 

I'm so blessed to have a family who understands that I tend to live life outside the norm. They were very supportive of my decision and although at first they were a little worried about me, they've now recognized that no matter how unpredictable my life may be, I always find a way to make it work. 

Lex "stepint to the nose", in Australia

-How surf and ocean influenced you, following this path of adventure?

I've never lived more than 5 minutes from the beach so the ocean has had a massive influence on me since birth. I feel more at home in the ocean than anywhere else and my desire to travel to different coasts and surf all different types of waves has been a major catalyst for my adventures. I'm very blessed in that I have gotten to travel to some pretty exotic places in search of waves, it has introduced me to so many different cultures of which I never would have experienced. 

-What was the easiest thing to leave? And the hardest?

The easiest thing to leave was a life where I felt I was working incredibly hard for someone else's benefit and on someone else's terms. The hardest thing to leave was and is my family. I miss my parents, my niece and nephews so incredibly much. But I have to show them by example how important it is to follow your dreams, and I get to travel to places like California, Hong Kong and Japan to see them so it's not so bad :)

Lex in her travel to Hawaii

Lex, gypsy ocean style

-After the reef contest, could you say things went easier for your stylist career?

I wouldn't say it was easier but it gave me confidence, which is really the most important thing in attaining any goal. It was an experience that taught me so much and allowed me to see myself in that role and say "yeah, I can do this!

-What are you working on now and what are your plans for the rest of the year?

You'll just have to check out the blog to see what's to come -- but I have some really exciting brand collaborations, magazine editorials, and blog posts coming very very soon!

Lex X Rhythm

Lex, phostoshoot in Venice X Satta Skateboards

Lex X First base