Ron Kurti's Website

This was our spot.

I don’t care what you think… I am in love with this photo. I can’t really say what it is exactly. It could be the subject matter. It could definitely be the hand – the way it lingers on the side of the couch. It could be the legs. Maybe its the texture of all the materials around the figure. Maybe its the contrast between the light skin and the dark fabrics.

When I look at this image I feel incredibly relaxed and sexy – two emotions that go very well together.

spoiler alert:
The original image is below. If you are completely wrapped up in the crispness and stark tranquility of the above image do not read any further.

It wasn’t always like this. This image is posed and it didn’t really come out that great.

Zoe and I worked together for about twenty minutes to try to get all the elements lined up. I liked the way she was lying on the couch and I pulled the camera out with the intent of capturing a nice symmetrical perspective. We tried very hard to line everything up. I usually don’t direct a shot… I just shoot what I see, but Zoe was trying to teach me how to inspect the set and try to adjust the model and elements around her to make the shot better. It wasn’t until one of the last frames that I asked her to put her hand down beside the couch.

I inspected the images on the computer and was not feeling good about them. The colors were dark. My perspective wasn’t really there. I was very close to throwing out the whole set when I decided to start experimenting.

Sometimes an image just doesn’t work, and other times there is a hidden treasure inside. When the colors are just not working for me I always go to black and white. I try to make the light area the whitest and the dark area the blackest. Then I lighten up the darks to bring out details. After that I start experimenting with cropping.

Both cropping and color can dramatically re-tell a story. And in this case the results are very dramatic.

This is part 2 of a bunch of Maui photo posts I will be writing in the next week or two. Its hard to find the time to edit/write anything when the weather outside is so damn good. But enough about how blissfully abundant the aloha vibe here is my brothers and sisters and on to tonight’s story about Jaws, the turtle, some surfers, and rainbows.

Jaws is the name of a special wave near Paia that occasionally breaks in a building-sized fashion. I’ve been following this break ever since my everything-big-wave passion started a few years ago. You see… I’m a bit of a surfer myself (see appendix at the bottom of this post) but to be honest, I had no idea that this wave was actually here in Maui. I assumed it was on the big Island. So, when Pam & Deleon invited us to come with them to see it I was giddy with excitement. Regardless of the size, just ‘being’ at Jaws would be a dream come true for me.

I recall reading Laird Hamilton talk about the day someone took him to see Jaws for the first time. It makes sense to me now why few people knew about this wave. It is tucked away in a cove behind a pineapple farm. What those guys saw that day changed the future of surfing, and it probably looked like this… one giant crescent of a wave in an otherwise glassy ocean.

From afar it looks slow and mellow but when your brain starts to calculate the actual scale and magnitude of what is going on… you realize this is something special. Big, fast, and powerful. To add to the magic a heavy mist blows off the tops of the waves and refracts the sunlight.

This day was a relatively small day.

There was a group of about 8 surfers strapped in and taking turns with every set. I was impressed by the way they all worked together before, during, and after each set. The ocean would be calm and event-less… then, unannounced, everyone would spring to life. Wave runners towing surfers. They would circle each other and form a long line. The first surfer being towed over an innocuous ripple.

The jet-ski driver would break right… leaving the surfer alone as the ripple turned into a wave… then into a wall… and finally into a huge tube.

It was a relatively small day. So small, that I guess the turtles were not really phased either.

The end.

Appendix:
By “Surfer” I mean that I successfully completed a 2-hour surfing lesson where I paddled into, caught, and rode 4 waves. My board was huge and the waves were tiny… but I did it… so I’m officially a surfer now, ok?

First time on Maui is going great so far.

Pam and Deleon’s wedding was amazing, we’ve seen a sunrise over the crater, surfers at Jaws, eaten amazing food… and we’re only getting started.

After the wedding we jumped into our time machine and went back in time to shoot a nice cheesy 80s photo for Maui tourism.