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Inside the SURFNEWS Les "K2" Walker's Big Picture

At 31 years of age, Brooks Institute trained Les Walker has many accolades, including bagging the K2 Big Wave Challenge's winning photo of Taylor Knox at Todos Santos Island and netting a cool 5 grand in the process. In addition to being photo editor of SURFNEWS, Les's other responsibilities include being a senior staff photographer for Surfing Magazine and doing shoots for high profile "Velcro Valley" advertisers . SURFNEWS, a new surf tabloid that focuses on the Southern California scene, represents the latest challenge to Les. He and Bill Sharp, the former marketing director of K2 (and lensman extraordinaire himself), joined forces to launch SURFNEWS earlier this year. They combined with allot of other forces too, the roster of writers and photographers on the masthead reads like a who's who of the best in the sport. And here's the best part...it's FREE!

LW: I need to put my 600 f4 up on proxchange. I am about ready to buy the new image stabilizing 600 f4. They have a digital image stabilizing lens that is incredible. You can shoot down to 1/25 sec and still be crystal sharp.
BC: That's great, we'd love to have it up there. How was your trip to Hawaii?
LW: What I initially went to do was to take a look at some of the places that Laird Hamilton and some of those guys are doing tow ins. I wanted to go check it out when it was flat and to see what potential if any from shooting from the land.. and what the helicopter prices are gonna be... and what's the ability of finding someone with a jet ski because if you don't own one there, getting one there is expensive. And then took the wife along and we went diving and snorkeling and had a good time.
BC: Where else have your travels taken you this year?
LW: Through my lifetime, many, many places. But just within the last year ..Europe, did the European leg. All over Mexico. Of course all over Baja. Being in Southern California, Baja is so easily accessible. One of my favorite places to shoot is Isle De Natividad, which is halfway down the peninsula of Baja...Awesome, awesome summer waves. And that's really the only opportunity I've had all summer in California or Baja California to shoot waves that have sun on them. Because we have had an incredible overcast all year.
BC: I was up in the ranchlands yesterday and it was gorgeous.....six feet and glassy.
LW: I love Jalama. That's probably one of my favorite waves in California.
BC: It looks like the swell is intensifying right now.
LW: For here yeah (Newport) A little bit of combination from a tropical storm and southern hemisphere stuff. Matter of fact to quote Sean Collins, it's supposed to be up to 6 feet today.
BC: How about tomorrow?
LW: Swells hold through Wednesday and then a new pulse 3-5 by Friday. So it looks like it will be a fun weekend. Were supposed to get rain tomorrow, so photographic wise that kind of shuts me down. But its nice to go get some waves myself.
BC: What is your ideal shooting location?
LW: I don't really have an ideal spot. Anywhere I have a combination of 3 things: 1) good weather 2)good waves and 3)good talent. That makes the ideal shooting spot. You could be anywhere in the world and if those three things come together, that's it.
BC: Who are the easiest pros for you to travel with?
LW: When I travel, except when I go on specific photo trips, they're all really easy. They all really want to work with a photographer . And everybody is really good. Everybody kind of puts their egos aside when it comes to a photo trip because they all want to work and they all want to get "the photo". Whatever egos they maybe have towards each other during competition, during the tour schedule, they don't have. Cause its more of a camaraderie. So I would have to say that everybody is easy.
BC: Who do you think the modern masters are of shooting photography?
LW: Oh that kind of goes without saying, Aaron Chang, Larry Moore, Tom Servais, Chris Van Lennep from the water. Nobody beats Chris Van Lennep from the water. He's the only guy if you look on the North Shore that's shooting with a 50mm at Pipeline from the water. So he's in there. You know the top guys from Surfer; Mike Balzer, Jeff Divine but if I were going to put two on the pinnacle, Aaron Chang, Chris Van Lennep.
BC: Whom would you put in the "all time" masters' category?
LW: Well you know I just bought the Photo Grannis Book and to think what he was doing back in that era. The guy was breaking down barriers for us. But all time masters...Aaron Lloyd, great water photographer. But I still think the all time masters are still working to this day. There's a phenomenal amount of guys especially in northern and central California that are awesome photographers but you never really get to see much of their stuff just because of their location.
BC: What was your first gig shooting, who discovered you?
LW: It was strange enough that I shot that large wave at Todos. My first published wave was of Todos Santos of a stand up barrel of Chris Mura who is now the associate editor of Surfer. Who went out on a trip with Mike Parsons and Chris Mura kind of before Todos ever even got popular. Before it went big in the mags , went out there and got some shots of those guys, that made a cover of a Japanese Surfing Magazine but also made a full page inside Surfing Magazine. So Todos, but it wasn't like I had called anybody and said, "Hey, I'm trying to become a surf photographer." I was just doing it to shoot for the ads, to make money for advertising. I never really thought, Ok, I'm going to be an editorial guy. I was like, OK, I can generate a little extra revenue, cause I was doing other things photographically, and it was kind of fun and I came back from that trip and I got a phone call from Larry Moore going, "Hey Les, Mike Parsons said that it was you out shooting that day. I would love to see the stuff". So he saw it and that's it right there.
BC: And you are a senior staffer now.
LW: Yeah, I'm a senior staff guy with Surfing.
BC: That's quite an accomplishment.
LW: Thanks! I'm amazed that people mention my name in the same breath along with Chris Van Lennep, Aaron Chang, Flame, Jeff Divine, and Rob Brown.
BC: It's interesting because when I interviewed the Mavericks photographers, Frank Quirarte didn't even want to be classified as a photographer. And then two weeks later he went out and bagged that cover shot of Dan Moore for the Surfer CHARGE! issue.
LW: That's another fine example the three elements coming together. And it helps when you are right there. Its too easy.. well not too easy but easier...when you're local.
BC: Yeah they're really are on the pulse of it so they know when it's going to be good...within hours.
LW: The stuff that Frank showed when I was up for the Mavericks event was phenomenal. I mean any surfing magazine would be stoked to have him on their team.
BC: What would be a photo trip from hell? The jungles of Indonesia with relentless 12 foot barrels dredging a shallow reef day after day?
LW: Indo's always been very good. Even if you go there and you get skunked, it's just a great place to hang out...and a fun place. But I'd say Costa Rica. I went with a Volcum crew of very young guys. Very angry anxious guys wanted to really get photos and I was very excited to go with guys that wanted to wake up at 5 am and find the best spot and shoot it all day. But we get there and it rains for two and a half weeks straight. Not a single roll shot. So after the first week, you know, patience is starting to wear. And it was a full photo trip breakdown.
BC: So who are the worst pros to travel with...
LW: (laughing) Well the worst pros to travel with, I'm not going to say any names, are the guys that aren't on top of their game. That are frustrated with the way they are surfing. Because they have a way of ....after you come back from a photo trip, and you have all these photos laid out, you've got all the great photos of everybody else on the trip except that guy. Cause sometimes, you know, guys get in a rhythm. Maybe you have a bad week. You are just not surfing up to what your standards would be. And to be perfectly honest, sometimes I miss a shot. You're watching one guy and this guy does a great maneuver off to the side you miss. But I hate to name names because I've gone on trips where OK, I've said, " I'm never going on a trip with that guy again"and I end up going on a trip with him, and he turns out to be the best guy on the trip.
BC: So you like being out in steaming jungles on some reef at the end of the world with huge surf grinding day after day...
LW: Well you see that's fun. You can get out there and work. You are expressing yourself. Its a great feeling when you're shooting and your like, "Oh, I got it. There it is, I've got it....This roll is gold !...right here". But there is nothing more frustrating than standing in the rain, watching good waves roll through and knowing you can't photograph em. Even though I am out there surfing em, that's fun and everything, but it's not what you are there to do. Cause I get just as stoked about surfing as I do about photographing surfing.
BC: Your magazine here SURFNEWS. This is really a bold move in the industry to attempt a monthly like this.
LW: Yeah, you know we feel as though we're filling a niche that's not being filled out there right now. If you want to reach an international market, take it for instance from the advertisers' standpoint, you advertise with Surfing or Surfer. And if you want to have an international magazine to read with trips to Indo or trips to South Africa or some strange Mentawai Islands, you read those magazines. But if you live and breath Southern California surfing, like allot of guys who don't have that endless bank account where they can travel the world, a) we cover the "back yard"; Santa Barbara to Baja, all the way out to the Channel Islands. We cover what's going on in California. And they kind of consider Orange County- "Velcro Valley" because a) all the leading manufacturers of all the surf companies are right here. So we're right in there, we know what's going on within the industry. We've kind of got our fingers on the pulse of what's going on within the surf industry.
BC: There have been several attempts at a similar thing up north in Santa Cruz, which like Huntington has several big name manufacturers, boards, wetsuits etc. with talent in front of and behind the lens. But you either had crooks involved who put out the Christmas issue in January and burned the advertisers or people who really didn't have business skills, and ran out of money.
LW: I'd consider Santa Cruz ,"Surf City" before I 'd ever consider Huntington Beach, "Surf City". Just allot of unknown talent there besides good spots for just incredible high performance surfing. You've got Waddell Creek, you've got The Point. You've got all these great spots. I love Santa Cruz...If the water wasn't so damn cold I'd be there. But to finish answering your question, "It's a bold move". Yeah, but we have a good team of guys. You've got Bill Sharp and Sam George that were both editors of Surfing. And Sam was editor of Surfer. So we 've got the editorial content behind it. And then I bring to the table the photographic standpoint, which Surfing Magazine is still supporting me on this endeavor.
BC: So they don't want first pick of the photos?
LW: No, I still give them first pick, but anytime I say, "Hey, I could use a couple of these photos, we're featuring this guy or it'd be nice to run this photo". Larry Moore will look at it and go, "Yeah, I don't see as though we're gonna use this in the next four issues, use it". So I am fortunate that way.
BC: I'd like to see a similar mag in Santa Cruz. There have been some calls for it.
LW: Especially the Santa Cruz area, I think could actually carry a surf tabloid publication. It just would take the right group of guys to get together to do it. I mean it isn't easy and advertisers are apprehensive. You know the first 3 issues are out of your pocket. Until they realize, hey these guys are serious and they want to be established. OK we'll support em.
BC: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for your publication now?
LW: Well, we're six this year. We're going to full one a month next year, so twelve. And were going to try to throw in some other publications along the way. Allot of people have asked us if were going to go glossy, if were gonna go mainstream....No. Our biggest opportunity is just to get bigger. Opportunity for me personally is just to express myself photographically and be able to bring in all these other photographers that I admire, to bring their work in. It's kinda neat to be stoked about what you are doing. So opportunities are endless really for us. I mean it will definitely be a money making proposition. But as you talk to anybody in the surf industry, they don't normally begin it to make money! (laughing).
BC: ....A labor of love.
LW: Yeah, exactly.
BC: What do you see as your barriers?
LW: Just acceptance. Right now we're only on issue number four, going into issue number five. People are a little ...like OK, are these guys really serious? Are we a long term magazine? And yeah we are. Just getting that across to people who keep the magazine going like the advertisers. That's what keeps the magazine printed out is the advertising, cause we're a FREE publication. So there are no subscriptions. And we don't sell any product out of there. So its advertiser driven only. So that's the acceptance.
BC: As the world hungers for media products, are you adapting your magazine for any kind of international exposure?
LW: No, No, what we want to really do is...Are you familiar with ESM? Eastern Surf Magazine? Here it is...(handing it over, the sucker's thick). We want to be like that. We want to be that of the West Coast. We'll never go internationally because, you know the old saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none"? Well we know Southern California....and we know the Southern California lifestyle. So we're gonna concentrate on that. I mean its what we know and it's what were gonna stick with. We're not going to try to get into any waters that we've never crossed before.
BC: But you wonder if some kind of online format might be accepted, because people from all over the world want to travel to California.
LW: Yeah, that's definitely the potential Definitely some kind of online format.....but that would have to be first brought on by the advertisers, because as you know, online is not free.
BC: Websites are definitely economical compared to putting a magazine out.
LW: True.
BC: A little ancient history here...The K2 event. That was really a stroke of marketing genius.
LW: Matter of fact that's Bill, right in there (pointing)
BC: I mean to have done it that year and have had everything come together...
LW: Yeah that was amazing. Have an El Nino year and come up with that idea. Yeah, it's a phenomenal piece of marketing ability. Everybody knew who K2 was....everybody. I just wish K2 had been able to use it to their advantage after the event happened. They came out with a surf clothing line, but there were some sort of production problems and they just never really pushed it.
BC: I think your winning shot pretty much speaks for itself.
LW: In the beginning when the K2 thing came out, I didn't even enter, you know you were supposed to fax in. I was like, "Oh yeah, its gonna happen at Mavericks. It's never gonna happen here." Sure not gonna shoot it at Newport. Ha! Ha! I was actually very lucky. I was the only guy on that particular day at Todos Santos. The only guy that decided to swim into the island. Cause I knew that the most dramatic shot was going to be from the water. I mean looking into the barrel when that thing pitches over. But I was thinking OK, if something big comes through. Its not gonna be the shot that shows actually how big that wave is. And it wasn't really a conscious decision going, "OK , I'm gonna go try to shoot the K2 winning wave". My decision was, hey I'm gonna give a different perspective for the story were doing in Surfing Magazine on this event. Cause it was an event within an event. It was the K2 Big Wave Challenge encompassing all the big waves ridden in the northern hemisphere. I just happened to be at the ISA, International Surfing Association "Big Wave Challenge". And that was the event being held at Todos.
BC: Was that the biggest wave to come through that day?
LW: No no, that was the biggest wave ridden that day. There were bigger ones smoken through that guys were scrambling to the shoulder to get over. And I felt that the bigger ones were definitely unrideable. Just too big to paddle into. They were just moving too fast.
BC: You've been shooting Mavericks too...I saw an aerial shot in one of the mags.
LW: Yeah, during the Mavericks Quicksilver Contest, I shot from a helicopter. Because I knew you've got Frank, you got Don, you got those guys down in the water. And you've got Jim Russi who was there and there was a couple of other guys from boats shooting there, I'm like, "I gotta do something different". So I rented a helicopter. And actually in that case, turned out to be the most photos ran from that event. Just because it was a different angle.
BC: You know when I was talking to the Mavericks photographers, they were kind of vocal about "north-south" rivalry.
LW: Oh yeah you know someone had mentioned that to me. They were like, "Well when you go up to Mavericks, you're not going to be very welcomed." And I never experienced any of that. Cause I like everybody. And those people were saying, "Oh, you know Doug Acton and those guys there gonna be on top of you." I'm like, "I don't even really know Doug , but he's a good photographer." And when I went there, they were like, "Hey Les, congratulations!"I'm like, "Hey you guys know it was luck....I know it was luck. It could have been any one of you guys." And I totally appreciate the fact that everybody was really cool to me.
BC: I think they are your peers and there is a certain amount of healthy competition.
LW: But surf photography is really not like competition because its just the right spot, right time sort of thing. All these guys technically are as good as the next guy. It's just the right spot -right time. We're all using the same equipment. All of us have the technical ability. And you know what the saying is, luck is a combination of experience and timing.
BC: I think what Doug Acton was talking about was, initially when they discussed the criteria for the winning K2 photo. Bill Sharp had made very strong indications that a water shot was what he would be looking for and that a land angle was not. Don Montgomery shot from land and felt that when his shot went to the judging, his photo wasn't even considered.
LW: I remember seeing Don's shot of Peter Mel and thinking that was a pretty damn big wave. I'm not sure, I wasn't at the judging. I wasn't allowed. Rob Brown wasn't allowed. Aaron Chang wasn't allowed. Any of the photographers involved weren't allowed. You know, I don't remember in the tips for the photographers, if it said anything about water photography. I just remember it saying angle showing wave at its maximum height. Whatever that might have been. I mean this wave here (Knox's Todos Bomb) shot from the water doesn't look nearly as big.
BC: The shot that Frank Quirarte got of Peter Mel for the Quicksilver Poster...that wave was ...DEATH.
LW: It's a big wave. I would have liked to have seen what it looked like from Don's cliff angle cause it was probably a monster. We did find out through the course of the season that a wave looses its height by 25% when shot from the water.
BC: So Bill's advice should have been, "Shoot from shore".
LW: Given that case, yeah. But like you said its really not the dramatic angle. If you want the drama of what's going on out there, you've gotta go from the water. As Bill will tell you, it was difficult to choose between those two photos.
BC: What do you see as "the next level" in surf photography?
LW: Well, the next level in surfing is definitely the tow-in and if you could capture that some way. You might have to be on the jet ski riding in the wave with them to capture how big these people are actually surfing these waves.
BC: Yeah. one guy a driver, one guy kind strapped in holding the camera and hope that motor doesn't cut out.
LW: I think the next step that we're gonna see, being Internet savvy as we are, is digital. Which right there increases the ability to shoot in conditions that we wouldn't normally shoot film in like drizzly overcast conditions or backlit situations. Where digital you can dial it in to get the proper exposure.
BC: So what kind of equipment are you talking about here.
LW: You know CANON just did a deal with Kodak and they are manufacturing digital cameras now. Where you can do a cover shot of a Surfing magazine and it would be ultimate resolution. No loss at all. Beautiful glossy cover resolution. Up to 11 by 17. And midroll you are able to change your film speed....you're able to dial it in, and you get a little preview screen on the back of the camera going "OK , yeah I got it!....or no I didn't" That's the next step. And when I'm done I can go back to my laptop, plug my camera into it and email the images to the magazine. From anywhere in the world.
BC: I was talking to Ted Deits, Cyber Kahuna of Surfcheck.com with the live wave cams by email. I was complaining because I see potential for more than just static images every 30 seconds. I said, get some equipment like that out in the water and do a daily surf show from all over the world. You know, "How the surf was" four hours ago all over the world. Or in real time!
LW: We're getting to the point where we want information (snapping fingers) now. That 3 second loading period..now it's starting to seem like a long time. I want it instantly (laughing). So that's where our photography is heading. There will always be the paper publication. As humans we want to be able to hold and feel and look at something.
BC: The mags just get bigger and better all the time.
LW: Internet magazines are great, I love em cause you can change them every day. But as far as technology goes. It's just going to get better due to the digital process.
BC: I think that the Surfer Annual with Duke Kahanamoku on the cover was a beautiful product.
LW: Yeah, its one of my favorite mags to see every year.
BC: Its the square format, its bigger, the ads were so well done, its perfect bound. The print appetite is insatiable too.
LW: Oh yeah...That magazine for them to make is phenomenal...money wise. I think in our last issue we did something on that particular Surfer issue. Like how many they made...and if you were to stack them up (chuckle) how high would it be! And how much it weighs....and if you were to lay them end to end I think it would stretch from like Newport to San Diego or something like that.
BC: Was it a million?
LW: I think a hundred thousand. But it was a cool thing..(searching for it and finding it and reading from stats) "The Big Fat Mag" Surfer issue...It had 348 pages including an 8 page poster. Total photos were 392 photos. Total words were 749,994 (Ha! Ha!). Total characters 3,059,279. The weight of the mag alone was 2 pounds 4 ounces. And the size was 10.875 inches by 12 inches. Thickness....half inch thick. The print run was 185,000. And the total weight was 208 tons. Stacked carefully the mags reach 1.46 miles high. So a mile and a half high if you were to stack em.!boom boom boom...(whooooah man!!!). And then laid out end to end, they would extend from here, from this office (SURFNEWS) to Oceanside California. So you know SURFNEWS is filled with important facts like that (ha! ha! ha!).
BC: Yes indeed. Thanks for your time Les, I know we'll be seeing allot more from you and the SURFNEWS in the future. Best of luck to you and Bill.
LW: Thank you.

The drive north was easier than I had expected. Not a Mr. Toad's wild ride up the San Diego Freeway. I arrived in the ranchlands in time for a good evening session. The tide was rising and the swell was intensifying with six-foot sets dredging the beach. I got to thinking about the K2 and wondered when a winter like the El Nino winter of 97/98 would come again. Who will be shooting it and what will they be shooting with? Whatever it is, you can count on Les Walker being a part of it.

-Proexchange/Bill Clarke