The Womens Pipe Pro
The Womens Pipe Pro was an extra special event for me because I was the inspiration for the poster. It was a photo taken from a dear friend of mine who has since passed away. The genius, artist or rather, mad scientist known as Warren Bolster, was indeed one of the early pioneers who attempted to capture POV images from the surfers point of view. He did this via heavy and sharp camera gear, mounted to heavy and hard, pole-like aluminum mounts that were carefully positioned on various locations of the surf board deck. Warren would be aligned in some strategic location some where on the beach and he would be controlling the camera by way of remote control. The effort that went into the full process of trying to get a, “camera board shot” was both tedious and down right deadly.
Emilia Perry on the Women’s Pipe Pro poster
This was deep in the era of film cameras. Even though you were putting your life on the line, and I mean every time you paddled out on the monstrosity, no one could guaranty so much as getting one descent photo out of the whole ordeal… but when you pulled off one proper image with Warren and his contraption, the results were GOLD! The late, great, Warren Bolster was a camera man extraordinaire and a photographic innovator at the highest level. The legacy to Warren Bolster’s futuristic approach to photography, like his bizarre and creative “camera board shot”, has spawned a modern day revolution and sparked a billion dollar industry known as the Gopro movement.
This artistic creativity from some of the forefathers of the game, have with out any doubt, captured the eye of a new and talented breed of amazing, and adventurous young artists… like the wonderfully gifted visions of the talented and ever so graceful, Christy Shinn. Christy was awesome and daring enough to take an already awesome piece of work within a photo and bring it new life within the individualized and ever so precise brush strokes of her soul. Thus creating, without any biased opinion, the best The Womens Pipe Pro poster I have ever laid eyes on (hehehe:) Christy Shinn is an amazing artist and we love her inspiration.
Women’s Pipe Pro friends and family came down to support the women
Artist: CHRISTIE SHINN is a self-taught graphic designer and illustrator based in Canada but inspired by Hawaii. With a bright, graphic style, SHINN documents daily life on the North Shore of Oahu through her work. Her work steers clear of the familiar postcard imagery and, instead, feature smaller moments that are telling of the larger experience. SHINN’S unique aesthetic comes from a varied collection of influences that include old skate graphics, DIY screen printing and comic book art. Check her work out at www.shinnstudio.com , info@shinnstudio.com
Read more at surfer magazine on the womens pipe pro
All the women in the event did well and charged hard mind you. The ladies pushed their levels in some pretty sloppy, punchy surf. Pipe and Backdoor dished out powerful 3 to 5 foot wind slop with howling 20 knot north north east winds. The conditions were very challenging and the waiting period didn’t prove to produce amazing results when it came to the waves department. Amongst all the chaos, I was proud to say, that the girls went hard… they went for it! New generation girls if given a fair opportunity will give it a hard go! You better believe that, we just keep getting thrown out in the slop. I would like to thank Banzai Betty for putting on an event like this for the women.
Kim taylor reese support the women at the The Women’s Pipe Pro
Contests can be sooo frustrating! 20 minutes to decide who surfed better or who caught the better waves. There are times when I might wait out at Pipe for a solid 3 hours, roaming around looking for one wave.
So as you may have guessed by now… I didn’t make the final, but as someone put it to me later to cheer me up… ‘there can only be one winner’.
On an extremely positive note… I beat out Carissa Moore who had just came back from her major win in Australia. Just as I had mentioned earlier, you can be the best competitor and still get bad waves in your heat.
This years The Womens Pipe Pro poster also graced the cover of the north shore news.
Any way, congratulations and good efforts to all the girls that competed in this years event! Until next year… Surf to Live… Live to Surf!!!
Mahalo from, Oahu Surfing Experience
Womens pipe pro
cover of the north shore news
Hey to all you readers out there. If you thought this was a useful tip… the surf instructors over on the north shore of O’ahu at www.oahusurfingexperience.com , have plenty of great and knowledgable tips to keep you safe and growing in our wonderful ocean play ground. Book now with Oahu Surfing Experience for your authentic and practical surfing lesson. A priceless experience that you will never forget. We also offer Stand Up Paddling (SUPing) in calm waters… If surfing doesn’t interest you ladies or your daughters, ask about becoming a mermaid for a mermaid photo shoot. Another priceless memory that will last you a life time.
