Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

More of the Same Same Collected Thoughts 130: Year of the fucking drone.

what youth nate lawrence collected thoughts

“So here we are. 2017. Year of the fucking drone. We’re pretty far behind schedule, according to Marty McFly. But finally every single person in the world owns a drone. Yay! And now we get to look at even more of the same same. Same beach. Same angle. Different caption. (insert grammatical error here)

The question I have is simple: Is surfing so boring that we must copy and paste content because none of us can think on our own? And it’s not just drones and that straight down angle that is being copied over and over. In years past it was the bunker angle shooting Pipe in Hawaii. Let’s not forget about the acai bowl, either.

Copying others is nothing new, it’s just that we see each other more clearly now. 1 or 2 posts a day for a couple years tends to be a bit underwhelming. Clark Little – Shorebreak photo, shore break flash photo, underwater turtle. Chris Burkard – Half Dome, Northern Lights, kayak. Bryana Holly – Ass, cleavage, ass. Besides that latter, these things can get boring to look at over time. But it’s not the photographers fault. The photos are incredible, I just don’t think we were made to show our work every single day. The greatest photographers in the world created books to showcase their work. I think they too would struggle if they had to post something new every single day for the rest of their lives.

So we turn to drones. Buy one today for a guaranteed post a week. Shoot straight down. Pump the contrast. Post. Repeat.” —Nate Lawrence

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“Lucky Enough to be in the right place at the right time.” Collected Thoughts 099

If Nate Lawrence’s lens could talk…..Indonesia.   

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Be Like Mason Ho Collected Thoughts 098

“Why can’t everyone just be a little bit more like Mason Ho?” —Nate Lawrence

what youth surfing collected thoughts nate lawrence raph bruhwiler

Raph Bruhwiler, Canada 2011 Collected Thoughts 097

“Raph is amazing. Canada is amazing. This wave is amazing.  And drinking Iceburgs at Shelter is amazing” —Nate Lawrence

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Mikey Wright, Pipeline 2014 Collected Thoughts 096

“In 2014 I only knew Mikey Wright as Owen’s little brother. Even though he was doing stuff like you see in this photo pretty consistently. Now Mikey is his own brand. He’s not Owen’s little brother anymore. The surfing he is doing is unique. It’s fresh. And pretty soon we could be referring to Owen…

what youth jordy smith surfing in indonesia

Jordy Smith, Indonesia, 2013 Collected Thoughts 095

“Jordy Smith, Indonesia 2013. Everything about this photo makes me want to pack up a bag and get back to this wave. I just hope there’s still no one out.” —Nate Lawrence

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Kai Neville, Indonesia Collected Thoughts 094

“Kai Neville, Indonesia. The winds are light. The swell is picking up. The tank is full. It’s looking like a good time to be in Indonesia.” —Nate Lawrence

what youth collected thoughts

Kelia Moniz, Laura Enever and Monyca Eleogram Collected Thoughts 093

“Kelia Moniz, Laura Enever and Monyca Eleogram. Sunset Elementary. I shot this photo on the basketball courts on the North Shore of Hawaii back in 2012. Each has a different style on land and in the water. But all of the them seem to have fun no matter what they are doing.” —Nate Lawrence

What Youth Craig Anderson

Craig Anderson: “Cameo Mod” in Uluwatu April 2010 Collected Thoughts 092

“April, 2010. Craig had just debuted to the world for the first time in Modern Collective. He blew minds with his backside rotations in shark waters as the “Cameo Mod.” But we still had no idea who Craig was. Chas Smith and I hung with Craig for 2 weeks in Oz a few months after the…

what youth jordy smith surfing

Earth to Jordy…We want more of this. Collected Thoughts 091

Jordy, where’d you go? We wanna see more of this this year. Find good waves. Book those last minute flights. Get back at it. With the boys. Love, What Youth

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Santa Cruz, localism, kooks and me. Collected Thoughts 090

I recently made a mistake. I took a photo at a spot in Santa Cruz and posted it on our WY Instagram account. I didn’t name the spot, but I did say it was a wave that rarely breaks in Santa Cruz. And the photo tells exactly where the wave is. Then came the comments……

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Taj Burrow always rules Collected Thoughts 089

Taj just released a rad little video online. It has waves in it that remind me of why I fell in love with Taj’s surfing. I can remember being a teenager and watching Sabotaj on VHS with my buddies. None of us had ever been to Australia. We had never even left Santa Cruz really….

what youth collected thoughts nate tyler santa cruz nate lawrence

Flash with Nate Tyler in Santa Cruz Collected Thoughts 088

With all the gimmicks and stunts that have gone down this year it makes me think back to the early 2000’s in Santa Cruz. It was the epicenter of smoke and mirror surfing. We’d either go pull into closeout barrels or use jet skis to whip into 2 foot waves with many of the guys…

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