Rain, Sun and House-Sized Waves

In a jet lagged daze I lay in the bed after waking up at 5am Northwest time, (8am Maine time), eating breakfast and then falling back to sleep. Despite being 3,000 miles from my typical place of slumber, I reached over to my iPhone in my standard morning routine and flicked through the apps. After reading my emails and Twitter, I eventually thumbed the Magic Seaweed application out of desperation to rationalize staying in bed for a few more minutes.

Instantly I jumped up from my semi-catatonic slumber into a state of hysteria. As an enthusiastic rider of Maine waves, I check Magic Seaweed daily and usually see numbers an order of magnitude smaller than the ones I was looking at for the Oregon coast. Like a six year old on Christmas morning I rushed down the stairs, grabbed my camera, car keys, and a wool jacket and headed to the Portland Airport to pick up my dad and then head to the coast in search of waves and rain.

An hour and a half later, I hopped out of my dad's 4Runner and scurried towards the lookout like a kid at the ball pit at McDonald's.

It was windy.

The last scene of Point Break was filmed at this beach. "We'll get him when he comes back in!" It sure looked like Bodhi's 50-year storm last weekend.

keep me honest.

After two hours of rain and wind the clouds finally broke and for fifteen minutes. My dad and I watched waves roll in and thunderstorm cells lurk closer.

From 300 feet up and roughly half a mile away these waves looked more like an avalanche on the Discovery channel than things people ride for fun.

We headed back to the car as the drops of rain fell on our backs. As soon as we got in the car and cranked on the heater, large hailstones started pinging off of the windshield. Our timing couldn't have been better.

Here are some more links,
Rain, Sun and House Sized Waves (Picasa),
Rain, Sun and House Sized Waves (Vimeo).

A Walk in the Woods

I get restless and bored. I guess it's a product of some learning disorder diagnosed by a balding, silver Porsche Boxster (not the S of course) driving 52 year-old, or maybe it's just my personality. On Sunday I woke up to a beautiful, dry fall day and felt a yearning to go explore.

After five minutes of deliberation, my roommate and always eager partner in crime, Dan, and I set off for the Belgrade Lakes to hike the in the Kennebec Highlands Nature Reserve.

Two weeks ago, the autumn leaf canopy shielded the forest from the rain, wind and sunlight. Now it carpets the floor making trails impossible to follow, unless you're Billy from Predator. Early on, Dan and I scrapped the idea of following the well hidden trail and set out directly for the top of a hill through the thick Maine woods.

For an hour and a half, Dan and I trudged through the leaf covered woods listening to the crackling under our feet and the dry wind whistling through the stubborn leaves in the upper canopy.

Crackle...crackle...crackle...

I found this vintage Eddie Bauer down jacket on one of my weekly visits to my local Goodwill. Gotta represent the Northwest.

Hiking through the Maine woods put a smile on my face.

Here are some more links,
A Walk in the Woods (Picasa).

Inspiration Wall at the L.L. Bean Signature Event

A few weeks ago, I made the trek down from Maine to New York City for the L.L. Bean Signature event. For the last two months, I had been looking through books, magazines, image collections and catalogs for a wide variety of images that captured the complexity of the L.L. Bean brand. For my research I focused on images from spring outdoor activities like fishing, camping and sailing that fit within Bean's sensibility. The end product was 22 feet by 9 feet high

Here are some select images from my search which appeared on the inspiration wall.

This is one of the most amazing images I have seen.

Hands down my favorite L.L. Bean Cover.

Bean has a long heritage of selling outdoor gear like fishing and hunting equipment and I tried to have some product-focused shots in the mix.

I prefer getting out and searching through books and image collections because the end product is far more unique than images you would find online.

I snuck two of my own photos into the collage...whooops :)

I like doing image research because it challenges you to get in the minds of people whose world you are trying to recreate and tell their story through a handful of 2D images. For example, to find camping/hiking images from the 60's of young men and women I looked through hundreds of New England Colleges' outdoor club sections in yearbooks from the late 50's to early 60's. Image research is akin to hunting; in order to find the best stuff, you have to go farther and dig deeper than other hunters.

Thanks Marc Desrosiers of the L.L. Bean Signature team for coming up with the layout and to Alex Carleton for getting me into the project, editing the images and the creative direction.

Here are some more links,
Inspiration Wall at the LL Bean Signature Event (Picasa),
L.L. Bean Signature,
L.L. Bean PR (Twitter).

Dan Freeman's Leatherworks

Dan Freeman learned to make shoes over thirty years ago in New Orleans. Now he practices his art in a small shop off of Route 7 in Middlebury, Vermont.

Dan custom makes all types of shoes including dress, sneakers and boat shoes but is best known for his equestrian and hiking boots. For every shoe, Dan creates a custom form modeled after the foot of a customer. Dan keeps all of these customers' forms in the back for future use.

Dan requires customers to make multiple sizing visits to his workspace in Middlebury, and ohh yahh, they cost $1,800.

Day Hikers. Dan uses Vibram soles for all of his rubber soled shoes.

Forms for Equestrian boots and a pair of his early work.

A view of Dan's shop and his apprentice.

Dan makes these labels himself.

I loved these sandals. Very simple, high quality and 1/10 the price of the Day Hikers.

I love the simplicity of the design. These will last forever.

If I ever have the money to purchase a pair of $2,000 custom made shoes, I will certainly support a shoemaker like Dan Freeman. His trade represents the last of a long tradition craftsman who learn by apprenticeship, not a $50,000 a year college or an online course. Dan doesn't have a website and does all of his business out of his workspace. Customers fly to Vermont from all over the US to have Dan make their shoes. After spending twenty minutes in his store I can see why.

Here are some more links,
Dan Freeman's Leatherworks (Picasa),
Dan Freeman's Leatherworks.