The first week of may brought friend, Cleveland artist, and surfer Ali Kurzeja to San Diego for her annual surf vacation. Her and a group of Lake Erie surfers pitched tents at San Elijo State Beach where they spent the week in the salty surf of the Pacific Ocean. Ali had asked if I could come up to the San Elijo and capture some photos of them in action. I was happy to oblige, and met up with the group on a sunny Friday morning. Ali was quick to introduce me to Scott Ditzenberger. Scott produced and directed the documentary Out of Place: The Unlikely Story of Surfing in Cleveland, Ohio. The film has been shown at a number of film festivals across the country including the New York Surf Film Festival, where it won Viewer’s Choice award for Best Feature. We also met one of the stars of the film Vince Labbe. You can view the trailer and order you copy at outofplacemovie.com.
As we descended the stairs to the beach we could see the surf wasn’t great that morning, but they were excited to get out there and I was excited to photograph them. I had brought my DSLR and my 35mm camera with 2 rolls of near expired black and white film given to me by Cleveland Photographer Barney Taxel. I had never shot surfers before, but had always wanted to take up the challenge.
Scott and Ali offered to teach Sharon and I how to surf, but our schedules did not line up the rest of the week. We hope to get into the water with them next time they are out here.
Nice job, Lembke. Great photos!
Nice story and great shots. Thanks for capturing a beautiful Friday morning. We love coming out there and we appreciate your artistic interest. Well done
Mike, loved the photos…excellent. Enjoyed the other features as well. Very talented you are. Say hello to my Sharon. Audrey
Mike it was so great meeting you guys. Thank you again for helping us to remember our special trip to the ocean.