ASP World Manager

The art above was done by Nic Reeves a Montage of Mickey Dora. She is painting a montage of the ASP World Manager Competition for first place.

Riders Anonymous have relaunched the ASP World Manager Competition which can now be found the Photo Assassins Website here.

The new game has new rules which guarantee that signing up at anytime during the year want be too much of a handicap. Nic Reeves of PHOAM.CO.NZ has kindly donated a piece of artwork to the first place winner of the competition.

New Rules include Double points for your captain and a longshot surfer. Only the top 16 place getters in each event will receive points. There is no replacement surfers this year.

STOP PRESS Sessions Surfwear and Smith Sunglasses have also signed up as sponsors of the competition, stay tuned as more will follow.

Next Event - Quiksilver Pro

Snapper rocks is the best location in the world to kick this Circuit off. With long waves that over critical sections for power moves and aerials as well as long hollow bowls for long barrel rides. Not only is it the perfect competitive arena but the crowd gets some of the best views of pro surfing at its best. This is a true gladiators haven with Mick Fanning starting his Title winning run here last year and Kelly Slater always dominant in Australia, this years first round is going to give us a hint into who wants to be the 2008 World title holder.
Our pick for the final- Kelly Vs Mick

Photo Assassins Release new Logo and Copyright Image

Photo Assassins are proud to show of their new log and watermark thanks to Ian Wills at Society4. The look is to ensure the safety of all the photos published on our site and any others that the Assassins may use.

Just a quick note any images placed by them selves like this one can be expanded by right clicking on the pic and then view image

Feel free to sign our guest book and leave your comments or talk on the Forum... Photoassassins.com

Riders Anonymous re-launch Photo Assassins

Photo Assassins has been re-launched by Riders Anonymous. RA saw an opportunity to introduce a new site to New Zealand last year with so many young up and coming photographers developing. The introduction of the RA Magazine meant that more people had oppurtunity to practise both their photgraphy and their writing skills. Photo Assassins is another way in which the guys at RA thought would help young phtoographers not only get their Names known within the field but also help them sell a few photos along the way. The new site has Galleries in which customers can buy indivdual images or even sets of 12 photos as Calendars.

Photo Assassins is open to any photographer to join. Its another community of like minded individuals out enjoying their time. You may only want to send in the occasional image or you may want to post a whole gallery, its totally up to you and you won't be charged for it. People may even like your images so much they may want to buy them.

There are no costs for posting images and you only get charged for what you sell less any costs. The Photo Assassin commission charge of 20% will be deducted upon payment to the photographer on the first of every month. Each photographer will be sent an monthly statement of all sales on the site. Check it out www.photoassassins.com

Something for the Snowboarders

Marc Frank Montoya Launches Sound Outerwear

January 16, 2008

Professional Snowboarder Marc Frank Montoya will launch his new snowboarding brand

Sound for the 2008-2009 season. Comprised of technical waterproof/breathable outerwear and a full range of accessories, Sound will officially launch at the 2008 SIA and ISPO tradeshows. The line is built on the proven Patented Sound System features that have been in development for more than five years, with styling and fabrics that are completely new. Sound will launch worldwide and will be based out of the Brandbase headquarters with other snowboard brands Technine, Nomis, and Alycium, of which Marco is now a partner.

"Whassupp Ya'll! You're gonna be soo stoked!!! We've never been happier and more confident than we are now with Sound!!! EVERYTHING has come out PERFECT - exactly how we've always pictured it! We're finally all set up with the best team of friends, infrastructure, and partners, and things are going ridiculously well. All of our hearts are 110% into this, and the stars have aligned to make this the all time dopest gear company EVER. Sound is gonna be the best shit ever made, with all the right heads behind it. We want to thank everybody for the support over the years and we hope you're as proud as we are to be a part of a 100% REAL & TRUE snowboarding company. We've always done it from the heart. It's never been about the money, only stayin' true to ridin' & havin' fun with the homies, you feel me?! So check Sound at SIA and ISPO & we'll see you there, you WILL be stoked!!! That's my word!!!

Your boy,

MFM

"I first met Marco when he was just a no name kid with unbelievable raw talent, and since then I have been lucky enough to work with him in on every project I've ever been involved with. Like his riding, he comes through every time with the ideas that make me change my entire view on what snowboarding (and outerwear) can be. We have always worked together to try to bring these ideas to riders and take snowboarding to a new level, but this time it's different: This time it's HIS. The Sound line proves Marco's tastes are as diverse as the kids that look up to him. I couldn't be more excited to be involved with Marco and Sound!"

Trent Bush

SoundSnowboarding.com

One California day

It's not a Study of one day in Cali but a look at the life of the surf culture capital of the world through the eyes of some of it's finest cultural exponents.
This enthralling mini epic is shot in 16mm film and ranges from following the brothers Malloy and Curren as they prove Indonesia's lack of magnetism when faced with whats an local adventure away, before casually moving on to a look at the craftsmanship and creativity of Skip Frye and Jed and Greg Noll as they look in every direction for inspiration.
Finally all bases are covered with the modern style masters of Knost ,Gamboa, Perlee ,tudor and Hatzikian mixing it up on all nature of surf craft as California turns on one of the swells of the decade.

I must admit until watching this DVD i had no interest in ever surfing California even with it's epic breaks like 'the 'Bu' and 'Blackies' but now I'm of a different opinion, should the opportunity arise I'm on it like mustard on ham.
This is another master crafted movie by Jason Baffa and he hits all the spots ... its high performance but cultural and easily maintains the individuality of the surf spots and their participants, therefore i declare this 'a little disc shaped slice of heaven'.

Running time: 90 min plus an hour of extras.
Watch when: You wonder if 'the endless summer' could be outdone by a one state movie.
Rating: 5/5 the best sections between the start and the credits

Sun Stroke - From New Angle

I called it and I went it. Out west was on but by the time I got out to Piha it was crowded and very hard to find a place to park the car. I stepped out and took a couple of shots and soaked in the atmosphere. It wasn't amping, the crowd was too intense and the surfing was about avoidance more than anything else. I chucked the boardies on and headed out for a quick paddle. I was a bit longer than I thought but after a while decided to head in. The light was a bit iintense and the action a bit way out so I started looking for a new angle. I headed around to Lion rock and scaled a few rocks for a good vantage point, here are some of those images... Oh yeah I feel like shit where sun screen and don't hang out in the sun.

A Sea Lovers Wedding

Back in November I was invited to my sisters wedding. Sweet I thought at Porangahau Beach in the Hawkes Bay. Porangahau means strong wind, and from what I knew of the place it got the odd wave but nothing special. The guys I stayed with said they fished there but never had waves. The wedding was at 5am so we were up at 330 and I was too keen on putting the board on the roof at that hour, knowing what I did. (never leave your boards kids!)


As I pulled into the csr park my mouth dropped the sun wasn't up but the light was good and the surf was ranging 3-5 feet and pumping. Spitting Barrells straight out in front and not a surfer in sight. Tears weeped down my face.

Isolated - NZ Body Board DVD Review

Oh My God... I managed to get my hands on a copy and I must say, Hadyen Parsons you the man. I know that some of you are Lid haters but you really need to watch this vid. If not for the action, for the assortment of quality waves filmed all over NZ and around other well known holiday escapes. The action in Brief is fantastic with some unbelievable power moves and sick arse barrels. Ryan Hardy is one of the Aussie imports in the DVD and really leads the field with outstanding moves and total smooth riding. I can see how he is a cut above the rest.

Waves- there are some amazing waves that if you were unaware you wouldn't believe they were in New Zealand.

Riders- I didn't realize that there was such a strong crew of riders throughout NZ. For a sport drawfed by Mainstream Surfing Industry Kiwis really do field a lot of talent.

Editing- Hayden and co have done a great job of putting this film together. I really enjoyed the fact they stuck to the action with great scenery shots without too much other crap. (there are some crazy Cliff jumps though which I thought were way out there and deserve to be in the movie)

Music - Fantastic start and great Genre changes. There are a few oldies which I thought were different but still great.

Overall I must say what the fuck is the rest of the stand up producers doing. This movie kicks arse on many other surfing films I have watched from NZ producers. It has it all. If you are a Body Boarder you will be stoked from wo to go with great action If you are a Surfer you will be yelling stand up you kook but you have to respect these guys for what they are doing.

Things to watch for are Ben Mckinnon popping an invert air right at the beginning. How he punched the Lip and then landed it is beyond belief, Don't get waves like that in Wanganui Bro.

5/5 top class hope you guys do something in the Surfing scene as it would go orrffff.

Check out the preview

Dirty South for 2007

Inspired by Matariki's discovery of the slideshow tool in photobucket, I went through my albums and picked out some of my favourite images from the Dirty South for 2007, in celebration of another good year of waves and the local characters.

Action shots from around NZ

Check these shots out from different beaches from around the North Island

NZ Surfing Magazine Review

I'm posting this up as a thank you to the Boys at NZ Surfing for sending Riders Anonymous an issue to check out over the Christmas break. This is the third Issue under the new ownership of Luke Millen and I have finally warmed up to like the new cover layout. The boys pushed the limits on the covers and it looks hot. There is a whole lot in this issue and plenty of reading. Good
reading too... The Green article on another Indonesian nutter is compelling. I was bummed but stoked at the same time to see they got Samoa Pumping not long after we visited there ourselves in August. The Primo roadie hits Shippies and they score more sick waves. If only we all could roadie with chocolate milk. Go buy a copy and make up your own mind.

Surf Art...ish

I can't even paint a gingerbread man but playing around with photoshop can make you a Picasso. If you have any images that you have tweaked send them into us at Riders and we will post them up. matariki@hotmail.com

Piha in January

Piha becomes the hub of the Auckland surfing Lifestyle in January. The weekend of the 5th and the 6th are no exception. A swell was forecast to arrive on Saturday of the 3-5 foot range with NE winds all weekend. The bars all over the west coast have been groomed really well over the past two months of offshore winds but I chose to head to Piha. True to form it was pumping and crowded. The best bank had 50 guys on it but DAM it looked like an Indo left. It was too good to photograph and crowded enough without me posting photos all over the net. Any way South Piha has three distinct Banks all working through the tides. I had some excellent waves that offered everything from smackable sections to fast barrels. What a great start to the New Year

One more time... Editors Words

I know, I know, you are all thinking will it hang out this time. Riders has had many changes over the last couple of years. At least I can say couple though. From the full blown web magazine to the now blog format. It has been diffilcult to keep up the motivation of driving an idea that returns little but personal satisfaction. I have learnt a lot and been shown so much that it only seems right to not give it up just yet. After a couple of months I finnally dusted of my camera and lens and got back into action. A little rusty and aided by a some good light, I managed to get a couple of shots off while in Wanganui for the Christmas period.