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John Florence, Private Mini-ramp in Torquay, VIC

Hawaiian John Florence ain’t just a skilled tube-packer, progressive aerialist and beyond-his-years rail surfer. He’s also an avid skater. Kid’s got tranny (transition) steeze for days. John’s presence at Bells for the Rip Curl Pro was a hard one to ignore – he lit up in every heat until he fell 0.03 points behind the other J-Flo, Jeremy Flores, in their round five match. What y’didn’t see on the webcast was John sneaking off to go blaze a private mini-ramp in Torquay.

“Yes, he skates in between his heats,” says filmer/photog and charming ginger, Blake Kueny. “The guys at Strapper surf shop were kind enough to give us the keys and shred the thing for a few hours to ourselves. Nice guys. John and I always seem to find a place to skate on the road and always travel with our boards. He says it’s the best way to keep surfing fresh and keep his body loose. It’s rad to see that he’s not playing tennis in between heats.”

Kiddies – take note.

Photographer profile

Blake Kueny

Blake Vincent Kueny is a freshly-20 Californian. Vista, if we’re talking deets. Y’ever heard of Justin Jay, or Cole Barash? Those are the cats that spin Blake’s wheels. He may shoot a sharp-as-hell frame, but Mr Kueny’s real game is cutting the motion footage he shoots (which is usually of Jordy Smith). During the course of his work with Jordy, Blake fired-off the shot he calls his favourite ever: A portrait of Jords with new finger tattoo. Jords also makes it onto Blake’s favourite surfer list, along with John Florence and ‘Riss Moore (though he hates picking). Blake’s never been ripped off by the industry he loves and, he says while touching wood, he’s never waited long for payment. Although, while he loves the surf game, the biggest cheque he’s ever been cut came from shooting a gal for a Swedish teen celeb title. Nine hundred bones for a 20 minute shoot ain’t too tough.

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