Four Photos That Warrant Bigger Dims Than Instagram Allows

“New York, I love you, but you’re bringing me down.”

By now, you’re sick of Southern California’s wave drought (and us whining about it) if you’re on the East Coast, and on the West Coast you’re gagging at another pulled back shot, offshore winds and teepee peaks lining Atlantic shorelines.

Still, nothing quite says, “Take me there, like now” the way a dreamy empty wave does while thumbing through Instagram and waiting ‘till the clock strikes six so you can clock the fuck out of your desk job and go surf some waist high mush (if that’s the life you lead).

We’ve just hit the halfway mark of our #FeelsLikeFreedom photo challenge, and the submissions continue to seep into our handheld devices.

So, as a reminder to submit your photos for your chance to win one of Jordy Smith’s Stab in the Dark replicas (We had 12 blank STID boards shaped that we are dying to give away), a framed shot at your local surf shop and a Full Frame post on this here site, we’ve plucked four of the most fabulous Instagram posts from the # to provide some motivation to get out, shoot and post.

Before you get to the April selects below, let’s revisit the rules:

First thing’s first, this competition is for North America only, apologies to everyone else…

Second, to enter you must use the hashtags #StabFullFrame and #FeelsLikeFreedom along with @Stab and @OneillUSA – if you don’t tag all four, sorry, your submission will be ignored.

The photos must be published within the six-month contest frame (ends in August and we will announce the winner, who we will handpick, in September).

The photos must be shot in North America, they must be taken by you. The photos can be new or old; however, the timelier the better. And finally, they must be unpublished. Don’t send us anything you’ve sold. We want fresh. We want romantic. We want shots so desirable you’d ruin your career, education and love life to live in that exact moment.

“This was shot somewhere along Route 12 in Cape Hatteras National Seashore (OUTER BANKS, NC) in November,” photog Stephen Quick tells Stab. “This Particular day on the Outer Banks was unseasonably warm. When the Gulf Stream passes up through the OBX it brings warmer waters. Even though the photo looks like its cold, I was wearing boardshorts and a rash guard. Perfect conditions all day.”

You can follow Stephen on Instagram here. 

“I took this April 17, 2018 at around 9am on the Jersey Shore,” lensman Andrew Reiss tells Stab, “on what seemed like another day of the historic run of winter-into-spring swells in March. This, however, did not last very long. The waves were big and clean in the morning with offshore winds and tons of birds hovering over the surfers the whole session which made for different photos. Everyone was excited to get wet since it had been a little slower since the run in March. This day, was a good day.”

Follow Andrew here. 

“This was one of the only proper days at Blacks all winter,” photographer Myles McGuinness tells us. “This has really been one of the worst winters in recent memory. I surfed for a few hours in the morning with a bum shoulder popping in and out of its socket but managed to sneak a few solid ones in without paying the piper. All in all solid pretty day where the sand, swell and wind all aligned. I snapped this photo while eating lunch and soaking it all in. Shortly after the tide switched, the wind came up and the fog bank rolled in, then everything faded to white.”

You can double tap one of Myle’s shots here. 

“The East Coast has always been at the top of my list as one of my favorite places for waves,” photog Mike Vitello says. “I am a California native but New York, Long Beach specifically, has always felt like home to me. When I saw that purple blob forming on the charts I knew I had to go, from all the data I collected I had a good feeling about what was to come with Winter Storm Riley. I flew across the country by myself just a few hours before the swell had arrived. This was the first day of Winter Storm Riley. It had started out a bit slow but by afternoon, the swell had arrived and the tide filled in, it absolutely turned on. 6-8 foot barrels with howling offshore winds. This trend continued the entire week to follow, pumping surf day after day and had felt like it was never going to end. It was incredible to see everything come together after I had just been in California a few hours prior.”

Give Mike a follow here.