FOR THE LOVE OF IT
The first time I saw Grant Noble on a wave, it was obvious that he was on another level. Grant was in high school at the time and I remember seeing this skinny grom with long black hair at Wedge. He was showing all the older guys up, so I figured he must’ve been some gnarly Hawaiian kid visiting our local break. He was just that much better than everyone else. It wasn’t until af- terward that I found out he was ac- tually from the Newport/Costa Mesa area. If you search “Wedge Skimboar- ding” on YouTube, the first video that pops up is a montage of guys skimmi- ng into the Wedge peak on a fun-sized day. In reality, it’s more of a Grant Noble highlight reel since the majo- rity of the best clips are of him.
At that point in my career, I couldn’t afford a DSLR and water housing. Af- ter some research, I found out about the Nikonos V — a 35mm film camera originally designed for scuba diving that was used to shoot surfing during the early days surf photography. I was just beginning to shoot in the water with it and had never had the oppor- tunity to photograph someone as ta- lented as Grant. I watched as he transi- tioned from skimboarding to surfing, to longboarding, even to ripping on a skateboard. Basically, anything Grant does, he does exceptionally well.
The first quality shot I got of him was at Newport Point. The waves were head high and after the session, we exchanged Instagram handles. A week later, we linked up and shot aroll of my favorite film stocks — Ko- dak Royal 100 — out at Newport Ri- ver Jetties. The waves were absolute shit, knee high and horrible. We said, “Fuck it, we’ll go out anyway.” With only 36 exposures on a roll of film, usually around half of them turn out to be solid shots. When focusing, you have to guess the distance of your subject, which I sometimes forget to
do. So it’s incredibly rare to get nearly 36 solid frames shooting in the water, especially on a Nikonos.
That day, nearly every shot was good. Grant and I just clicked. We meshed really well and I was stoked on every shot. I’ve shot film since 2009 and I’ve only had this happen twice. I’m talk- ing about water shots only — it’s a lot easier to get consistent shots on land. That’s where my friendship with Grant started and as a result, these photo- graphs came to life.
Grant is still my favorite surfer to shoot in the water. His natural talent for sur- fing is so creative that I’d call it an art form. I take photos purely for the love of photography and the joy it brings me to capture life as I see it through a viewfinder. It’s easy to get caught up in Instagram followers and likes, but I honestly couldn’t care less and I can tell Grant feels the same way about beco- ming a famous surfer. He does it pu- rely for the love of it, which is the very reason I enjoy photographing him so much.
I’d like to think that my photographic style and his surfing style comple- ment each other — either that or he’s just so good at surfing that any photo of him looks good. It’s been awesome watching him grow into the surfer and stand-up guy he is today. If you ever see Grant in the lineup, don’t hesitate to say hi. He’s a rad human being.
Photography by Matthew Ord
Shot over consecutive mornings during the long, recent run of North Coast autumn swell, In the Family of Things is Dave Rastovich in his element, doing his thing.