The Past, the Present, and the Future

First off, its a brand new year, Ive had some really cool things happen in 2016 and some real challenges too, but I guess thats all of us and life in general.

First, the challenges; Magazines are dropping like flies, and the internet is taking over. Still photography, at least in the surfing industry, is being taken over by video clips. You can take your stills right off video frames and put them online like pictures. That's a heartbreaker for me, I've just invested in a new 5d with a 50-megapixel sensor so I can blow up pictures huge. It's a completely different thought process compared to just shooting for the internet. So it will be tough.

Add in the fact that everyone has a camera these days and there are a lot of people to compete with for those coveted $25 website photos. That's the modern world, I guess...

Now for the cool stuff; last year I did a speaking engagement for IBM on surf photography. Then I got to shoot the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau surfing event at Waimea Bay on the back of a jet ski. It was the scariest thing Ive ever experienced (yes scarier than Code Red in Tahiti), and I did a Gap ad campaign with my nephew Brent using our photos on t-shirts which was a huge success. This Christmas we had the best Pipeline of the year, and I did the first episode of an on going series called Brian Bielmann, The Story Behind the Photos. The first one featured the Photo of Andy Irons that was used as the Billabong Pipeline Masters poster in 2012. Lastly my son came home from Afghanistan, and he gets out of the Air Force for good in April. He came home for after Christmas holiday and I got to do some cool photos underwater with my daughter Tea and Him. Quite a year.

So now for the upcoming agenda; I've teamed up with my manager, Araby Patch, and film producer, Chad Jackson, (The Art of Flight, and View From a Blue Moon) to form a company called Developing Legends. Our first project is a surf photography workshop that I will be leading here on the North Shore from Jan 22nd to the 25th, and it is totally sold out. We have the Turtle Bay Resort, Stab Magazine, and O'Neil clothing involved as well as Hawaii camera. It should be an awesome class and we are praying for great waves. I will be shooting the Volcom Pipe Pro also after that. Im sure there is more but we can save that for next month and lots of cool photos to go along with that.

So that's was a lot of info, but I hope you found it interesting. Don't forget to sign up for my new newsletter, everyone who signs up gets a chance to win a free signed print from me every month.