Michael Guccione Photography

It's been a couple months since I felt that anticipation of knowing there would be waves when I woke up in the morning. I'm new to the surf community and I'm not currently a surfer myself, but as a photographer, there's a special kind of butterfly that flies through my stomach when I wake up early to catch sunrise on the day of the latest swell. I'm 29 years old and have been living in Manasquan, New Jersey for just about 5 months. I'm in the world of surf. I've never experienced it before. The way people describe waves; the etiquette among surfers in the water; knowing the surf spots; learning how to read the reports; it's all new. And it's exciting. On Monday January 19th, 2015 my plan was to wake up to catch the sunrise on the beach in Manasquan and then head to another location in Monmouth County known to really fire with the swell that was predicted. I was up at 6:00am with no alarm clock. Something that doesn't happen often. I layered u

2015 is just about a week old and there've already been many opportunities for photos. It's been a great start to the year. I don't consider myself a meteorologist, but I've been following the weather patterns and surf reports. It's definitely helped me be in the right place at the right time! I didn't wake up (or stay up for that matter) to watch the first sunrise of the new year. But I did photograph the second sunrise of the new year. It was a pretty special morning. The light reflecting off the clouds before the sun popped over the horizon was really amazing. And my new camera has the ability to pick up colors and textures at lower lights that my old camera just couldn't develop. I don't think having a better camera makes you a better photographer, but it will help make a good shot even better.  Warm air moved through the area over the weekend accompanying some rain and wind. This generated the first swell of the year for surfers. May