Eleven | Eleven

2012 is just around the corner and this is the last time I will blog for 2011!

So I figure for the few of you that bother checking this site, I'll countdown my Top 11 from 11!

11. Luke Campbell in Perth.

For those of you that know Perth, we don't get good waves full stop. I have driven home past this place for the last 10 years and have never seen it break. Since posting this on the blog in August I have had several emails telling me that it has indeed broken before, but it is a complete freak of nature with the bank disappearing within days everytime! A good mate, getting holla'd at by his good mates while they're drinking beer, does life get any better? Not in Perth it doesn't!

10. Golden Hour in Perth.

Just 20 mins after taking the above shot of Luke, I ventured in to the water with a new lens and port combo I had never used! I was amazed with this result, sharp, colourful and something I'd be proud to put up in the pool room!

9. Luke Campbell in Perth.

Yes, you heard me right, this is a Perth Metro Beachie at it's very best. Luke and I put a lot of hard yards in together looking for fun waves close to home. This was one of the few days this year when Huey delivered! Could have framed it better, but still stoked with the image considering! Standups at Home!

8. Hoseanui at The Box.

There's nothing more rewarding than nailing a sick shot of your best mate surfing! Actually there is and that's when that shot gets run in a magazine! Now Hose isn't that good at much, but when he scooped into this wide inside nugget, I knew we were on! I remember when I found out Riptide were using this image, I felt like a little kid and was so excited, I couldn't wait to tell him!

7. Chad Jackson at The Right.

I didn't think too much when I shot this frame, thinking it just like the 15 other dodgy waves i'd seen that morning. But upon closer inspection I paid attention to the crazy way the lip had folded inward creating a Niagra Falls type effect! I liked it so much I sent it to SportsIllustrated.com. They liked it so much that they used it as their photo of the day smack bang in the middle of the World Series. The image has since had over a million hits!

6. Ryan Hardy in Mandurah.

Hardy is a photographers dream, he's so calculated and so critical of his art. Everything came together for this shot, the light, the background, the wettie/slick colour combo that makes him look like a half eaten toffee apple and the excessive jaw flexing! 3 Mags passed on this image, thankfully VS loved it enough to use it as an advert!

5. Brad Hughes at Rottnest Island.

If you step out of your comfort zone, you often get rewarded... or killed! This image was taken just weeks before a diver was eaten by a Great White in this area! I had been swimming for hours with my brand new pole setup and was lucky enough to nail this double page spread for Movement on the only decent wave to come through all day! I got out of there as quickly as I could!

4. Jake Stone at Mitchells.

This was the quickest and most successful water shoot of my life! In 20 secs I had shot 2x Double Pagers and 2x Adverts all using different frames! If only all my shoots were that productive!

This shot captures a cool kid in a refreshing barrel and showcases what I love most about this wave which are the rocky outcrops! Whilst the rocks have taken many a layer of skin from a big toe, they provide a great check spot, a comfortable vantage point, an epic background and the perfect place to stick a tripod!

3. Chad Jackson at A Beachie.

This is the best water shot I have ever taken and not only because there's a naked handsome devil with incredible facial hair in it. For anyone who has ever used a fish eye, you'll understand the huge area that the lens covers, and if you pay close attention to this image, you'll notice that practically the entire lip of the wave is simultaneously impacting the sand without yet causing disruption or messing up the barrel.  This day was heavier than the photo would indicate, it was big and sketchy and Chad was like a pig in mud, he had no problems with it, none at all!

2. Mitch Rawlins at The Right.

This wave sneaks in at #2 because it scored me my first ever cover of a magazine. Movement Issue 39 is just hitting stores now and if you're lucky, you'll get your hands on this limited edition cover! Mitch is an amazing surfer and a great bloke with a lot of good stories to tell, i'm sure this wave is just one of the hundreds of epic barrels he scored in 2011!

1. James Purvis at The Box.

I'm not sure why, but I honestly think this is the best photo I have ever taken! 

I never get sick of looking at it and it makes me smile. The memories of that day may have something to do with it, but i'm not entirely sure! Maybe it's the fact that Jimmy seems too keen to take on a 15 minute paddle out to The Box with only 20 minutes of light left that reminds me of how stoked I was about surfing when I was his age! 

I saw it, I shot it and that was it, no checking composition, no adjusting of my settings, just BANG!

Check it out as a double page spread in Movement Issue #39.

See you in 2012! Thanks for checking this out, you legend!!