Ocean Artwork » Snapper Rocks

Water shots and waves at Froggies beach

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:11:23 +0000

I love shooting in the water … its so much fun.
Even on an average day of surf you can come up with some good results.
These shots are taken at a little beach close to Duranbah and Snapper Rocks.
On Monday the 11th January 2010
Its usually just a close out with heaps of backwash waves off the rocks.
Which makes it even more fun and interesting.
cheers
Dan

In search of Michael Peterson a Review by Martin Tullemans

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:26:21 +0000

The release and premiere of the movie ‘Searching for Michael Peterson’ truly struck a bottom turn in my heart.
It was not your usual pump up the hydraulic plumbing macho fluid stuff.
Sure the rip tear and lacerate of ‘MP’ the father of modern high performance surfing was……. oh yeah baby!!!…. Show me the money!!! But it also had a humanity and respect for Michael’s condition that set it a cut above.

Jolyon Hoff the producer needs to be applauded and congratulated for the sensitive rendering and the depth of historical research he went to.

I might take a walk on the wild side here myself. My mate and ‘brother in arms’ MP….. we used to hang out, play chess and rap at his factory where he rented me a small room for my darkroom work in 75/76.
Michael had a much stronger strain of a mental condition that I myself have had to learn to manage with discipline and application. I only have bipolar disorder which quite a few highly talented and respected surfers and artist’s high profile people have.
I regret to this day that I could not convince my film associate Chris Bystrom to get medicated. He had three major things go wrong in his life before his untimely head on with a semi trailer.
Michaels condition paranoid schizophrenia; we knew nothing of at the time. We just knew he was as quiet and introverted as a ‘library bookworm nerd’ on land and did a complete out of the closet Clark Kent to superman switch once he hit the surf.
From my own experience, mental conditions are handed down the family tree line of some emotional pain or hurt of the parent/ grandparent/ great grandparent that has not been trashed out through the heart centre
releasing it.

I could have given you the standard reportage of the play by play film story rehash but I have just come back from a week of tai chi and meditation in the Noosa national park..I did not want to clutter your minds with more of the usual information overload rehash bash.

The reason Michael Peterson is so revered is he followed his heart and walked the talk. This is highly unusual today as in this entertainment world we let the great actors and general James Bond cats walk our own talk for us.
In Michaels day to be a surfer was really going against the grain as society still had be straight and conform to normal rules from the post second world war fallout and baggage. Michael’s behaviour if you read Sean Doherty’s book will reveal the clues on the things that caused his body and mind to be afflicted with the fear at every turn and step. If you do have such a condition as some of us big monkeys that swing from surfing’s tribal tree do.
Join us get medicated, and manage it. No shame be game. After all, they nicknamed MP the MONK for the long gangly killer ORANG UTANG paddler arms and the primitive psych out vibe that THE MISSING LINK was capable of.

We all owe a debt to Michael for BUSTIN DOWN THE DOORS of plain average surfing performance and showing us a standard of excellence and possibility.
A man of vision and courage!!.
His buddy and mate from 75 /76; MARTIN TULLEMANS surf photographer from 72 to 2003 on active tour of duty.
Now merely a pelican or sea eagle gliding and sliding on the winds above the jackals , hyenas, lions, tigers, kelpies, pure bred Aussie mongrels and barrel chested, pot bellied, chook legged, wave hogs on long lumber thrashing it out on the hydroscape.

BEFORE YOU GO FOR A SURF THINK THESE WORDS ‘SORRY MATE’, SHARE AND SOUL THEN MAYBE LIFE WILL BE A BEAUTIFUL WORLD AND A PARTY ONCE AGAIN IN THE WATER

MARTIN TULLEMANS

Check out more of Marty’s classic photos below and in our shop.

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New Classic Surf Photos for sale from Dan Howard – Ocean Artwork

admin — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:40:00 +0000

Here are some new shots that Ive added to my gallery / shop.

Whale watching season is almost upon us again.

It wont be long now and there will bw plenty of Humpback Whales to see jumping and playing off the Gold coast.

This sequence is one of my best shots from last Whale watching Season in 2008.
This shot blows up exceptionally well….
You can see the rivers of water running off the whales belly .
One of my favourites…

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This shot of Snapper Rocks below was taken in early 2007
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This photo below of a beautful girl diving inder a wave in crystal clear conditions was taken at Rainbow Bay

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Classic old Line up shot of Currumbin Alley taken in 1990
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Pre Super bank – Greenmount Headland 1990
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Greenmount Headland at Sunset
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Kelly Slater
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A surfer leaves the water at sunset in Bali
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***

My favourite pics from the Quiky Pro 2009 so far

admin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:50:26 +0000

Ive only been down to the Quiksilver Pro a few times while its been on and was lucky enough to go out on a boat and photograph the Trials.

Where I got some excellent shots of Ashley Smith and Corey Ziems the winners of the Trials

Theres still a few heats to go in the main event and of course the highlight of the week was Steph winning the Roxy Pro, and a close second to that was, Julian Wilson beating world champ kelly Slater on Sunday.

Hope you like the shots

Photos from Snapper Rocks, Greenmount, Kirra February 3rd 2009

admin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:31:26 +0000

I finally managed to get in the water at Snapper on Tuesday…of course I missed it!..
The day before on Monday it was absolutely pumping through the beach at Coolangatta, kegging right down past big groyne at Kirra.
There wasn’t much current so I swam / drifted all the way from Snapper Rocks down past Kirra…
I got a few pics of the surfers on the way through Rainbow, but got down to Coolangatta beach pretty quickly.
It was pretty spooky and sharky down there as I was on my own …swimming….( a man was attacked by a Great White less than a kilometre from here only a few weeks ago), but I hung in there and tried to get the shot.. I didn’t want millions of surfers cluttering up the picture!
I was after the classic ‘in the tube looking out’ shot …….looking out of the barrel into the sunset. So I had to get away from the crowd
Unfortunately I didn’t get what I was after, the waves weren’t big enough, but scored a few nice ones anyway.
So as the sun was setting I decided to make the swim to the beach, over the deep, sharky gutter between me and the shore.

So here I am, lying on my back kicking my fins and making good progress across (in my mind) the shark filled channel….
I don’t mind being on a board at this time of night but when your whole body’s immersed in the water, you tend to feel a little vulnerable.
I was shitting myself! Every ripple, every ‘darker than normal’ shape in the water …was a potential prehistoric predator…..coming to swallow me whole!!!!!!..
Then all of a sudden a surf boat came smashing over a wave right near me.
Slapping me back in to reality.
They obviously hadn’t seen me and I was lucky they hadn’t run me over…
Aaaaah the perils of shooting the Super bank!!!
It was almost dark when I got to shore, relieved, legs like jelly; I started the long walk back to Snapper and the car. …..

Hanging around the office at Snapper Rocks

admin — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:38:44 +0000

Surf Photography really is a mugs game…
It is, without a doubt, the cutting edge of Sports Photography and unfortunately the least paid.
Its definitely a hard slog to make a living from it….and there are only a handful who do….
But as Marty Tullemans says ‘Your Office is the beach’
This is pretty cool for a number of reasons.
One of them is the people you meet hanging around the office.
Here are a few pics of girls that I shot hanging around the office in the last 12 months.

The Coolie Kids ….All grown up!!!

admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:47:27 +0000

There’s something quite surreal about living in Coolangatta and surfing Snapper Rocks aka the Super Bank all the time.
Apart from being the most crowded wave in the world and believe me it can get so crowded it does seem unreal…….. Imagine if you were a golfer and went to your local Golf course to tee off and every time you turn around you bumped into one of the world’s top golfers!!
This is what it’s like surfing Snapper, As you paddle around trying your best just to snare anything resembling a wave….it’s impossible not to notice the awesome talent of the local pro surfers, carving through around, between and sometimes over the ever present and frustrating crowd..
I’ve lived in the Coolangatta / Tweed Heads area for almost 15 years now and it’s been amazing ride watching these local kids mature into the world class athletes that they are.
Number one on the achievement list for ’08 is of course Stephanie ‘Happy’ Gilmour’s second World title. A local Snapper Rocks girl through and through, (Go Steph you Legend!). It’s going to be hard to get that trophy out of that firm grip for a few years yet.

Steph talks to the trophy ‘I love you baby never leave me.”
This classic Photo of Steph kissing the trophy courtesy Darren Simondson Surfin Snapps

Samantha Cornish originally from Crescent Head but now living on the Gold Coast had a reasonable year finishing 6th.
Sam has been around on tour from a very young age. Unfortunately for her, in 2008 she always seemed to be right on the edge of cracking a win. She’s always a threat in any comp and will be for a long time yet. Good luck in ‘09 Sam
Check out the cool short video of Stephanie Gilmour Free Surfing from Rip Curl below.

Steph has obviously dominated in the women’s Tour in 2008.

But when it comes to the men’s tour, consider this; Five out of forty five of the surfers on the Men’s ASP world Tour are from the Southern Gold Coast and surf the Super Bank whenever they’re at home and its breaking.
Here they are in the order they are seeded in 2009.

2. Bede Durbidge: Bede is actually from the small community of North Stradbroke Island (where he is afforded Godly Status) but has been based on the Southern Goldie for a few years now.
Since being dropped by his former sponsor Billabong, Bede has hit his straps and had a great year in 08 finishing second to Kelly.
He sums up his year in this quote.
“If somebody had said to me on January 1 this year that I would finish the year having jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 plus pick up a CT contest win along the way, I’d have gone: ‘I’ll take that’. That’s how 2008 has ended for me and I’m stoked with how the year has gone “ You can read more of what Bede has to say here.

4. Joel Parkinson; Parko’s manner, character, personality or whatever you’d like to call it seems to be the equivalent of his competitive surfing career…. He makes it look easy and just cruises through the whole thing; but in reality, when you look closely, on a wave and in competition in general, he’s going places that very few have been before him………….. and more often than not, pulling it off with style.
Joel Had a great year especially in Hawaii where he took out the Triple Crown and scored a record breaking perfect 20 in his heat in the Pipe Masters. He’s fired up and itching to go in 2009
Here’s what he has to say in ‘Surfing’ magazine.
Check out Joel’s two perfect 10′s in the vid below.

8. Mick Fanning. What can you say about Mick? That hasn’t already been said. An amazing surfer with more speed on a wave than anyone, good bloke, love’s a beer and oh yeah … Champion of the world in 2007!!.
Some may think that dropping from one to eight ………Mick didn’t have the hunger for competition in 2008. But who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t missed Mundaca and Brazil through injury??. He’s still firmly entrenched in the top ten and will be doing his best to remain a contender in 2009.

28. Dean Morrisson. Poor old Dingo, the perennial underdog! He had a shocker in 2008. He was plagued with injury, had surgery and a boating mishap that was lucky not to end in tragedy. He will be back in 2009 on the WCT courtesy of one of the few injury wildcards.

45. Josh Kerr. The air specialist Kerrsy was touted as having made big predictions about his first year on tour in 2007, but then didn’t make the cut for the WCTin 2008. Humbled but even more determined, Josh surfed like a man possessed in the WQS to get his place back in the top level for 2009.
I got a few shots of Josh a at Snapper before he left for Hawaii, and I swear, he had that same look in his eye that I saw in Mick Fanning at the Quiky Pro in 2007. He’s definitely one to watch in 2009. He’s learnt from his mistakes and is now ready to make his mark. If I was a gambling man, my money would be on him. I’m tipping him to move way up the ranks this year.

Josh Kerr at home, Snapper Rocks in December 2008

2009 is shaping up to be an incredible year in Coolangatta, these guys on the tour are only the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of talented local grommets that are waiting in the wings hoping to fill the shoes of these guys.
Good luck to everyone from the anyone competing in anything this year.
Happy new year and all that suff as well…….
At the least….It’s going to be an interesting year

More shots from Snapper Rocks, The Super bank , Rainbow Bay

admin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:18:06 +0000

Heres a few more shots from Snapper Rocks last week, the same day as the backwash photos.

Its been stormy and windy all week. But theres been a few waves to ease the pain.

Summer is only a few weeks away and I guess we’re already into cyclone season…

So hopefully the waves are going to turn on some perfection for us soon.

Its going to be a bumper summer here at Snapper Rocks , Coolangatta

Josh Kerr

The Snapper Rocks backwash

admin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:12:01 +0000

I love the backwash at Snapper!!
You can get some amazing shots from the water when its not so big.
In fact the backwash can make a tiny wave look so much bigger.
I got down to the carpark at Snapper Rocks early on Thursday thinking … or knowing that there would be a few waves around after the last week of howling northerlies.
Unfortunately the rest of the Gold Coast had the same idea and the crowd was one of the worst Ive seen for a while.
Apparently Sydney and the South Coast were firing all day at about 6-8 feet.
I was actually going to swim out Froggies and get a few closeout barrel shots when I saw Shaun Gossman get a nice pit behind the rock… And then a few minutes later Parko followed suit and scored a nice one.
So when Josh Kerr turned up…….. the temptation to get a few shots of the local pros got the better of me and I jumped off the rock with my trusty water housing and fisheye lense.
The light was crap and it was soooo crowded. But I still managed to score a couple of good ones.

I love this shot above. It really shows what goes on behind the rock and you can see the wave sucking out while the guys in the barrel and the previous wave is just hitting the rocks getting ready to rebound and smash into the wave with the surfer behind it. You can purchase a copy of this shot from my shop click here

: Jarrah Tutton seq-1

: Jarrah Tutton seq-2

: Jarrah Tutton seq-3

Jarrah Tutton seq-4

Jarrah Tutton almost took my head off with the sequence above … I think I’ll have to start wearing my Gath helmet.

Check out more of the photos from the session below

Stormy Weather

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:40:14 +0000

There were a few small runners at Snapper and Rainbow today.

I hooked up with Samantha Cornish to try and get a few water shots.

Sam has been around for what seems like years on the Pro tour and is currently rated 6th on the ASP Womens’s WCT.
It seems pretty crazy that she doesnt have a sponsor??
She really knew how to work the camera , and even though the waves were tiny she would line the camera up and smack the lip right in front of me ..almost decapitating me a few times..

Sam Cornish flys of the lip at Rainbow Bay

Surf Coach Dave Davidson owner manager of the Gold Coast Surfing Centre based at Rainbow Bay was out there with Galey mucking around on the Surf School Boards.

Huge storms are circling as I write this which is pretty normal for this time of year.
Hope fully there will be a bump in the swell for tomorow as a result.