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This is my overall favorite action shot of Mick that I have ever taken. It was a rainy day and Mick decided to take the single fin that Darren Handley had shaped him out Backdoor/OTW. I posted up in the corner of what was then the Rip Curl house and he caught this little runner, got piped and then came out and laid his rail, and by rail I mean RAIL, into this arc. It was my first year shooting digital as well so that gave me what was the new and exciting experience of previewing the shot immediately. I was zooming in and checking the frame, trying to tell if the timing was right and being happy that I thought it was but freaking that it may not be as the preview image was pretty bad and yeah, it was one of those moments. As it turned out it ran as a cover in a sequence of 5 covers in a row that I got of Tracks that year, three of which were shot in Hawaii. Photo: Andrew "Shorty" Buckley
The selection of images above are some of my personal favorite photos I have taken of Mick Fanning over the years. I have freelanced for Rip Curl for over 20 years now, shooting both stills and motion, and have shot Mick a number of times because of this. The edit that below was shot on Red Epic and a Phantom Flex and was shot on a recent campaign shoot for the MF1 range.
Check out more of Shorty’s work on his website, or follow him on Instagram @shortyphotos.