Portfolio: Luke Shadbolt

I recently won the Surfing Australia Photo of the Year, presented by Nikon, with this photo. It's a shot that is so open to interpretation that you could really take it any number of ways. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Mark Healey, Pipe. This was from a few years ago now, maybe 2011, I think. This is the biggest and best Pipe I've seen. It was as big as it could handle, actually it was a little too big for most of the morning, but there were some gems that would come in every now and then. Healey, who was obviously sitting deeper than most and dodging the wash-throughs like the madman he is, managed to get most of the best waves. I like the layers that you get from this angle in the early morning. The rich blues are offset by the golden sands and patchy shadows. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

This is a local spot, a place where I cut my teeth learning to shoot. It's a great wave to learn to shoot from the water. It's really heavy, short, with deep water on either side and gives you a good range to try different lenses depending on the conditions. This is Jay Thompson in the hole. I wasn't actually going to shoot this day because of the torrential rain, but it's about a 15-minute walk around to this break and I was already wet by the time I got around, so I went out anyway. Stoked I did too, I really like the mood, the rain on the dark face gives it a really ominous vibe. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Dusty Payne setting up for the inside shelf at Pipe. He'd come in from second reef with a long, drawn out bottom then just hooked right under the lip as the wave stood up and heaved. So casual. One of the most rewarding days shooting from the water at Pipe I've had. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Slater at Shipsterns. I was fortunate enough to be in Tasmania when Slater first surfed Shippies. He started off a little slow, his first wave was a bogged bottom turn and the next couple he was too deep, but he changed his board and went on to dominate the place well into the afternoon. The wave is sucking in in preparation for the spit, so it's all instinct at this moment. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

I'd been to Hawaii three seasons to surf and shoot the odd photo but hadn't actually dedicated the majority of a season behind the lens. This was my first trip over there shooting. The first day, in fact. It was a new swell at Pipe and pretty backwashy and doubling up, but I was just loving being in the water so I stayed out shooting until it was near black. This was well after the sun had set, with the afterglow still lingering on the horizon. I had to slow the shutter down to get any semblance of a decent exposure and the spit from this wave made some interesting shapes against the blues and oranges behind it. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

A pole mount, a 3ft little slab and a perspective I'd been thinking about for a while became a reality. Brad Hughes trying not to slice his hand open on my housing. Another friend wasn't so lucky, jamming his hand onto the clip that holds the corner in place and opening up the webbing between his thumb and forefinger. It didn't help that we were in Southwest Australia, where any blood in the water is a bit alarming. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

I've spent a fair bit of time down in Tasmania. My girlfriend's parents live down there, but I have only been to Shipsterns twice. Once, it was tiny and not worth walking all the way down. The other time, it was a perfect 6-10 ft, good paddling size and it just so happened that Kelly Slater was down there for his first taste of the joint. This is local lad Brook Phillips. I can't remember what happened next, but I don't like his chances. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Last year I managed to catch the points up in QLD doing their thing with a nice 3-5ft groomed swell sending lines all the way from Snapper through Greenmount and nearly to Kirra. This is Kirra just before sunrise, not a soul in the water and just pumping. Oddly enough, it stayed relatively uncrowded all morning, with maybe ten guys out in total, whilst Greenmount and Snapper shared around 300 surfers all hassling for the fruits. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Greenmount in QLD with a lucky unknown getting a wave to himself off the hungry pack. It's pretty impressive watching 6ft tall men managing to pump down the line in a 3ft barrel. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

As pleasant as this setup looks with a nice glowing sunrise and a gentle offshore breeze, it's actually one of the heaviest 6ft waves you'll ever encounter. I always love getting down to this area of Australia. There is no phone reception, so it's great to get off the grid for a few days and enjoy not being locked into a screen. I was down here off the grid for a week once and by the time I got back into the world of the living, our Prime Minister had been outed by his own political party for a vote of no confidence. It was a really odd moment. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

John John bottom turning at Pipe. He and Jamie O'Brien were going nuts this day. So casual and relaxed in such heavy waves. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Ace Buchan at Avoca Point, his local break, showing a couple of groms his phenomenal backhand. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Matt Young in one of the biggest barrels I've ever pointed my camera at. It looks like Pipe, but it is not. I've already said too much. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

I was shooting some stuff for an Australian tourism board and the hotel I was in overlooked these little 2ft slabs, so I planned on getting up early to go have a little frolic in the shorey. The next morning, there wasn't a breath of wind and the little slabs were throwing over wider than they were high. The sun was rising directly through the lip line, offering a very patriotic green and gold palette. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Marty Paradisis in probably my favorite wave in Australia. I always go down here to shoot with bodyboarders. It's a wave made for booging, really. It's virtually unpaddleable, especially on a stand-up. I'd only met Marty a few days earlier, but he's the sort of guy that you just get along with straight up and by this time on the third day, it felt like I'd known him forever. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

I had just finished a road trip across America with a few friends and happened to be in New York when the Quiksilver Pro was on. The waves they got for that comp were ridiculous. From all accounts, it was about as good as it gets. This is Slater floating in his semifinal heat. He just kept stepping it up every heat until Owen Wright got him in the final. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

A 3-4ft peak breaking in the middle of nowhere, South Australia. It may look empty, but the amount of wildlife in those waters is pretty damn intimidating. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

This is another break near my home. There are actually a lot of good reefs where I live. It looks like he is in the perfect position, but you wouldn't want to be any deeper. This wave is a peak, with the right tending to turn inside out on the end bowl, if you are anywhere but at the opening, it will pitch you straight into the lip and over onto the shelf. Right about where that guy in the foreground is come to think of it. The left is a little nicer, not as heavy, but harder to read. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Jason Finlay in South Australia. Another photographer, Rod Owen, was the inspiration for this angle. He was always getting these crazy behind-the-rider angles that just looked amazing, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. This session was my first attempt. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Late afternoon at Kirra. The anticipation in this shot is what gets me. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Another slab near my house on the NSW Central Coast. This was an unusual summer swell, which made for brighter colors than usual due to the proximity of the sunrise. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

I finally got to Tahiti last year after a few years of having it at the top of my to-do list. Such a peaceful place, incredible people, food, waves, scenery. This is the view from the channel at Chopes looking back up to the mountains. I like to think of it as the view someone would have had if they were shipwrecked and finally got to land, only to have stumbled across paradise. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

Ben Player taking to the skies at Pipe. He bottom turned up through the spit, momentarily obstructing him from view and proceeded to fly up and out of the bowl. Behind Mike Stewart, I would rate him as one of the best on the bodyboard out at PipePhoto: Luke Shadbolt

This is a friend of mine, professional bodyboarder Michael Novy. The interesting thing about this shot is the board he is riding. It's an alaia shaped by Jarrod Gibson, but in a bodyboard shape rather than the traditional alaia shape. As you can see, it goes really well. Perfect for barrel riding but not so good for airs. Photo: Luke Shadbolt