Expressions of Fun

Another day in paradise, huge tides today of 0.4m! hahahaha. Sun was blasting out agian, with a few waves to be had around the waist to chest high. Shooting with the sun blazing is a bit of a treat for me and you get the most insane crisp photos. When you can get so close to the subject there facial expressions can be halirious. Pretty stoked with it all really apart from getting burnt every day no matter how much sunscreen you put on, I have now resorted to wearing long pants which is a shit load hotter! Another thing I luv here is the sound of all the V8's, you can really here them coming a mile away, such a pumping sound amongst the calmness of everything. Anyways here's a few shots from todays journey.

Happy days today

A mistake but sorta worked

hahahaha

Paradise found

 The first thing I noticed when I hoped off the plane in Honolulu was how thick the air was, my lungs were for a moment going into spasms. I had been travelling for almost 30hrs since leaving me mates place in London, with arriving at midnight it was too late to head to my accomodation. So I tried to get some sleep perched up against the warm concrete wall, another 8hrs of no sleep. I finally got to the house at 9am and really wanted to hit the hay but I knew Sunset was only going to be good for the day then the swell's going to dissapear.
   The walk to Sunset is 5mins and I can see it from the end of our path at the beach, what a beautiful view with the golden sands, crystal clear water and green palms everywhere. I was pretty tired at this stage and had no interest in shooting much as I was finding the heat a bit errr ummm much, everyone was saying it was cold!
  There were some nice waves at the contest, unfortunately Kiwi girl Paige got knocked out in round 2 but I was stoked I got to see her surf. Later that evening I just sat down on the rustic seats at the end our path and watched the sun set thinking I'm so frign tired right now but the view was too nice to walk away from.
  It's really mad here, everyone is pretty much in bed by 9pm and the whole place is quiet and peaceful, so after about 50hrs of a couple of 10min naps I finally got to sleep and man did I sleep, a dreamless deep sleep.
  The next day was Thanks Giving and I went for a wander down to Rocky's and took a few snaps, so many good surfers here, the most of them out were locals. The women here really rip, they go hard out there giving it to the guys. On my way back I got invited to a house just down from where I was staying for some thanks giving dinner and beers, sitting on that balcony surrounded by people I didn't know looking over the ocean it dawned on me, this is paradise, it's winter but the water and air is warm, lots of surf and friendly people. They don't take it for granted either, everyday they make the most of it.
   This is only the first 2 days of my months stay, burnt to crisp and luving it.

The view from out walkway from the house

Carissa Moore

Carissa Moore

The view

My time in Ireland

Here's a few shots of my life in Ireland, that to me are important and others life changing. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
cheers and fairwell
Aaron

Zoolander party in Strandhill

Halloween party in Strandhill

Mum & Dad visit

My very first surf photo with a digital camera

Just good mates

The bro visits and my photo in the best bar in the world...The Strand of course

The big swell, that whitewater is at least 200ft high!!

My first ever Tow photo, Cotty the man at Aileens...the passion starts

The legends of Strandhill

"PROWLERS"

My first outing in a boat to shoot, Tom DH at Aileens

Rileys

The Surfer's Path does an article on me, such an honour, cheers Alex

Rolling Stones

Up close & personal at U2

Paul O'Kane, first time Prowlers surfed in early 2009

Mikee Hamilton charging big Mullaghmore

My fairwell party, Strand bar

Prowlers pumping top to bottom

Cotty at Prowlers

My first surfing magazine cover, cheers Cotty

Cover baby

I think it's any photogs dream to get a cover of a magazine, it has certainly been something I've wanted for a while now. I'm stoked to say I am a very happy chappy as I finally got one of my photos on the cover of a surfing magazine, good on ya Wavelength, thanks sooooo much. The timing of it all is pretty insane, as it all happened pretty much a week before I was to leave Ireland for good and at a "Prowlers" where we have been trying to get pumping for a long long time. On top of all this it's of Andrew Cotton who was the very first person I ever photographed towing in a few years ago at Aileens...ever, how frign freaky is that!? Also my camera had stopped working the week before and I got offered a 50D from Richard Johnson (cheers mate, but we still going to beat yas in the rugby), which is another 5 megapixel greater than my 40D, so i had a better camera as well. Saying that thou, camera or no camera I still would've gone out to watch Prowlers break. Now with all this happening the way it did and all the coincidences it's kinda freaked me out a bit, hence why I haven't blogged in the last while, still trying to get my head around it all.
  So a big thank you to Tim and everyone else at Wavelength, cheers Richard for the camera, and a special thanks to Cotty who totaly deserves the cover, you're a little legend mate. Keep charging
cheers

Also the new issue of Tonnta is going to be out on the shelves next weekend just in time to fill those Xmas stockings. It's a pure photo issue so grab one quick before they go, beacause this one will sell out fast. I luv the cover of this issue, something totally different and looks really amazing. Good on ya boys