Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Winter Wonders...

Its got to that time of year again hasn’t it. The cold and wet weather mixed with days lasting only 8-9hours is bringing everyone's mood down.  That time of year that the average sane person dislikes and moans about. The silly summer season has come to an end. But for a selected community of the less sane people, the wonderful winter season is about to begin.
___________________________________________________________________

As the seaside towns start to empty and the convoys of holiday makers and tourists make there way back home to there normal life it may seem like the small villages we live in are becoming ghost towns. But that's just the dark of winter hiding what’s really going on. Hidden under the grey dark winter sky is an underground crew of surfers, photographers and videographers who are fired up and alive. Alive with images of the past winters tickling there imaginations and making there hearts really beat. 
I used to think summer was my favorite time of year. You’ve got sun, bbq’s, parties, clubs and an endless supply of city girls coming to the beach to check out the “surfer dudes”. What’s not to love about that!! However since last winter my desires have changed, my Irish heart is tilted off its axis and my love with the raw power of the Atlantic during the winter months has become so strong that I have started to crave it during the summer months. Like a drug for my creative mind, it needs it to stay running. Maybe its just the photographer in me but i find myself so hungry for winter that i am thinking about it non stop.






Its cool being part of a crew like this. Everyone pushing themselves harder and harder when the swells arrives. Getting to do what you love, travel, explore, experience with all your best friends is a real gift. Waking up at 4am in the morning, defrosting the windows on the car and heading off to the spots. There's nothing like it.
Sure the winter has its challenges and down sides. Take last winter for example i drowned a very lovely very expensive lens during a rainstorm which I'm pretty sure wanted to drown me, I constantly had the flu or some sort of cold from sitting on cliffs for hours on end and i had to battle with my parents every time the waves were good to get more time off school. They loved me getting out and shooting but school always came first!  
One adventure from last winter sticks out in my memory loud and clear. It was a Saturday in February and it was my 19th birthday. Ollie O Flaherty calls me at 7.30AM to tell me its on! Hearing Ollie's voice first thing in the morning had become somewhat of a regular accurance at this stage of the winter. Its usually a case of me sleeping past my alarm and getting the call from him saying “il be at the car park in five minutes”  then i try and put on a very sleepy attempt at a woken up voice and say “cool I'm already on my way” at which stage he realizes I'm still in bed and gives out to me. Ollie is one of the most dedicated surfers I know in Ireland at the moment and has been getting set up for all the slabs and big wave spots all winter long. Pretty stoked to see him surf this winter.


I meet him in a dark cold car park at 7.45AM. There's a slight drug deal feel to the whole situation as we move all my jackets and camera gear to his car. There's an eerie stillness to the morning and a slight fog. The light isn't looking great but I'm still buzzing to get some shots. With Boys Noize blowing the speakers of the Corolla we floored it on the main road.  I love the journey part of the winter, early mornings with cold cars, driving down roads with no one on them apart from the occasional farmer or fisherman. Not knowing if there is even gong to be a wave. After a few hours we reach the spot. The first sight Ollie and I see is this perfect 4-6ft set rolling across the reef. It pelting rain and there's low grey clouds in the sky. It still is, to this day, the most i have ever seen it rain. It did not stop for the entire day, not a single break. I shot for four hours in the rain, fully covered in jackets and waterproof pants which was great for the first 15 minutes and after that i was fully soaked through. I had brought a light plastic bag which I had put over my camera body and lens. Using a wirey twig from a tree i had tied it on to the end of the lens to keep the bag from blowing off in the wind. My icey stinging fingers are in agony, every part of me is wet, its my birthday and i am loving it!! I couldn’t help thinking what i must have looked like at the end. Hands blue with the cold, every part of me drowned wet and a twig wrapped around my camera. It was one of the best sessions I had all last winter simply because it was full on raw Atlantic hitting us all as hard as she wanted to. Driving home with a result is the best feeling. Ollie and I were stoked! He had his fix of kegs and i had the photos. My great love and adoration for the winter wildness started there.



The light can be a photographers best friend but can also be our worst enemy and its a huge challenge in Ireland in the winter with days lasting a lot shorter and the chances of the light being good when the waves pump is a rare delight. But challenges make you better and its no fun sitting on a beach with perfect light and waves the whole time is it?
It’s got pretty mental in Ireland in the last few years. It has turned into a mecca for filmmakers and photographers because of our beautiful waves in beautiful locations. Its kinda hard for us locals to get used to. We used to have these waves to ourselves. Now we get visitors from Australia, Hawaii, USA and pretty much everywhere else.  Sure its frond upon by a few old grubby surfers but by the young crews I think they like it. It amazing to have guys with that kind of skill level in the water with them and its helping them push it big time. I have only been in this photography game for the last two years and i have noticed the difference.  I had a few days during my first winter shooting when i would go to shoot and only have Mickey Smith and myself on the reef.  That doesn’t happen anymore but i guess that's something that just happens and has to happen. But whats great is that the photographers and surfers are not to getting absorbed by this and are concentrating on there passions and devote even more time into them. 




So the winter we all love is coming at us fast and there's not a lot we can do to get ready for it. Sure we can train and make sure all the equipment we use and our bodies are in top shape but the what we love about the winter is its surprises and not knowing what they are is what makes it all that better! Maybe Ireland will see its biggest swell ever this year, maybe the slabs will go even more crazy than last year. All we know for sure is that its definitely going to be windy, rainy and brilliant!
                                                                                                     -David Olsthoorn

Friday, October 21, 2011

Mighty Mullaghmore!!



With the waiting period for the Mullaghmore tow contest just around the corner its got everyone excited again. November 1st to March 1st is a massive period to find some good sized mully so fingers crossed will get some nice clean big swells. With all eyes fixed on the Mullaghmore weather chart it just a case of wait and see now.

Heres a link to some amazing footage from last year. This is a new documentary by David Mottershead & Daniela Gross of Mully Productions. Giving a great insight into the whole contest.


Heres some of my own shots from last years contest to get you all motivated. 

First we have Barry Mottershead on one big perfect giant.  


Dylan Scott

Peter Conroy

Lyndon Wake
This shot really sums up the day for me. Great conditions, nice light, big angry perfect Mullaghmore and everyone out there just blown away by its power and beauty. Its cool how everyones eyes are fixed on the wave in the 5mm wetsuit with hoods. Its not Hawaii thats certain.


This is the sequence is one iv wanted to publish for a while. I don't really understand why I didn't show it off earlier. It just got lost in the vault of photos. I think this is possible one of the most powerful photos I have ever shot. Just the pure raw power in the shots is mad. Shot 5 is my favorite.

Shane O'Connor.












So there you have it. Looking forward to seeing some swell up there this year. Fingers crossed!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

New Vouchers Available!!!

New Vouchers Available for this xmas!! Available for baby, family, couple/engagement shoots and more. With a range of different packages to choose from.
Contact me for details
info@davidolsthoorn.net
0857613336

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Summer/winter/summer/winter

Its been amazing weather latley!
Trying to decide if winter is truly here now or not..
We even had Pizza on the roof yesterday!! In October!!!

 Here is the last shot of Pj's board in one peice. Snapped it yesterday..












Shot this sometime last month. Pretty insane slab. Try not to get stuck in that.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Blog *1243299 (Thank you readers!)

I just had a look back to see how long this Blog has being going for. Its first post was December 2nd 2010, it seems longer. How many Post have I done in that time - 47!!! Iv also had almost 9,000 veiws, now giving the fact about 8,500 of them views where probably friends its still pretty cool. So I just want to thank you followers and readers for putting up with my illiterate writing for the last year. Its been great! Heres a present of a nice empty shot of Rileys I took on new years day this year, at high resolution so if you click on it and save you can set it as your wallpaper to you computer. 


Just trying to clean up the HardDrives after the madness of the last few weeks. Came across these few small sessions that went down. 

Ollie O Flaherty, Barrtra

Fionan Cronin, Rileys. I swam out this day with the GoPro. So much fun!! 


Donough Cronin, Fins out wham, Barrtra


Its not everyday you go down to Rileys and see Ian Walsh walking along side you. Super cool guy! His pigdog is just insane!


That is all. 

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Orla Sexton Shoot.

Here a new bunch of shots from an Orla Sexton shoot I did last month.
Make up was done by the wonderful Hilda Murphy who just launched her new website so be sure to have a look through that here!!




This is the second shoot I have done with Orla. Thanks once more to Hilda, Lisa and Orla for there help on the day. 
Clothes from The Ivory Closet.

The Bridge

Model: Olra Sexton Modeling - http://www.orlasextonmodelling.com/

Hair: Lisa Stakes - HairBoutique Lahinch

Makeup: Hilda Murphy - makeupbyhilly@yahoo.ie

David Olsthoorn Photography

Bundoran and last months Recap.

So the craziness is all over and I am delighted with it. What a great adventure it was!
Bundoran is an amazing town for waves and not too shabby when it comes to parties either. :)
Looking forward to spending some time up there this winter with the boys getting some waves.

Heres my favorite shot from the trip. Really happy with it. This is European Bodyboarder Champion Manuel Centeno from Portugal who had just won his heat with a last minute wave to beat his competitor. Team Portugal were crowned European champions so it was amazing to capture there emotions as that happened.

In other news, 
I had an amazing wedding in Killarney on the Saturday before the Europeans. It has now be awarded the David Olsthoorn Photography wedding location of the year. haha! It has an oasis of creative options down there. Its just amazing with all the lakes and forests!! 
Heres a shot I took pre wedding, I got down there nice and early so I took a walk through torc. 


My favorite time of the day has always been morning. Once I can get up I get excited with the prospected of waves. Here is Peter Conroy at 6:39am a couple of weeks ago. 


Saturday, October 1, 2011

Bundoran adventure is almost over..

The finals of EuroSurf 2011 are on tomorrow which means the Bundoran adventure is over.
Its been pretty sick with some nuts surfing and great shots. Im delighted with the amount of shots iv been able to capture for www.westcoastsurfer.com. James is doing a cracking job of filming the event too. Heres a link to a small album iv been trying to update with images from the contest. 


If your around bundoran come and cheer for Ashleigh Smith who is in the Final girl bodyboarding.. So stoked for her. Shes a legend!! :) 

Also got some amazing shots at pmpa one evening with all the pro boys out there killing it. Its been good!! Im getting some surfs in myself too.. :) Happy Days!!!


The girls made choc chip cookies today.. Myself, Donough, James and Cian now love them and there cookies.. Muchas Gracias!!