Life’s better in boardies
Chasing waves is a way of life for Mitch Gilmore and it has earned him a top five spot in GoPro Australia and New Zealand’s best photos of the year. His shot of a heavy barrel vortex at Duranbah beach received fourth place in the annual Top 10 competition run on the company’s social media.
CHASING waves is a way of life for Mitch Gilmore and it has earned him a top five spot in GoPro Australia and New Zealand’s best photos of the year.
His shot of a heavy barrel vortex at Duranbah beach received fourth place in the annual Top 10 competition run on the company’s social media.
The Reedy Creek local’s images freeze shore-breaks and heavy barrels and capture water droplets seemingly suspended in time.
For other shots Mr Gilmore dives deep below the waves to reveal patterns on the sand made from the sun’s reflection and different marine life swimming around.
“This is a vortex and it is one of the hardest photos to get,” said Mr Gilmore, 31.
“You have to be right in the impact zone of a heavy barrelling wave to get the right shot.
“I have surfed and been in the ocean my entire life and I never knew the vortex happened until I started shooting waves. Such a beautiful yet powerful thing.”
Mr Gilmore, who is a hairdresser and does surf photography for fun, has featured on the GoPro ANZ and global pages many times over the past three years.
In December he was even given the opportunity to take over the GoPro ANZ account for a day and post his photos and explain about his photographic process and settings.
“I don’t think it will ever be a job, and I don’t really want it to be,” he said.
“I think it would really take out the passion side of it.”
Ballina photographer Nathan Cant (@nuthead) placed fifth in the competition.