Making Waves at East Cape, New Zealand

I was really looking forward to my surfing break away before I had to start work on the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta early March. Heading down to the Bay of Pleanty first to stay with friends and pick up my boards and then down through Whakatane. A few days before I arrived in New Zealand there was good size cyclone that had passed through Rarotonga and then down through Tonga. It had produced some awesome surf for almost 9 days on the East coast and every suffer (including myself) I came across seam to be making the most of it and the glorious warm weather.
Here is a small extract from Stuff.co.nz

Powerful winds are ripping off roofs, tearing down trees and power lines and cutting communications with the capital, as Cyclone Rene lashes Tonga.

"We don't know the extent of the damage right now, though there are no reports of serious damage or injuries," the South Pacific nation's National Disaster Office deputy director, Mali'u Takai, said.

Nadi Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre's Alipeti Waqaicelua said the Category Four cyclone was not expected to leave until tomorrow night or early in the morning.

"As far as Tongans are concerned they would not be out of the woods until tomorrow morning," he said.

Earlier the office warned that the cyclone could "increase to very destructive hurricane force."

My thoughts go out to all the Pacific Island and the local people who have to deal with this type of disaster and it is amazing to me that the waves that smashed in to these small islands make their way across the South Pacific for surfers to enjoy in New Zealand.

Information on contributions to this disaster http://www.reliefweb.int

Back in God's Own Country

Just arrived in my home land of New Zealand with a great flight down on Air New Zealand (Thanks Guys).
I will be working for Louis Vuitton most of March with Bobby G who will be joining me at the end of February. I came down three weeks early to visit family, travel, surf and shoot a bit of this counties outstanding scenery. Not far from the farm where I am staying is a very famous wine area and black sand beaches that stretch for about 50 miles or so. There is a Gannet colony at the near by beach Muriwai and on the cliffs above Maori Bay you can get quite close to them on the look-outs and also look down on to the local surfers.
This place is so stunning and I never get sick of visiting this truly wonderful spot.
looking forward to tasting some of the wine from over 20 vineyards in this area.

Tee Time with Bobby G

A favorite among golf fans is John Daly as he blasts out of the trap on the 2nd hole on the North Course.
Ryuji Imada does a helicopter spin with his driver on the 7th tee.
Brandt Snedeker out of the trap on the 6th hole.
Robert Allenby of Australia coaxes a putt on the 2nd green for a birdie.
Ben Crane is the over all winner and takes home the trophy and $954,000

Bobby G was on the golf course at Torrey Pines Golf Course · La Jolla, Calif to shoot the Farmers Insurance Open PGA Tour.
These are just some of the celebrity golfers that he shot on this job. The total purse for this tournament was $5.3 million.
Shooting golf is so far removed from all the regattas that Bobby shoots each year and being on the water, but he loves this event and the players love him which reflects in all of his images.
Nice work buddy.

Photography that rocks

Photographing Ben Harper at the 2009 Austin City limits music festival last October for a client "Ice Cream Man" had it pros and cons. After working a lot on the water in all sorts of extreme weather conditions I would have never expected so much rain and mud in the state of Texas.
Not only was it a challenge to keep your equipment dry and mud free from the crowds splashing up when they danced, but shooting in the mid day sun all the way through to complete darkness late in the night tested all photographers there. I was so happy to have my Nikon gear and to have changed over from Canon one year before.
Don't think I have ever eaten so much ice cream in all of my life, but it was so good.

Some new HDR from the Savannah trip.

Here is some more HDR I shot at the weekend in Savannah, Georgia. This place is amazing even in the gray of the winter months. Savannah is steeped in history and beautiful architecture and I can not get over all the moss that hangs from the huge trees on every street. This place is a photographers dream come true.

What a Fluke or is it?

Photo caption: from the Gunboat 66, Sugar Daddy sailing off Maui, Hawaii. A humpback whale dives deep showing its fluke.©Bob Grieser/outsideimages.co.nz

Bobby G heads to Hawaii for a four day photo shoot on the new Gunboat 66, Sugar Daddy.
Images like this he shot makes him such a great asset to clients when they hire him.
I am sure he has some way of being in contact with the wales because they always turn up when he is around. This is a great image for a calender I think.
You can see more of Bobby's work "here"