On 13 March 2020, I headed down to Ohope Beach for the inaugral West End Wiggle longboard comp where I was set to shoot action both in and out of the water the following day on the 14th. Mark (my partner) and I headed down to Whakatane with our good mates Chris & Jess (and Jess’ frother of a Dad who was over from the US at the time) where we settled in for the night with beers, nachos and a few treats from Chris and Jess’ business Sweetdough Cookie Co.

Chris and Jess were both set to compete in the log comp so we wanted to go half to support and half to shoot, and a little bit to get out there and surf and meet likeminded people in the surf community.

It was a stunning day for it and so cool to see heaps of people from the surf community coming together; there was the Gizzy Dune Dogz who had made the trip through the gorge for a weekend in the sun on the other side of the cape, then there were Aucklanders, Mounties, Coro dwellers and even some international reps. And we were all kept entertained with with salty tones of Daniel Proctor commentating the event… before going on to win the men’s title for the day.

Here are a few of my fave shots from the comp.

If you follow my photography channels and you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know that I love to shoot golden hours, especially morning and evening light. So, working on a bright sunny NZ day, was a challenge for me. We were so lucky, not only that it was a beautiful day that felt like a return to summer in the early autumn, but the wind miraculously stayed pretty low all day and the waves remained surfable through the tides.

Where we usually surf, it’s pretty rare that you’ll get surfable waves after about 10-11am on a bright sunny day - the wind gets up pretty fast and tends to swing. But down the coast in Ohope, Mama Nature gave us all a gift of glassy conditions through the day.

Here’s a snapshot below of some of my favourite free surfer shots from the day. While the competitors and their crews weren’t taking part in the heats, they took to the waves outside of the competition area - full of party waves and good vibes.

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