The Other Side...: Quiksilver Pro 2011.

Its been a few days....but that seems to be the usual. I've been pretty busy lately, spending a majority of my time down in Coolangatta. Last Friday I headed down there with Matt to see the Dean Morrison movie premier, "A Dingos Tale."I stood in a crowd of about 200 people in the pouring rain outside the Kirra Surf outlet, as we watched the feature film and drank free Corona and Monster energy drinks. Everyone was real stoked on the movie and every time a big maneuver came up on the screen (which was quite often), plenty of "yeeewwwwwsss" cheers, and whistles were produced by the mob of family, friends, and fans...not a bad way to begin my evening. The next stop was Neverland Bar, in downtown Kirra. Here I continued my partying as I took rounds of shots with Dean and his crew, and raged the dance floor with Balarom Stack, as Dion Agius took over the DJ booth and blasted some of the most ridiculous, yet highly enjoyable music. What an epic night.

I spent the following morning recovering, yet again, and finishing my paper sitting on Greg's apartment porch, watching the lineup at Snapper on display in front of me. Not a bad place to do some homework by any means. Its extremely busy and buzzing constantly, especially with the Quik Pro going on a mere 100 yards away, but at the same time its so peaceful...you can watch handfuls of pro's, local rippers, and Aussie grom's go haywire on some of Australia's best waves and watch tourists and surf fanatics moving about the ground like ants...your other option is to just simply look out to the ocean and listen to the sound of the waves. I don't know about you, but I'll take either any day.

I just want to say that the Quiksilver Pro is the best contest on the planet. This is a proven fact, because theres not a thing bad about it. You sit on the beach, in the Australian sunshine, amongst thousands of people from all over, watching the best surfers in the world tear Snapper apart wave, after wave, after wave...eat free food (if you have a media pass like me), drink as much RedBull as you please, jam out to music, and enjoy the lifestyle. Picture perfect...literally. Huge thanks to Greg Weatherall for hooking it up with the internship. I couldn't be any more satisfied with the opportunity I've been given.

Only downfall to my Saturday was getting a $300 no seatbelt ticket from the cops. I was in the backseat of the car and had literally gotten in there no more then 2 minutes before we got pulled over. The cop was a dick...but I've learned my lesson. Click it or ticket.

Sunday night and Monday morning I completed my photography assignment. 15 tasks, photographing any subject matter, as long as I incorporated the task criteria. It was a bit tedious, but some pictures came out pretty decent.

I've spent my last two days, back down at the Quikie. Shooting has been exactly what I expected. Filming the highest level of surfing from no more then 50 yards away is just as mind blowing as you'd think. Today was the Quarters, Semi's, and Finals. I watched Kelly take down Taj for the victory...like the guy needs to win another one...the 2011 ASP Quiksilver Pro was a good start for Kelly, as he begins his hunt for title number 11. He's a machine...and, the best, by far. Not too much of surprise to see him on top. Talk about a mob. Kelly's trip from the water to the podium took 20 minutes. Thousands of people cheered as he was handed the 1st place trophy, and everyone and their brother had some sort of camera in the air trying to get an angle of Mr. Slater. Such a good day....that put a cap on my first ASP event and this is truly something I'll never forget.

I got two real good sessions out at Snapper over this two day period, and I finally got in the water at Duranbah (D-Bah) too. Crazy sandbar that breaks off a jetty and A-frames all up the beach. So fun, but such a heavy wave. Has the potential to be one of my new favorite spots, especially because the rights are p e r f e c t. I can't wait to catch it on an offshore morning.

MagicSeaWeed has given me some praise for my shooting...which seems to be working in my advantage because I've been invited to follow the tour and shoot the event down in Rio de Janeiro during the second week of May. How sweet would that be. It's still up in the air for now, but definitely a possibility.

Thats all for now. I'm beyond beat at this point. Enjoy some shots from the past week.

Check www.magicseaweed.com for some of the ASP tour coverage shot by Greg and I.