It was during a flight to Ireland that Zag had the pleasure of meeting ace Tasmanian surf photographer, Stu Gibson, and he was all smiles as we bombarded him with a thousand questions about Shipsterns Bluff – the crown jewel amongst Tassie’s fearless and committed crew.
Stu re-counted tales of shooting the mutant wave from the water, and swimming around in the impact zone with his housing attached to a long pole in order to capture something a little different out there.
All Zag could think was – “that’s crazy!”
Discussing the mighty Shipsterns Bluff over a pint of Guinness in Ireland with Stu.
When we arrived in Ireland, Stu grabbed top honours at the Red Bull Illume awards in the category of ‘Energy’ – for this crazy moment he’d captured of Aussie madman Ryan Hipwood taking a standard drop on a warping swell just below the giant cliffs that front Shipsterns Bluff:
Meeting Stu, as well as Aussie photographer, Nate Smith (who also scooped top honours at the awards), was a great reminder of the brotherhood surfers share, and how no matter where we are in the world, all we want to do is catch some freakin’ sick waves.
Some just like to do it at places like Shipsterns.
Stu forms part of The Collective, an online community of local Tasmanian and Australian surf photographers.
Go take a look at their site if you’re at all interested in checking out (or purchasing) some amazing images from crazy waves like Shipsterns Bluff, or Australia’s mutant ‘The Right’.
awesome