Wow, that was an awesome week! I know that not all of our Dunedin Light readers surf, but you didn't need to even enter the water last week to appreciate just how beautiful the ocean was day after day.
The swell was ultra consistent and pumped east swell into all of our beaches. I heard claims of "best ever" sessions on the bank in front of the poles at St Clair Beach and I know most of the older surfing crew were sneaking south to some of their favourite secluded surf spots.
The big swell cleaned up really fast, but there weren't a lot of paddle-in waves around on Tuesday. We managed to catch Mike Dorking and tow partner Dave Wild riding some impressive beasts in their huge marathon session – the lads surfed for over four hours in the glassy conditions!
Once the swell backed off a tad the paddle in surfers got stuck into it and there were grins from Allans Beach to Taieri Mouth! One of my favourite quotes this week would have to be from St Clair jeweller Chris Idour, when I asked him if he'd had any waves one morning: "yep, 47! It was fantastic ... what a winter!"
Over the week I chased the swell around the city's beaches to capture these images and the more beaches I visited the more it occurred to me that each beach was like a garden of waves. Each has its own personality, it's own style and optimum conditions, but last week, at least, they were all standouts.
I received my new Canon Eos 5D MkIII camera body this week and its low-light performance has already won me over. Coupled with the new auto-focus system (a la Canon 1DX) and 6 frames per second, this new ally in my quest to capture Dunedin's beaches and surf culture has raised the bar yet again. Photography technology is advancing at such a rapid rate and I am stoked to be at the forefront with this new 5d MkIII.
I hope you enjoy this week's offerings and I look forward to sharing some more of the new camera's magic with you over the coming months.
See you at the beach ...
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