Surf Photography
WARNING: THIS PHOTO IS GRUESOME. I received a cryptic email from my friend Chris aka ‘Grandpa’ yesterday. In the email was a short note, “You may want to put this on SickShots”. That’s it. No explanation. No story. Nothing. I really need to hear the tale, but understand that Chris may be getting medical attention. [...]
As the winter solstice and the holidays approach, I thought we could all use a warm summer wave (even if you live on the other side of the equator you can always use a warm wave). This one is courtesy of one of my favorite places to shoot – Padang Padang. I remember I was [...]
You may have seen this shot in Surfer Mag’s ’50 greatest Surfers’ issue. I would have been stoked to have it in their mag, but they never gave me the courtesy to tell me, used it in the mag without photo credit and tried to get away without paying me! They also didn’t identify Jimbo [...]
You may remember Grandpa’s story. The short version is that he was living in Bali and got into a motorcycle accident. His jaw was broken. His shoulder had torn ligaments. His elbow bone was poking through his skin. Oh yeah, and he lost some teeth! Here he is nearly 4 months since the crash and the [...]
I got this email a few days ago. For those of you following the ‘Grandpa’ story (original post here) or know our friend Chris, he is having a tough go of things after his motorcycle accident. I was going to write this email into a story, but it speaks for itself. This shot is Chris [...]
Here is one of those days my friend Chris aka Grandpa likes to surf at Uluwatu. This photo is taken from right in front of Peanut’s place where he hangs out and waits for days like this. It doesn’t look it, but that is solid Ulu’s. Easily double overhead with much bigger sets. Damn it [...]
I have been going through my archive of surf images lately in hopes of someday getting it all online. It is a long process. Lately, I have been working through the Bali section and keep finding some epic images that I forgot about. This shot is just an average line up photo taken from the [...]
Here’s a few of my favorites from last week’s swell. While it wasn’t big…
The old Sickshots site is going to be trashed starting tomorrow (it is so large it may take all weekend). There has been plenty of warning for you to get your SickShots, so please don’t come crying to me about “dude, I forgot to order my photo!” Sorry, it’s time to move on. You’ve only [...]
First, I want to apologize for jinxing Kelly. I mean I picked Slats to WIN the Rip Curl event (dude never has) and he comes up with a 17th! Are you kidding? Surfline’s headline was ‘hell freezes over”. You got that right! Come on Kelly. When I said you had a ‘support system’ in Bali [...]
The cat is out of the bag. The Rip Curl Search event is being held at Uluwatu. You can watch the ASP event, but you will have to stay up late if you are in the mainland US. The early heats will get underway right around the time Californians are starting to go to bed [...]
Holy smokes, I forgot to post a session from Padang Padang that I shot right before I left. It got mixed up with some stock that I was working on and when I got a chance to go through it I found some good stuff from June 28, 2008- See it here! The attached shot [...]
Check out this photo of ‘Grandpa’ Chris laying down a mean bottom turn at Outside Corner. I know this is one of those days he lives for. Dude is always down at the Bukit hanging out waiting for swell. Usually when it gets big and gnarly and the crowds seem to evaporate, Chris is there [...]
Padang Padang from June 17, 2008 is now online and ready for your perusal! Yes the long anticipated first new SickShot gallery is up and running with some amazing new features. The first thing you will notice is that the website has a clean new look from start to finish. It took a long time, [...]
Our flight from Bali was at midnight- not the best time to fly with an 8 month old, but it wasn’t until we arrived in the US that the real fun began… We cleared through Bali with relative ease and flew to Tokyo for a 10 hour layover. We had a reservation at an airport [...]
Timed it with the low tide today and managed to get a few shots of the small crowd pulling into the green room. Yes, it was small, but fun and about the day of the year anywhere else in the world. Just another reminder. I am returning to LA in a few days and [...]
The surf is still in the head high to overhead range, but there is a strong trade-like wind that reminds me of Hawaii. Difficult to surf in, but it sure looks pretty from the beach! Bali always seems to be having some kind of ceremony (i think that is why it is so special) [...]
Every time I write the blog it is late at night and I just want to go to bed! I have been up every morning at the Dawn patrol surfing with my wife and then the evenings have been spent swimming on the Bukit taking photos. Tonight was pretty special. The swell was clean and [...]
Hey everyone and thanks for checking in to SickShots. We had a good day for surf around Bali again with head high waves and bigger sets. My wife and I had a beachy surf at our favorite ‘secret spot’ and took turns watching our son who was much more interested in the kites! Here is [...]
The swell dropped, but we still had overhead waves with bigger sets out here on the Bukit Peninsula. Looks like tomorrow will drop off again, but another swell will fill in by Friday/Saturday to keep us in good surf! I swam for a few hours during mid day and got some nice wide angle water [...]
How thick is this one? We had some good waves at Padang Padang today, so Uluwatu must have been firing with some bombs! Some of the Pros were out including Local Rizal Tanjung and WCT top 10 Taj Burrow. There were double overhead waves and I shot from the bodyboard and swam the evening with [...]
Yes, finally! We have a couple of decent looking waves coming our way this week and I hope to capture your best moment whether you are in the tube or ripping a turn. We are also working hard on the back end of SickShots to bring this here blog and the new galleries a fresh [...]
Yesterday this unfortunate geeko was spotted under a cushion in my Bali villa. ”I’ve got an idea,” I said to my wife as I tracked him down. I snared the little guy and set this whole shot up. Shameless I know, but ever worse when you consider I stole this ‘idea’ from my friend [...]
Two days ago I got a text message from a long time friend named Joken (pronounced Yoken) that owns a tour company here in Bali called Matangi tours. He knows I am a photographer and invited me on one of his ‘expeditions’ where he goes in search of new places to show his clients. [...]
The SickShots blog is written by Dave Collyer and features his photographs. It covers his favorite topics of Surfing, Travel, Photography and Life. Dave has taken more shots in the Mentawai Islands than anyone and can be hired for your surf charter or for your surf trip anywhere in the world. He also shoots weddings and portraits in his studio or on location. Dave maintains a huge image archive online of his best work. When he is not on assignment he lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.
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