Pete Tomlinson From A Point Of Vantage, Southern Australia

It’s rugged, largely inaccessible and home to countless stretches of well-shaped rock shelfs. However, if you do consider surfing on the southern coast of Australia you’ll have to be accepting of the fact that you’ll likely be sharing the area with marine life of the more intimidating kind. Though not always possible, it can help to have a spotter at elevation keeping watch, even if just for simple peace of mind. Lensman Shane Smith aka @salt_eyre clicked the above frame while playing the role for Pete Tomlinson, surfing in solitude below. 

“The transition from a brutal winter and the calmness of spring is a great time to be a surfer in the southern states of Australia, says Mr Smith. “The seasons can switch within days, from freezing winds that whip up from what feels like the Antarctic shelf to suddenly swatting the first of the pesky flies brought down with warm northerly winds from the centre of the country. But, for a surfer spring offers the best conditions – persistent swells, sunshine, all-day offshore winds and oily conditions. On this day in particular it was a mid-week session. The waves were firing, the conditions were prime but there was no one else around so the best option was to shoot frames from the cliff while multi-tasking as a shark spotter as Pete enjoyed a solo session.”

The image above has been hand-selected as this month’s Stab x O’Neill Full Frame competition winner. Remember to tag your finest captures #StabFullFrame and @Oneillusa to feature in our premium gallery. You just might win, score a prize from O’Neill and find your image up in lights.