Wanna Win A Trip To The North Shore? Follow These Tips And Submit Your Photos

Only a fool turns down a trip to paradise and lodging courtesy of Turtle Bay Resort. And this particular trip involves a course in surf photography by one of the greatest to ever do it, Sir Brian Bielmann. Brian’s been around for quite some time; the man’s work has been occupying double page spreads in surf magazines far before this silly thing called the internet. He’s shot everyone from Gerry Lopez to John Florence, Larry Bertleman to Tom Carroll, Occy to Kelly Slater…anyone relevant from 1970 to now has been frozen in time between his lens. He’s the man who shot our concept with Bruce Irons illuminating a pitch black tube by flair and has more iconic shots of Andy than he can count (you can view some here).

Currently we’ve got a #StabFullFrame x O’Neill competition in the works, where we’ll be paying your airfare to Hawaii to join Brian’s Developing Legends photography course; the submissions are pouring in so it’s in your best interest to get amongst it. And, you can submit as many time as you please – it’s like the lotto or a raffle, the more you submit the better your chances. 

So, we asked Brian to lend us a few of his favourite shots and break down what surf photography’s made of. If you’re going to submit, we recommend taking his advice, as he’ll be hand picking the winner at the end of the contest. And, in the meantime, each week we’ll be dropping our favourite Full Frame across all our platforms, and O’Neill will be sending you off a prize pack if you’re the owner the shot that ticks our boxes. 

Shot number one (featured above): Sion Milosky, Pipeline
Brian: In recent times, the pulled back shot has popularised. Years ago everyone seemed to shoot tight on the surfer. Then slowly it became all about pulling back and creating a sense of place. This shot is of the late great Sion at Pipeline. Tip: Look for some foreground and pull back on the wave. Just be sure enough of the surfer and the wave are in frame and you can portray how deep in the tube your subject is. This is the same for any manoeuvre, whether it be aerial, carving and simply a stylish high line trim.

That feeling of clarity only obtainable in a head full of fog.

Shot number two: Chopes from the channel
BB: How many times have we seen a shot in the channel at Teahupoo during the Billabong event? The tip: see things differently. I pulled out the lens and bent it around until I had one that worked. And Shazam, something out of the norm. You can look at this type of thing as a gimmick but I see it as a way to have fun and be different. I wouldn’t recommend shooting everything this way but whenever you can, think outside of the box.

Shifting vision.

Shot number three: Tavarua in different light
BB: The trouble with this shot is, it’s a beautiful shot no matter how you shoot it. However, everyone has shot it. It the equivalent to a photo of a killer sunset. Tip: When your subject makes your job too easy you have to figure out how to make it your own. I had to come up with a lead spread for Transworld Magazine (RIP) during a Volcom trip years back, so I decided to shoot the island as in infrared. I ended up with a shot that had a truly unique effect. It’s all about viewing your subject with different eyes.

Want to swing in on the action? Much like our current monthly #stabfullframe x @oneillusa competition, you’ve gotta dig up your finest frames, post on Instagram and tag #stabfullframe, @oneillusa, @developinglegends and @turtlebayresort then email your full name, address and the link to your posts (just to reiterate: you can enter more than once!), to [email protected]

If Mr Bielmann digs your shot, we’ll cover your airfare, Turtle Bay Resort‘s got your accommodation and Developing Legends has a free slot lined up for you in the four day course.

The finer details:
– Competition starts: 8th November 2016

– Competition ends: 30th November 2016

– Winner announced: 9th December 2016

– Workshop: 22nd – 25th January 2017

– Winner receives flights, four days accommodation at Turtle Bay Resort and a spot in the Developing Legends workshop with Brian Bielmann.

- All submissions must be tagged with #stabfullframe, @oneillusa, @developinglegends & @turtlebayresort and emailed to [email protected] with Full Name, Address and URL to Instagram posts.

– Open to all countries.

You get the gist: Snap and submit, easy enough? We sure as hell hope so.