Here are some shots from recenlty:

It was absolutely spectacular to see the sleeping monster that is Aileens wake up like that again. It is one amazing wave.

In other news I have got my fisheye lens in the water now. So hopefully I can try produce some interesting shots with that piece of kit. Also I have got myself a week off now so im going to go on a bit of a road trip and hopefully get in the liquid everyday. Just waiting to check where the swell is going to be and im there. Happy out!

D

I spent a LOT of time on my laptop editing, emailing and all that but I was lucky enough to get in the sea a few times to keep my eyes alive and even ventured into the Queens on a Saturday night to take some photos…

Here are some from a pretty heavy session that went on at Rileys featuring all the regular crew including standouts (in the red corner) Shamble McGoldrick and (in the blue corner)Sean Meehan.

I think the shot above this is the biggest wave at Rileys that iv swam beside. Absolutely blew me away watching it.

Heres two shots of me taken recently. One is by the great James Skerritt.

This shot was taken by young Northern lad Christian Mcleod. I had just been ran up the reef by a wave on my way out. My back took a bit of a scratching.

I passed a little reef on my way home and the light had got amazing. I was lucky enough to jump in the water and get some shots as the sun dropped.

I got destroyed by this wave in the photo below. The second lip seemed to compressed me onto the reef and then scoop me back up and do it again. Cool shot though.

This is a little session on another sunny day. John Buckly have some fun on the bodyboard. Ollie Flaherty free falling onto shallow water.

Next up was the MashUnit Tour in the Queens Nightclub. So much fun shooting this and so many funny shots.

Check out the Facebook Album here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.235161363235684.56633.100002254665947&type=1

Then I had a wedding fair in the Auburn Lodge in Ennis. Next one is in the Armada on Sunday if anyone would like to pop in and say hello.

So that was my last few days. A good variety of events.

Looks like this week is going to be pretty similar. Cant wait!

Iv been busy in the water and also busy getting ready for three weekends in a row of Wedding fairs. Lots going on.

Here is two sequences of me that have been taken by different people over the last few months.

First up is a few photos from a little slab in Spanish Point where Tom Gillespie swapped his bodyboard for my camera so he could take some shots of me.

This was my second time on a bodyboard. The first had ended in me losing my bodyboard  on my first wave and getting washed around an island so I was slightly nervous even though the waves were small.

So here I go.

So I didn’t get any cover shots this time but it could have been worse. At least I managed to stay on the board.

The next sequence was taken by Lyndon Wake. After spending a few hours shooting the boys using the jetski to tow at waves and try some airs at Tullan strand in Bundoran I decided I wanted a go. Now although I am a newbie to bodyboarding I am actually a reasonably average surfer so was keen to try something. Unfortunately I made a fool out of myself.

The first two actually look like there might be a bit of potential for me.

Then it goes horribly wrong.

Ya thats not what I pictured in my head was going to happen at all.

I have to put this up so theres at least one photo of someone doing something good on a wave in my blog. Here is a shot of my favorite french man Yann Mestelan doing whats he is best at while I stay nice and fixed BEHIND the lens.

So its been almost 15 days since we rescued Clive and the news is in from the Vet.. If anyone does not know what im talking about please watch the video below first..

http://vimeo.com/35019086

Clive recovered well and was released back into the wild to live a happy life. Here is the vet in Ballyshannon that preformed the surgery.

This news has made me happy!!

Here is a link to a cool little interview I did recently with Donough Cronin

http://westcoastsurfer.com/index.php?/page/articles/_/features/interviews/the-truth-about-a-grom-r110.

After writing a lot of random words on a whiteboard then wiping it clean and going through that process a few times I have finally came up with a couple of cool projects that will run through in the next few months. However being a great fan of cryptic messages i’m going to keep it to myself. All I can say now is they hopefully will be at least worthy of a look.

Now here are some pictures…

This is James Skerritt giving his clips a quick review on the back of his camera. James and I spent a pretty awesome day together a few weeks ago and both got some great stuff. I love hanging out with James and he is actually a nice guy underneath his extremely fowl language and extensive use of one bad word in particular that will never be seen on this blog.

This is Liam Grant, surfer, comedian and entrepreneur of the great http://www.lahinchsurfexperience.com/.

Liams 21st in Galway earlier in the month was interesting. He loves bananas.

Zooooom!!!

Fergal in a pretty comfortable spot. Another day in the office for this lad.

Donough Cronin on a little punchy drop. Love this backdrop. It was pretty horrible this day. Donough just got DC added to his sponsor list and also is in the process of buying his first car. Exciting times for him!

That is all!

Life in the Liquid… Series no.010 has just been put on the site. Check out the series so far HERE. Really loving this project. Is pushing me to get in the water more and more and I cant stop. Today was one of the best days iv had all winter. Amazing light and really nice waves.

Spent some time with the supernatural human that is James Skerritt too. He is one funny funny character, check out his work here.

Here is one snap from today that I really like .

Its not the best quality because of the light but its more about the wave than the image itself.

After another 5 minuets of floating I found this little wave that I photographed for a while. It was breaking over some shallow sharp rock which I kept getting torn apart on. In one particular situation I got stuck as it was sucking off the reef and I was left lying in ankle deep water as a wave smashed me. My hip got the blunt of it and got a good wack off the reef. After that I made a dash for the horizon and got into deep water for a breather. I lied there for a second holding my hip and relaxing. Next thing I hear and fast exhale of air burst out of the water. I turn around and see Dusty the dolphin less than a foot away from my head  poking her eyes out of the water for a look. I was scared im not going to lie, freaked the hell out of me at the start but as she started to swim around me I got a bit more comfortable. She is an amazing creature to be in the presence of. It was cool that it was just the two of us there.

I didn’t really want to take photos of her. It’s going to sound cheesy but I kind of forgot about it because I was just gazing at her. I was amazed by her movements and style in the water. I suppose I have the images in my head which is just as good for me.

After some time I left her and got out. I walked back to where the lads were surfing and got in for another while. Dusty had moved up the coast a bit more and had joined the lads for a surf.

Here is Seamus O Rian, owner and creator of the new Waterman Bodysurfing. The Waterman planes are these new really cool bodysurfing tools. Iv only had a go on one wave but they just seem like so much fun. My one is in production..

Here is a shot of Dusty joining Seamus in a wave. You can just about see her shade in the face of the wave.

So thats it.. I spent some time with a Dolphin and ddin’t get a decent shot of her at all haha!!

Next time!!

D

As for the old blog. It has had its final post and has now been moved to here. I miss it already, I feel like i’m cheating on it with another webpage. Hopefully this blog will see as many exciting moments of my life as “awake and dreaming” did during 2011. Feel free to go through the old blog too. Im not deleting it so if your super bored one day and feel like having a gander please do. http://awakenddreaming.blogspot.com/

Above is a simple image of a bottom turn from a few weeks ago when we weren’t being attacked by mother nature and all of its power.

Here is an image of mother nature attacking in full force. It might look like the lens is dirty on my camera but this is during one of the craziest hail storms iv ever witnessed. Luckily I had my umbrella as was able to hide under it and enjoy this without the pain while Donough Cronin took it on the head out in the water.

I decided to have a look through the last 12months of pictures and pick out some of my favorite moments. Have a great new year!!

2011

January
Peter Conroy changing boards on the back of his Jetski. I was driving Dave Blounts ski when I took this shot. Amazing evening out with the boys and some of the most perfect waves Iv ever seen. Everyone went home happy.

February
I couldn’t leave Mullaghmore out of this post. This is the very first sight I got of the beast on the contest day in February. What a day that was for Irish surfing.

March
The hand of shaper extrodinare Tom DH. Tom shapes are under the feet of some of Irelands best. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to shoot Tom at work. It was good to get an insight into shaping surfboards and see how it all works.

April
What can I say about France. Madness!! A trip I will never forget.

May
On my way home from a wedding in Spanish Point when I saw this guy in a field. The light was nice.

June
Ah summer!! This photo was taken down in Doonbeg beach when I was waiting for the tide to push up a little.Theres nothing like a good session in Doonbeg in the summer time.

July
I love this shot. Aaron Dees, Conor Mcguire & Donough Cronin making there way back from a surf.
It got published in the recent Tonnta.

August
David Mannion & Fionan Cronin. Two of the four lifeguards that look after Lahinch beach all summer.
2 years ago we did a cheesy posey photo of the lifeguards and its become a little yearly tradition now. This is just after this years shoot. David cut his foot open and started losing a crazy amount of blood. Fionan making sure he is ok by pointing and laughing. Heres this years photo lifeguard photo http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=223395681055836&set=a.163556863706385.43684.100001562166665&type=3&theater

September
I was extremely lucky of getting the job to shoot the European Championships for West Coast Surfer. It was great to be part of as it has been a long time since the Euros were held here. Here is one of the Portuguese doing there thing.

October
I love when you get these rare days in the middle of the winter months. The lovely Spanish Point.

November
I suppose this photo has to be Novembers picture. This is Hugh Galloway on an absolute tank of a wave and is also the same photo that got me my first cover of Wavelength magazine.

December
Jayce Robinson at the Peak. After spending a lot of December up north in Bundoran this has got to be my favorite shot. Just the light, the spray and everything makes it. It just has a nice feeling of speed and power to it.

So there you go. A few of my memories from 2011. Looking forward to spending more time in the water during 2012 and also meeting new people along the journeys. New Website is launching on January first so keep an eye out for that too. Everyone have a great New Years!!

All the best
David

Missing a gem..

Jayce Robinson on a nice little curl.

My favourite Bundorian Conor Maguire at his local loved Blackspot.

I got to spend some time with Tom “frothing” Butler too.

Jayce’s modeling career has yet to really kick off but he believes he can do it..

Lyndon with some late evening fun at the Peak.

Fergal pulling off this wave at Mullaghmore. One of the most powerful shots of my recent trips thats for sure. Mad to see someone paddling on the edge of waves like that. Amazing to see the boys pushing the paddling.

Lyndon, Pros fall sometimes too.

This photo was taken during some of the maddest winds iv experienced. The news and papers were saying all different things, 50kph, 80kph, 100kph. Im not sure what this was but Butler was stuck in that same spot unable to fight the wind as he walked back after a surf. It was howling!!

Few days later we have this. Its mad how quick weather changes in Ireland. Pre surf check at dawn in Mullaghmore.

Paul OKane, man, myth, legend with a stylish bottom turn.

Ronan Oertzen on a little gem. This is a fun fun wave.

In between that travel iv been busy setting up the new website and getting all the image ready for it. Im super excited about it. Its launching on the 1/1/12 and my great website designer Roo is working hard to get it all done for me, Thanks ROO!!!. So when your all hung over on New Years day you can go have a browse at it. http://davidolsthoorn.net/

The new Tonnta is out and its looking great. I just got my copy today and im stoked with it. Plenty to read in there. Check out the cover by Olivier Longuet and go buy yourself a copy..