First of all, can you imagine swimming in this mayhem with a camera in your hand? Second, uh, yeah, can you imagine swimming in this mayhem? That’s exactly what Sydney’s Byron McLoughlin did recently to capture this outrageously rad water angle from Deadman’s. Sydney’s most serious slab has seen an incredible run of swell recently that created scuttle all over the internet.
Byron, who we recently profiled, is a talented young image maker from Australia’s biggest city, who’s thrown his life into water photography. “I try to avoid getting pummeled by waves, but it happens,” the 17-year-old told us. “It’s a lot more leg work in rips and swimming to get into the right spot or position. Sometimes I try pushing the limits by going wide angle or shooting in front of the wave on purpose to inevitably get caught on the inside for a different perspective. It’s actually cool sometimes to test your fight or flight response to see how long you can hold your breath or how to try and stay calm and not panic. It’s also cool to try and swim under as far down as you can, chill there and wait for the chaos above to relax.”
Byron certainly had to relax into the situation to capture the footage above. So sit back, relax, hit play, and reap the rewards of Byron’s work at one of Sydney’s heaviest waves.
