Tasmanian photographer Stuart Gibson has captured some incredible footage of surfers tackling one of the most intimidating waves on the planet.
Shipstern Bluff, off south-east coast of Tasmania, is considered challenging enough to ride for the likes of world champions Kelly Slater and Andy Irons.
Photographing it isn’t easy either. Gibson, who honed his skills under another local legend of the surf journalism scene, Sean Davey, has been practising his drone piloting skills.
Recently, he gave them a field test, taking the 30km ride around the coast to the reef which throws up a monster wave famous for a couple of deadly thick steps that form mid-ride.
While Shaun Wallbank, Sandy Ryan and Alex Zawadzki tackled Shippies, Gibson caught it all from above, and it was every bit as spectacular as you’d expect:
Just a month ago, Wallbank was part of a crew that for a couple of hours, braved some of the “biggest ever” waves seen at Shipstern, as a seven-metre swell marked the start of the epic wave season down south.
Gibson didn’t catch it on a huge day, but it was big enough:
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