Dave Otto

Tasmania

• visit: www.shipsterns.com
• email: otto_dave@hotmail.com

Riding the perfect career wave - By Erin Fyle

Imagine this: seaweed tainted air seeping into your lungs, hungry seagulls surrounding you for every possible morsel, wet sand squelching between your toes, and your only other company is a group of salt-encrusted surfers who, like you, are enjoying the dawning of a new day.

For surf photographer Dave Otto, 22, this is no dream. His passion for surfing and his drive to capture the perfect shot have combined to develop his hobby into a fulfilling career. Dave has been photographing local and international surfers for the best part of seven years, his passion beginning with a family trip to the Gold Coast when he was 14. "We visited Greenmount Point at Coolangatta and it was going off," Dave says. "I just took some photos and it's gone from there."

Dave's grounding in photography was gained at TAFE where he completed a two-year Diploma of Art, Craft and Design. It became obvious that his training had paid off when he got some images published in the Australian Surf World magazine in 1999. "I just sent some slides to them and because no one in Tasmania was supplying them, I got lucky," Dave says. "I've also been published in Australian Surfing Life, Riptide, 40o South, Planet X." Besides his formal training Dave has gained valuable insight from the magazine editors and says he reads as many photography books as he can get his hands on, but he says practical learning is still the best.

Currently situated in Launceston, studying a Bachelor of Tourism at the University of Tasmania, Dave is making sure he will have a reliable source of income to fall back on in case the waves run out. Dave has travelled as far as the mainland for surf photography but still thinks Tassie has some of the best waves around. Knowing that being versatile with photography will open more doors for him, Dave has started to photograph snow boarding, a bit of landscape and skating as well. "I tend to do a lot more snow shots now that I'm in Launceston," Dave says. "But if the surfs going to be good I'll travel to Hobart to capture it." Dave says he feels lucky to be getting paid to enjoy the atmosphere and lifestyle that he loves, and as a kid always knew that he would end up doing something within the surfing industry. "This area of work has its benefits, as I get to spend a lot of time at the beach or in the snow, getting free entry into events and media passes and hopefully the opportunity to travel around the world," Dave says.

Follow Dave on Twitter (@shipsterns)