GOLD COAST IN THE WINTER

gold coast morning. from Nick Atkins on Vimeo.

Going home to the Gold Coast for me is always such a nervously exciting time. I love to be were all of my brothers, mum,dad and my childhood friends call home.

Growing up in a place based heavily on tourism is interesting and amazing in equal parts. When so many Australians and internationals spend there few weeks a year of annual leave in your backyard You can't help but feel like it's the best place on earth. Notoriously sunny and warm even in the winter, with a few of the best waves on earth you'd be mad ever to leave. Although i find myself doing this all the time! Clearly im braindead!!! 

This clip was shot when i first returned home from LA in july 2009. Testing out my new hd-p2 camera.

 See if you can spot my dad in one of the shots.!

tip:

he is the only person in the shot.

TIFFANY RANDOL music pilot

tiffany randol pilot from Nick Atkins on Vimeo.

When Tiffany Randol arrived at our place in the hills of hollywood i was standing out the front with my camera waiting to get the arrival shot.

Right on time she arrived in the most amazing mercedes benz 2 door coupe i had seen in a while. It was a present from her grandma!

Her look and demeanor was folky meets angel as she negotiated the bk stairs down to the pool. It was'nt until we got into the interview about her album that we truly got into what this sassy vixen-esque New Yorker was all about! How many lemons?? hahaha

Big thanks to my audience in this clip as who just happened to consist of top mixologists, accomplished audio engineers, d.o.p's and all round beautiful people.

Angus and Casey and my beloved LA family.xxxxxx

xx

Ivy Fox on wine bottle drum thanku very much.

The Kin music Pilot.

The Kin music pilot. from Nick Atkins on Vimeo.

Living in the Hills of Hollywood definately had its perks. One of them was that i personally got to share our six bedroom house with some amazing talent. Isaac and his brother Thorrey arrived in a 8 seater tour bus exhausted from 3 million miles of travel around the united states touring there album 'rise and fall'. It was our pad, affectionately known as '6210', that they decided to call home base while they began recording there new album.

These original pilots are still some of my favourites to watch due to them all being shot in our own backyard!

Collectively we decided to start putting together some edited pieces on the different artists coming through our house to shop around to some websites. The idea was then picked up by a New York based music taste making site which funded us to continue with our idea. We were commisioned to travel to Austin, TX to shoot a series of 'webisodes' during the SXSW music festival! So much Fun!

Ill be heading to Texas again next year FOR sure.

You really gotta love THE KIN.

www.myspace.com/thekin

NICKA35

My time aboard the Quiksilver sponsored 90ft salvage boat 'Indies Trader I' took me through West Africa, Costa Rica,Bocas del Toro and The Panama Canal.

Big Wave surfing pioneer Dave Kalama, is the guy riding the Hydrofoil. (strange surfboard with the blade at the bottom)

This board was invented by Dave and his hawaiian friends who took a Hydro chair, normally used for skiing behind a boat, removing the blade, and welding it to a surfboard. With the blade weighing in excess of 30 kg, you need to be a strong swimmer just to keep yourself afloat.

Following that... Navigating The Panama Canal. Six men holding ropes off each corner of the vessel, barking orders in Spanish while thousand of litres of bubbling brown water rise up under the boat. A series of 3 locks transfer you from the Caribbean sea water level, to the pacific ocean water level. 30,000 workers are estimated to have died during the construction of the Canal. 

Also featured are some location shots in the Verde Islands where I paid a local in beer and magazines to drive me across a freezing desert to the surfing side of the island so I could film the Indies Trader in big seas.(closing shot)

A surreal experience that combined my love of surfing, documentary and travel.