Gavin Scott Photography

Riley Rocket Morrison

2010-11-30T22:04:00.006+03:00

Durban skate trip

2010-11-28T22:52:00.007+03:00

Durban gets a double thumbs up for its Moses Mabhida stadium and the ICC, but the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for what has become of its Mexican restaurant. While most of our time was spent in and around Durban, we also took a trip up to the Valley of a 1000 hills to see the newly built pool, which is Dallas' latest addition to the Indigo Skate Camp.

Lesotho

2010-07-31T23:15:00.008+03:00

"We should do this more often...." just turned off the freeway and onto the open road heading to Lesotho. This was my first time to Lesotho, and once again I was blown away by another awesome getaway spot right on our doorstep. We were heading to the Afri-ski resort to catch one of the the last few weeks of snowboarding before the end of the season. We somehow managed to turn a 5 hour trip into 10 hours with the combination of an extended breakfast in Bethlehem, an expired passport at the border, some deliberating over whether or not to tie someone to the roof racks of the car? a trip back to home affairs in Bethlehem, some pit stops to take in the views, the balaclava horse gang who have a way of making you depart with your alcohol or money before they'll let you pass and some overheating concerns made the last 30 km's quite stressful. Luckily we had been driving for so long that the sun had started to disappear and with it the heat. The frozen ponds and blocks of ice on the side of the road bare testament to just how cold it gets at night, so the dropping temperature helped to ease our paranoia and it was relief to have the resort in our sights.

The accommodation was perfect. I had visions of a backpackers when asked to bring pillows and a sleeping bag but was pleasantly surprised when greeted by a spacious wooden house with all the comforts of home. It was so warm inside that you'd often pause to turn off the running tap in the kitchen sink, only to remember that the result would be frozen pipes. The noise of the water falling into the metal sink would slowly torture whoever fell victim to the couch instead of their bed.

The slope is actually a lot larger than it appears and makes for a good ride. The ski lifts were out of action for most of Saturday and if you were desperate enough (like us) you could stand in line and get a lift to the top on the snow plough. The lifts started working again at about 3pm and we made sure to get our money's worth before the sun set and the tears froze to our face.

Injuries included, doing half a backflip by walking on a section of iced paving and shooting both feet forward at the same time and landing flat on my back. The scorpion move perfected near the end of the run, where you go from 40km/h to dead still in about two meters by catching your front rail, planting your face in the snow and almost hitting yourself in the back of your head with your own snowboard. Then the, run, trip and dive down 5 stairs to hand grating which wins you a trip to medic before you can go down more vodka!

All together a great spot which can only be better mid winter and worth another visit.

Revolution rooftop

2010-03-24T22:18:00.008+03:00

We had some cheese and wine on the roof of the Revolution building to say farewell to Alice who will be leaving for the UK shortly.

Thunderstorms

2009-12-13T22:35:00.004+03:00

Its that time of year when everything gets washed out with a late afternoon thunderstorm. Friday's sunset, just after the storm.

Window seat

2009-11-16T23:44:00.002+03:00

A few shots just after sunrise before landing back in Johannesburg

Bali

2009-11-16T22:13:00.008+03:00

We decided it had to be done. Just like every skateboarder should visit Barcelona at least once, Bali is its equal for surfing. The biggest difference for me is 15 years of experience on a skateboard and only a couple of weeks over the past 5 years on a surfboard

So before we knew it we had a crew of four, Two from Cape Town and Myself and Clint from Johannesburg. I wasn't sure what to expect from this trip, but I never like to think about a new place too much before getting there, rather arrive and take it in slowly. What I did know was that everyone else in the world who loves surfing feels the same about Bali and the chances of uncrowded perfect waves were slim.

Bali is small, scooters are readily available and there's plenty of accommodation. We settled on the side of the island which has a couple of surf spots within easy reach and besides a day trip to a neighboring island and a visit to Kuta (tourist central), we didn't move around much. It takes a day or two to get into the flow of navigating your scooter through the streets, but you soon get into the swing of things. One of the first things I noticed was people patience on the road. The roads can be chaotic, 5 on a scooter, kids 10 years and younger with no helmets and there buddies on the back, traffic coming towards you in your lane etc (the traffic coming towards you happens daily), but although this is ongoing I didn't see anyone getting angry once, people simply move over and make space instead of making a fuss... Its mind blowing when you come from a road rage society where people blow up for the smallest thing. The best part of all is that its infectious, when the people around you are that patient you feel the same.

Normal life and tourist life is chalk and cheese. The one side of the island is a congregation of hotels, everything you need is within reach and there is plenty of western names to bore you. On the other side (where ourselves and most of the surf spots are) is a lot less glamorous, not to say there isn't great accommodation, but its quite dirty and poor so when you aren't on the beach you can quickly forget you're on an island. On our ferry ride to a neighboring island we saw the ocean being treated like a dustbin. Rubbish was leaving the boat everyone second and even being collected in packets and then dumped over the side. We began to have our say but Rambo in his camo pants didn't seem like he was up for chat after adding his contribution to the water. We left that alone.

The surf is amazing, perfect lefts and warm water. The spots are always crowed so unless you go exploring neighboring islands and their breaks you won't have the waves to yourself...ever.

I had good and bad times but I'm grateful I had the chance to check it out and be there with friends. Its less of an island vibe than I expected, I think Thailand's the place for that, but its certainly got its own flavour and if you surf you have to go...Bagus!

Wedding invite

2009-10-01T08:01:00.003+03:00

Ingrid and Craig soon to be married on the beach in J-bay, this is their wedding invite!

Lomo look

2009-08-14T13:57:00.004+03:00

Some self timer shots of my girlfriend (Jo) and I on route home. The ride through the mountains is super rad and worth taking the time to check it out.

Morning stroll

2009-08-14T11:30:00.006+03:00

As you can see from the post below, the berg is still very dry so there are loads of fires. At night its way more obvious and you can see just how many fires are burning on the mountain. We took a quick stroll before heading out in the morning, there's not that much to see because the camp is surrounded by huge open plains but all the fire breaks and other burnt paches make for some good contrast.

Drakenburg

2009-08-13T17:34:00.004+03:00

Spent a day in the Drakensburgh over the long weekend and camped at a place called amphi backpackers. You camp on a huge open plain facing the amphitheatre and the views are amazing

The Ataris

2009-05-10T23:15:00.003+03:00

Just got back from the Ataris show at Tempos, two quick pics...will post the rest later. All I hear is ringing right now!!

Home

2009-05-03T19:57:00.002+03:00

This is the view from the front door of my new appartment

Slowing it down

2009-04-09T21:23:00.006+03:00

I wanted to get a shot like this at the wedding, but wasn't quite sure when to try it. Tried a couple while everyone was dancing and this one came out pretty cool..

Tessa and Michael wedding

2009-04-09T20:37:00.004+03:00

Its been a busy few months with a couple of weddings and having to moving house. Here are a few pictures from Tessa and Michael's wedding that I shot during Feb. I don't often shoot weddings so it was pretty stressful at first, but once the ceremony was over we made our way to the botanical gardens where we got to relax a little more and try out a few ideas. Here are a few shots from the gardens.

Lightning

2009-02-18T19:29:00.004+03:00

There was an awesome storm last night so I set my camera on a tripod and took a couple long exposures. I can't see much sky from my room so it was a bit of a waiting game, but I did manage to get this one..

Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve

2009-02-10T19:20:00.009+03:00

Paid a visit to the Rhino and Lion nature reserve recently which is just outside Johannesburg. They have various sections which you can drive through and view the adult cats and then a "creche" where you can play with babies. We got to play with baby black leopards which felt similar to a house cat and then a baby tiger which was slightly older and plays a lot rougher, definately worth a visit.

Here are some shots from our drive through and inside the enclosures with the babies..

Angel

2008-12-27T19:41:00.003+03:00

Orchid

2008-12-27T19:35:00.001+03:00

Xmas eve sunset

2008-12-27T19:33:00.002+03:00

The moon, Jupiter and Venus

2008-12-02T00:43:00.006+03:00

If you saw the sky tonight you would have noticed Jupiter and Venus next to the moon. These are some shots from my balcony. In the first shot Venus is the top left and Jupiter at the bottom. The "sequence" shot is a series of shots taken over a 3 minute period. Apparantly this will only happen again in March 2012

A walk in the park

2008-12-02T00:30:00.004+03:00

I have posted anything for a while after losing / having all my gear stolen in Zambia 2 months ago. I have finally managed to replace everything and its really good to be shooting again.

Some pics from a walk in the park today

Julius

2008-10-07T18:17:00.004+03:00

Family portraits

2008-07-09T23:54:00.006+03:00

A friend asked me to shoot some portraits of her kids which came out really cool, here are a few samples.

The Vale

2008-07-09T22:42:00.006+03:00

I recently shot an article on Edenvale for Session issue 31. I spent two weekends and a few week nights getting the skate stuff done and shot all the lifestyle in between. The purpose of the diary was to document the days events and allow everyone to scribble in it. This would normally happen over a few beers so the amount of useful content to come from it was limited. These are some of the shots..

My dawg's

2008-07-09T22:38:00.003+03:00

Down for life - JP Du Preez

2008-07-02T01:04:00.002+03:00

Portraits from the trip

2008-05-18T23:46:00.006+03:00

Simon, JJ, Clint, Gav Morgan, Darren, Jason

Park Guell - Gaudi gardens

2008-05-12T21:03:00.005+03:00

Some shots and views from our visit to Park Guell, one of the many Gaudi attractions in Barcelona

Sunset from the beach bar

2008-05-12T20:51:00.011+03:00

Beach bar

2008-05-09T00:46:00.009+03:00

Down at a bar on the beach Darren got everyone at the table to contribute all the bronze they had until he had enough for one last pint. Some shots from around the table and beach front.

I was reading some of the previous posts and never finished the story about the lost luggage. So the bags did finally arrive on Sun night but that still meant three days without any gear. With regards to filming marathon that I went through trying to get that line, I did go back one morning with Clint and managed to get it down in a much shorter space of time.

Home time

2008-05-06T15:52:00.005+03:00

Flew back from Barca last night and used the connecting flight to Paris as a chance to get a window seat and a sunset shot. You fly over the Pyrenees and the combination of the snow capped mountains and sunset was amazing. Window seats are great for short trips but getting sandwiched in there for 10 hours is a pain, especially when you have to wake your neighbours up to get out every time. So opting for an isle seat is the way forward on long journeys, the only thing you have to deal with then is a screaming kid. Now thats about 100 times worse than getting stuck at the window and when sitting in the cargo hold doesn't sound like a bad idea just to get away. I got the screamer on the way home but thanks to red wine and an ipod I managed to get some sleep in before waking up to the all too familiar SA accent.

Will post shots from the rest of the trip this later this week.

Oh and check out Marcus' blog. He's an amazing photographer and keeps his blog updated almost daily. He's posted loads of window seat shots like these and its cool to see photo's of day to day living and not only work shots, keeps me inspired...

My view

2008-04-28T19:59:00.007+03:00

Imagine waking up and going to sleep to this everyday. Here´s a view from my apartment.

Darren vs. Day

2008-04-28T19:31:00.007+03:00

We were skating this ledge right outside the apartment yesterday and were greeted by Simon who came stumbling across the pond from Amsterdam. We all stated skating this ledge and what began as a warm up session landed up being a whole day filming mission with myself and Simon trying to get a line. Its hard to walk away after 6 hours of trying but sometimes you just got call it and come back another day. Back at the flat Daren was taking a beating from Adrian which at first glance may look like a bit of bullying but you soon pick up on Darrens tactics. He pulls the ¨poor me, don´t hurt me¨ card then as soon as you stop he´ll slap you. I wish I had shots of Adrian pinning him against the wall with a chair, but I´m sure it´s not the last time this will happen. Below is Day and Darren between their battles.

Today has been very chilled. Its overcast and a bit cold and my legs are beat from yesterdays skate. Myself and Simon just went to skate Paralel and saw Biebel and friends. We tried filming for a bit but all the camera battery´s died so we just going to take it easy for the rest of the day.

Barcelona - Day 2

2008-04-28T19:16:00.004+03:00

Its Sunday afternoon and still no sign of the missing luggage. Iberia told us that the bags were being delivered on Saturday morning and the driver had just left....whatever. They sent an email to say that we can expect delivery tonight so we´ll have to wait and see. Here are some shots from around the apartment.

Staircase

2008-04-26T19:56:00.004+03:00

Here´s a view of the staircase outside the apartment I´m staying in.

Airport duty

2008-04-26T19:36:00.004+03:00

Travelling overseas for the first time with mates is always fun, doesn´t really matter whats going on its just fun to be on that mission. Now the more you travel the less you appreciate the time you have to stand in some passport que or find out that you have missed your connecting flight. Thats exactly what happend yesterday, but with Barcelona being the final destination I can´t say that I was that bothered. I did miss my connecting flight in Paris only because I arrived there after it had already left. I had some time tol kill before the next flight out so here are a few shot form around the terminal. They have about 8 of these lazyboy type seats at the end of the terminal where people hang around patiantly for their turn to look this comfortable.

On another note, I just met up with Adrian and crew who just arrived and had another unpleasant experience flying with Iberia. They missed a connecting flight too and Iberia manage to´´misplace¨ their luggage which includes fresh clothes and boards. With tomorrow being Sunday we holding thumbs for Monday, but experience has tought us to never under estimate how bad Iberia can be.

50mm

2008-04-10T23:31:00.005+03:00

I have finally bought a 50mm lens. Collected it on my way to a restaurant and took a few shots to test it out. JJ with the mat and Hughe's before he sets off for London and Barca again...

Daisy

2008-04-10T23:09:00.004+03:00

This was from some pot plants at my house. I Needed something to test a lens on and these are perfect because of their colours. Its interesting to watch how quickly these flowers change. In the morning they look half dead because they close at night and then they open up as soon as the sun is out.

Sunday sessions

2008-04-10T22:34:00.006+03:00

Sunday is a good time to be downtown Jozi. All the shops are closed which means no crowds and less cars. JJ with a late afternoon fakie flip.

More from Woodstock

2008-02-05T22:13:00.000+03:00

Here is the skating shot that Blunt has used in the Woodstock article in their new issue (Volume 11 Issue 11... I think). I didn't spend too much shooting that weekend but I'm glad I got this. Doing tricks over one another on a ramp this size is impressive and they managed to pull it off 5 times in a row. Moses Adam's Kickflip melons over JP Du Preez. The second was shot from the main stage early Sunday morning and shows the remains of the night before.

Barca skate pics - Blunt Volume 11 Issue 10

2008-02-05T22:02:00.000+03:00

Here are two of the stills that Blunt used in their Barcelona article. The first picture was shot was at this "skatepark" situated in the city. Its really just a series of concrete waves with a rail at the end to pop over. We'd all seen it in videos before but it was a lot harder to skate and Darren was the only one who was up for skating it - Kickflip over the rail. The second is Geoff Blackbeard at Montbau.

Session issue 29

2008-01-03T13:04:00.000+03:00

These are some of my photo's from the latest issue of Session. Grant Brand has the cover and we had shot this a while back for his interview we're are working on. The other three were from our Barcelona trip and were used in the Barcelona article and Adrian Days interview.

Woodstocking

2008-01-03T10:22:00.000+03:00

Shot this on the way back from Woodstock in Harrismith this year. From the highway this looked really close, but we did have to hike though a few fields and over a couple of fences to get there.

Dino Bravo

2007-11-14T10:48:00.000+03:00

Worked with Dino Bravo for the promotion of his latest album. Here are a couple of my favourite shots.

Manuel & Kika's wedding

2007-11-06T17:48:00.000+03:00

I recently shot a friends wedding and had the opportunity to shoot some pre-ceremony shots with the bride and bride's maid while they were getting ready. Its a great time to capture certain emotions that are often lost in posed shots. The statue is a suggestion box at the entrance of the venue that just looked good sitting beneath a skylight.

Check out time

2007-10-01T14:45:00.000+03:00

Checking out is never fun. Barcelona is a seriously amazing city and and eye opener to a different way of life. If you skate, there is no question as to whether or not you should check it out, the only problem is you won't want to leave.
We had to be out our apartment at 11am and out flight was only at 4pm so we left our bags with the estate agent and killed time on some park benches across the road. I think the park bench shot is a pretty accurate description of how we all felt about leaving. The smell of dog poo quickly brought our park time to an end and we headed off to the airport to say adiós to Barca for 2007.

A bit of footy

2007-10-01T14:24:00.000+03:00

Adrian took some time out for a bit of footy with the locals before waving bye to Molins de Rei for another year

Darren vs Molins de Rei

2007-10-01T10:08:00.000+03:00

We met up with Darren from Cape Town who joined us for the last 10 days of our trip. He's got some serious skills on a board but acquired the nickname "stumbles" for his antics off it.
This spot is at a place called Molins de Rei and is about a 20 min train ride from Barca. The combination of blazing sun and white concrete made it hot as hell and while most of us skated for about 30 mins and then ran for shade, Darren put in a good couple of hours almost to the point of throwing up.

More from Montbau

2007-09-19T13:19:00.001+03:00

Skated Montbau again last night and here is a view from the front. Just to the left of the stairs is a giant esculator with a smooth metal bank running along the side. R10,000 (courtesy of Adrian) was up for grabs for anyone who could drop from the top and while the general consensus was that reaching the kink at the bottom going 300km/h is not wise Geoff is a firm believer in the Evel Kneivels out there.

Night lights

2007-09-19T13:08:00.000+03:00

Not sure what the name of this place is but this is one of my favourite shots so far.

Beach front banks

2007-09-14T12:53:00.001+03:00

This spot actually turned out to be quite productive from a shooting point of view. When we arrived we weren´t to excited because the surface is pretty rough. The cops rolled in and parked right next to us but didn´t say anything so we carried on and got two good sequences. Geoff taking a break...

Beach

2007-09-14T12:47:00.000+03:00

This is a shot from down at the beach front a few days ago.

Boards

2007-09-14T12:44:00.000+03:00

This is the view from the entrance to our appartment.

Hughes is MVP

2007-09-14T12:39:00.000+03:00

Hughes is definately MVP on this trip. Non stop laughs and the only person I´ve seen do tiger rolls the whole way home from the bar.

Saturday night skate

2007-09-10T13:02:00.002+03:00

Went to skate Montbau on Sat night and managed to film and shoot a few pics. You have to push so fast to skate this spot that after about 10 goes you feel a bit dead. Its also difficult to shoot and skate. Basically we will all start skating then I´ll shoot some stuff and when everyone has finished and can only think of a cold beer they have to wait around while I skate and someone (usually Adrian) will shoot me. Anyway it worked out fine and we got all managed to get something this night. I have to hold the skate pics back until they are publsihed, but here are some pics of Geoff and myself feeling a bit worn out and the Butcher on the stairs.

Barca - around town

2007-09-10T12:57:00.001+03:00

Just some shots from around the city.

Barcelona

2007-09-10T12:37:00.000+03:00

Barca is amazing. Been here for a week and its easy to get into the way of life. Our days consist of getting up late, going skating until about 10pm, food, then go out for few beers. It only gets dark around 9 which makes our days so much longer and more productive. The city has so much life and character, went skating last night at about 1am and there were just people everywhere. Here are some pics from the flight and our first few days here.

Loucas and the ledge

2007-08-08T10:46:00.000+03:00

So I was looking through all the photos I still need to sort out and found these shots that I'd taken with Loucas a while back. We were trying to shoot a sequence and it was looking good until my battery died and the spare was no better. Anyway I think these photos tell a good story of what went down and also show a combination of the stress and bails that acompanied it.

REACH at Tempos

2007-06-28T12:34:00.000+03:00

Here are some pics of REACH playing the youth day show at Tempos. Besides for almost going deaf from sitting next to the drums without ear plugs, the show was great. You can check out REACH and listen to some of their songs here.

Barry's house party # 1

2007-06-28T12:12:00.000+03:00

My friend Barry is in the process of selling his house and is having a party for every step in the right direction. With step 1 complete, some sparklers in my bag and Kev Love balancing anything he can find on his nose, this is some of what went down.

Happy birthday Clint

2007-06-14T13:03:00.000+03:00

A few shots from Clints birthday at George Lea park. Kev Love and the cake and a bit of love at the pool table.

Session cover shot

2007-05-21T11:27:00.000+03:00

The great thing about this shot is that it wasn't planned. We were all out skating this pool and Gav Morgan started getting up on this really tight, vertical part of the pool. I set up some lighting and we got a couple of good shots, one of which is being used on the cover of the May/June issue of Session. I'm really happy with the way they came out and stoked on my first cover. Below is a copy of the cover, the original shot and another shot I really like.

Kwa Maritane

2007-05-07T10:17:00.000+03:00

I spent two nights at Kwa Maritane in the Pilanesberg over the long weekend for some game drives and a bit of animal spotting. We were quite lucky to see lions more than once, but when any cat appears so does every car driving through the park which makes getting a clear view / shot quite tough. There was plenty more to see and shoot so here are some of animals and scenes from the park.

Skylight

2007-04-26T15:44:00.000+03:00

I was at my sisters house over Easter and she has recently added some skylights to this room. I loved the lighting and the colours of the room so had to take a pic.

J-bay

2007-04-25T09:53:00.000+03:00

I was in J-bay over Dec 06 and we took a trip to the Tsitsikamma national park. Just before you reach the park there is a nature reserve that you can stop at and take a about a 1km walk along this wooden path into the forest to view the 800 year old "big tree". Here's a shot of the path that takes you there and sunset shot taken on the way home.

Loucas

2007-04-24T13:18:00.000+03:00

Loucas is the latest addition to the Familia team. We were out shooting skating in town on Sunday and didn't manage to get the skating pics we wanted but we did shoot a few portraits, here's one of them.

A bit of colour

2007-04-19T09:47:00.000+03:00

I was looking through photos last night and decided to get together some sunset shots I had to add a bit of colour to my blog. The shot with the cranes is from the roof of Sandton City with the never ending construction going on and the others where shot from the roof of my complex.

Photo's on display at "Bang chong"

2007-04-12T10:00:00.000+03:00

Here are the photo's I had printed and displayed at the "Bang chong" premier. I had taken all the pictures over the past 2 years whilst out skating and all of them relate directly to the filming of the video and the people involved..enjoy

Famila video premier

2007-04-10T10:15:00.000+03:00

Familia recently had the launch of their first DVD called "Bang chong". The premier was held on the 19th floor of a venue in town which is run by Alastair / Intermission and gives you great views of the city. There was naturally a lot of setting up that took place, here are some pics I took on the Fri night before the launch.