"The Transition" with Jesse Little

We finally caught up with Jesse after a long while between drinks and asked him a few questions about the recent Cyclone Uesi swell and about the vibe around the Goldy during times like this. Jesse is legend to the Goldy and is currently making the slow transition to video after perfecting his craft with photography. Enjoy a selection of his images from recent times, featuring lords such as Mick Fanning and Wade Carmichael.

 

Yeah I've slowly transitioned into doing more video lately. I've always liked putting together clips and playing around but I never really offered that out to clients. It kinda just made sense when I kept getting asked if I do video as well. So I just thought of it as a better opportunity to make more money within the industry.

 

Lately yeah I have been enjoying it more. Don’t get me wrong I still love taking photos just as much but at this time in my life I’m leaning more to video. I still find myself going for a swim out front at Rainbow Bay and just shooting all the loggers and playing around with slow shutters. The photography side of it will always have a spot in my heart because it's where it all began.

 

It was one of those swells where the forecast kept changing, people were saying it’s too close to land. So, leading up to it I was a bit sceptical but kept an open mind because it was the first proper cyclone swell we’ve had all season I'm pretty sure… I've never seen a swell pick up and disappear just as fast in my life. Thursday morning it was a barrel fest behind the rock at Snapper. Built throughout the day and Kirra had some solid waves by the arvo but wasn’t very lined up. Friday was pretty ruler edge and the swell had maybe dropped a tad but it was hitting the bank a bit better. It wasn’t the best cyclone I've seen but there’s was still some pretty crazy freight train barrels coming through at Kirra on the Friday.

 

I'd say it was around 5-6ft range but around the peak Thursday and Friday morning it was definitely bigger up behind the rock. Haha the vibe around these swells is pretty strange. You’ve got every man and their dog coming into town to try get some waves. Everywhere's busy, not just the lineups. It's so hard to find a carpark sometimes it's ridiculous!! I'm lucky I live 100 metres away from Snapper so I generally just walk.

But I heard that the vibe in the lineup sucked this swell. I heard there were heaps of blow ups out in the water and a couple fights. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many drop ins in my life haha. I really wanted to surf Kirra on the Friday but I had to film, but yeah going off what I heard I probably would’ve just got dropped in on or vibed out haha.

 

I was born on the Gold Coast, but moved to South Oz when I was 12 and stayed there all my teenage years and into my early 20’s. I just got into photography through surfing and taking photos of mates just for the fun of it.

 

I've just recently made the switch from Canon to Sony.

I'm running a Sony A9 and Sony A7iii.

The A9 is crazy fast. 20 frames a second. It's almost too many photos haha.

And the A7iii I use mainly for video.

 

Yeah I'd say I almost surf every day. If it's small, I'll just take the log out at Rainbow. It can be painful watching everyone get waves and get barrelled while I'm behind the lens. But usually on days like that I'll film for a few hours and then go for a quick surf then go back to filming. All about balance haha.

 

I recently went to the CT events in Europe with my mate Wade Carmichael and we went to Ireland afterwards. That place was pretty insane. I wouldn’t say I have favourite place I just enjoy going to new places. A lot are within Australia. We have a pretty insane coastline with so many waves. We’re pretty lucky.

 

I get inspiration from so many people. Local crew who film on the Goldy. International photographers and videographers there’s too many to name. It's not even the big names sometimes either. Social media is such a crazy little tool you stumble across so many other creatives. Sometimes I'll stumble across a page and I'm like wow this guy’s next level. Then I see in his bio he’s 14 or something haha. It's nuts.

 

I'd say mainly surf. When I'm not filming, I'm wanting to be surfing. But lately me and the boys have got a bit of a golf bug. Good little hobby to play when the surf sucks.

 

I'm doing a couple months in the Maldives this year. I usually only do one month a year but I had an opportunity to do more and I just thought I'd do it. Other than that, just a few other little Indo boat trips and stuff at home.

 

Cheers guys.