Babes & Waves by Hayley O’Connor
My name is Hayley O’Connor and I’m an Illustrator, Graphic Designer and most recently a novice photographer after realising my passion for water photography.
I love to do all things creative and working as an Illustrator and Graphic designer in the surf industry I’ve always had a passion for surf photography. It wasn’t until earlier this year though that I really realised how much I wanted to shoot these images myself and not just be working with surf images that were given to me as part of a brief.
Living on the Gold Coast, along with having worked in the surf industry for the last eight years my creative style has strong coastal and surf references.
Professionally I wear a few hats as I am a freelance Illustrator, and I work full time with Billabong as their Senior Graphic Designer working with both the Women's & Men's Marketing teams.
Being part of the Billabong team has given me many great opportunities to learn from some of the best water photographers in the world including Cait Miers, Marina Alonso, Steve Baccon, Mike Calvino & Carly Brown. Plus, being able to learn from these amazing people whilst having access to some of the best locations, surfing talent and models has made the learning experience so much more exciting.
I’ve definitely ‘caught the bug’ so to speak with water photography and cannot wait to learn more, shoot more and hopefully create some amazing content.
