Fifty Shades of Blue

November 6, 2018

Morning folks,

How warm was this morning?!

It all started pretty in bright orange but didn’t last long enough. When I arrived down the beach, the grey clouds took over.

We “jungle gymed” this morning (I know that it doesn’t work grammatically but ehh I’m French so it’s ok!) with my friends Bertie & JP. Always good to start your day with a good sweat!

Then I joined my other mate Paul for coffee, photos, bump into all the locals and dip in the ocean! So good and refreshing…

Talking about locals, did you know that my famous (at least for me) ‘First in, first ripples’ got featured on a double spread in the new Local Magazine. You can see it here (page 24-25) or wait to receive it in your mailbox if you live in the Eastern Suburbs. A massive thank you to Elizabeth Meryment and Trevor Timms for the amazing feature. If you see it, snap a photo and send it to me either via Instagram or by email hello@morningbondi.com I will feature them in my Stories and give you full credit! #BOOM!

Have a great Melbourne Cup and stay safe!

Amaury

Only in Bondi, almost no waves but 100 surfers!!

Fifty Shades of Blue #2 (the first one is featured in the Icebergs Gallery) — Fifty Shades of Blue #2 (the first one is featured in the **Icebergs Gallery**)

Foggy

November 5, 2018

Morning team,

How was your weekend?

What an amazing weather, I feel that it was the official kick-off of Summer! Don’t you? The beach was packed! If you haven’t seen the photos yet, here there are: here and there. I’ve got plenty more but will keep them for a s*** day!

This morning started pretty clear but I feel like with the hot temperatures from outside and the cold of the ocean brought the fog and light clouds. Don’t quote me on this, I have no idea what I’m talking about!

Finally, if you have been following my Stories over the weekend, you might have seen that I got real spoiled. My weekend started by boarding a yacht from Barangaroo up to ANZ Stadium in Olympic Park to watch Taylor Swift owning the stage under torrential rain. I got drenched but it was a pretty epic night! I can’t thank enough the whole team at Google and YouTube Music for the treat. My apologies if you don’t care about seeing these type of Stories but I feel like I need to give them some love back. ;)

I guess that’s it for today, have an amazing week…

Cheerio,

Amaury

Look who's back, the good old Francky! So good to see you mate, we missed you...

Early birds

November 2, 2018

Morning my friends,

Wow! What a glorious and warm start of the day! You couldn’t have asked for more…

This morning I ventured down to Bronte pool for a quiet and early shoot. By 5:45am, it was literally packed, so many people around going for an early dip and 10 photographers, no joke! Here goes my quiet shoot… You literally had to pick the right angles to avoid taking photos of other photographers. Cray-cray how Instagram has revolutionised the world of photography!

Starting your day with a dip was actually the best thing to do though!

Talking about birds, the shoe brand Allbirds is launching their first ever pop-up this weekend. Come down on Saturday or Sunday between 9am-6pm to The Hideaway, to experience the world of wool and tree. You can even borrow a pair of Allbirds to walk the Bondi to Bronte! How cool is that!

Have a good one my friends and chat to you on Monday,

Amo

The always funny and bubbly Melanie Moylan - do yourself a favour and subscribed to her YouTube channel Melevision

When I think about it, the OneWave crew is kind of the modern version of the 1960s hippies!

Sticky!

November 1, 2018

Morning (hot) friends,

Hot, oh yeah, it was a hot one this morning!!!

By 5:45am it was already 20 something. No need to wear a jumper anymore, that’s it Summer is here my friends! Wait for tomorrow, it’s meant to rise up to 33 degrees. No joke!

We went to the jungle gym for some reps of push/pull/abs, as we almost do everyday now that my knees hurt (tight ITBs) Not fun!

Anyway, enough about me, once again, today felt a lot like Summer with heaps of people all around. Tomorrow, Friday is going to get full house! See you in the water!

Have a lovely one my friends and stay cool,

BOOM!

Amo

Double trouble, Lucy & Rexy post-yoga and swim

Wait for this weekend, the Icebergs is going to look even more pretty! #SoInstaWorthy #Youllgetshitloadsoflikes

Submerged

October 31, 2018

Morning peeps,

How good was this morning!!

My body clock woke me up at 5am so instead of laying in bed I got up and went down to take photos from the water. I have to say, it is by far the most challenging way to take photos but so rewarding if you nail a good shot!!

Heaps of happy people all around making the most of their mornings. Fair enough, it was a cracker! For the ones that are still reluctant to go in the water, trust me you definitely should! Water is pretty warm at the moment.

Finally, if you’ve been following Morning Bondi for a little while, at least the last 2 years, you would know that I’m a massive fan of the Google Pixel phone. I was one of the first lucky ones to try out the Pixel 1 - find out more here. Last night, I was invited to the launch of the third generation Pixel, the Pixel 3. Trust me this one is next level!! You can’t beat the camera, even the extremely talented Annie Leibovitz approves it!

Have a lovely day my friends,

Ciao,

Amo

Chris Little at the end of a pretty good run

Sculpture by the Sea

October 30, 2018

Morning my friends,

Hope you all had a good night sleep!

You know the weather has been pretty bad lately when you only check the Sculpture by the Sea on their last week. I suspect that you’ve already seen them all in real life or popping in your Instagram newsfeed but I felt I should still cover them before they head to Cottesloe…

That was the perfect day for it! Sunny, warm and surprisingly not that many people. I only saw 20 photographers, 50 runners and 75 people walking down the iconic coastal path.

On another note my mate Colin just shared with me this pretty cool video made by YouTube Music called “Sounds of Bondi”. Sounds cool. no?!

I guess that’s it for today, hope that tomorrow will be another cracker. Crossing fingers & toes!

#BOOM!

Amaury

The Morning Bondi gang in a few years time!

Ski training for the Surf Lifesaving Club

Imagine hanging out with all your friends before going to school... Life is pretty sweet down in Bondi!

I told him to pose next to it and that I wasn’t going to post it - sorry Juju, this one is too good!

Behind the scenes (this sculpture is amazing, can you spot the sweat on his side?!) ;)

Google installation for the Pixel 3 #teampixel

The Crabbe Hole, it got to be one of the best views in Bondi to do your morning emails... — **The Crabbe Hole**, it got to be one of the best views in Bondi to do your morning emails...

Flip side

October 29, 2018

Morning my friends,

Well well well… today started pretty grey and uninspiring, like a Moan-day really! If you want to see what it was like, feel free jump on my Instagram Stories right HERE!

On the flip side, Saturday was just incredible and I was down there with a few friends taking photos with my sexy Olympus underwater case. It’s challenging to shoot in the water but I love it!

After a little while and 300 photos later, I swapped my camera for my friend’s board, hence the photo of me at the bottom.

Have a fantastic week and hope that the weather will soon settled down,

Ciao,

Amaury

My mates Bertie, Simon & Nico heading out

Nicolas Pasquier, half blurry / half in focus

You talkin' to me? Yes, that's me doing the impersonation of a seal on a board

Spot Anderson and the whole Bondi Fit crew running at me!

Blow

October 24, 2018

Morning my friends,

Today started pretty grey but with the wind pushing away all the clouds it was sunny around 7am.

As always I woke up at 5:30am but this time no exercise as I had to look after my daughter who woke up sick. Poor little one!

I just went down for the fun stuff: coffee, photos and swim and bump into the usual morning gang.

I guess that’s it for today, I’m stuck at home with my daughter Charlotte, currently watching Cinderella, giving her breakfast and writing this incredible update! ;)

Have a cracking one and don’t expect photos tomorrow as I have another early meeting.

Ciao!

Amo

Grant Trebilco, this guy went global last week, hugging Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

Sunshine & Weed

October 23, 2018

Morning my friends,

Long time no speak or at least it feels like it for me…

As I was saying last week, I don’t bother anymore taking photos when the weather is not welcoming and let’s be honest it’s not been great the past few weeks!

Today we had it all, sunshine and weed (I mean seaweed), plenty of it, especially in the South corner!!

On another note, I went down to the new Pacific Club restaurant for dinner last night. Fancy, I know but ehh it was my wife’s birthday so it was pretty special. I have to say we were blown away by the fit-out (at least 2 million worth), the food was excellent and the staff brilliantissimo! Go there my friends, you won’t regret it! (Not sponsored, just very enjoyed the whole experience!)

My apologies for the late update but as I was putting it in my Instagram Story, I had an early breakfast meeting in the City (7:30am) Why are people doing this to me?! ;) So I went down for only 40 minutes: quick photos, chit chat with the locals and then back home, shower and off to work.

I guess that’s it for today, have a lovely day!

Amo

The very distinctive walk of the Uge: cross feet, eyes behind the waterhousing and fins hanging. Good to see you buddy!

I only took this photo as I was pretty surprised by the choice of the location. Why would you take photos where all the seaweed is? Am I missing something?! Oh well…

Go and catch them all Keiron and don't bang Uge on the head!

Royals in Bondi

October 19, 2018

Morning my friends,

As we all know, there is never a dull moment down in Bondi Beach. Today we had the guest visit of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

That’s right, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex came down to experience what a OneWave Fluro Friday is all about. I’m actually so happy for Grant Trebilco, Sam Schumacher and Joel Pilgrim the founders of OneWave. This is an excellent tribute to the terrific job they they’ve been doing for the last five years in raising awareness of depression and mental health. Well deserved boys!

Despite the thousands of people down in Bondi to welcome Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, their arrival was actually very quiet. My friend Simon, filmed the whole thing with my phone. See it all in my Instagram Live Stories @MorningBondi (click on the profile picture)

I guess that’s it for today, enjoy the photos!

Amaury

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrival in Bondi Beach

Apparently there were a few snippers on top of buildings, I ain't see no snipers, just a couple of photographers

So that's the story of three policemen...

Here they are, casually walking down Bondi Beach

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Grant Trebilco and Sam Schumacher meeting eachother

Jump in my Instagram Live Story before it disappears: @morningbondi (Thanks Simon for filming, we all owe you big time!) — Jump in my Instagram Live Story before it disappears: **@morningbondi** (Thanks Simon for filming, we all owe you big time!)

The good looking Scott Tweedie reporting on the action

Sun of a beach

October 16, 2018

Morning my friends,

What a sun of a beach! Thirteen days that we haven’t seen your face in the morning and trust me, we’ve missed you!

After almost 8 years of Morning Bondi, I have become pretty lazy and don’t bother anymore taking photos of grey sky or rain. I still go down the beach but don’t take my camera out of my bag - I just take a few photos and videos with my phone that I then post in my Instagram Stories.

This morning, I joined my friend Julius for coffee then quick photos and swim. Water is perfect! Trust me, it’s well worth going in now.

That’s it for today, really hoping that tomorrow is going to be good too!

Have a cracking day my friends,

Amaury

PS: Sorry for the late update but fairly busy morning!

Farmers farmers farmers

October 10, 2018

Morning my friends,

Long time no speak… Well the weather has not been great the last few days, except obviously yesterday when I had to go to a breakfast meeting - typical!

As everyone is saying these days when we talk about the wet weather, “it’s good for the farmers” so here you go my friends, this blog post is for all of you guys. I’m really hoping that these conditions will help you and your different businesses.

Unfortunately for photographers like me that are more into sunshine and bright colours, it’s not as great. I did take a few videos this morning with my Google Pixel phone, check my Instagram Stories right here: @MorningBondi (you just need to click on the profile pic). Talking about the Pixel phone, have you seen the one that they’ve just released last night: Pixel 3 It looks incredible! The ‘top shot’ function would be perfect for when you take photos of your kids or pets and the ‘groupie feature’ for when I try to squeeze all the Morning Bondi gang in one photo.

Anyhow, here is a selection of photos that I’ve just uploaded on the website Gallery page. Hope you rate them.

BOOM!

Amaury aka Amo (I’ve finally cracked the way for people to feel comfortable when calling me - no more “Aunt Mary”, “Amore” or “Anne Marie”)

From the archives

October 4, 2018

Morning my friends,

Well, well, well… Today was one of those days that I would have happily stayed in bed and sleep in but my daughter decided otherwise and woke up at 5:30am on the dot.

We ventured down the beach to catch up with our friend Julius and see what was going on. To be honest not much and not very inspiring. If you don’t believe me, check my Instagram Stories. See? Pretty uneventful: empty, grey, raining BUT on the flip side, there were a few waves.

I didn’t take any photos this morning, I didn’t even bother carrying my camera with me, which is very rare these days!

Not to leave you without photos of Bondi this morning, here is a selection of photos that I dug out from the archives last weekend and will soon make their way to the Gallery page of my website. Hope you like them. The page definitely needs more love!

Have a fantastic day my friends and hoping tomorrow will look better.

Chat to you tomorrow,

xoxo

Amo

Golden Hour

October 3, 2018

Morning my friends,

How is everyone today?

This morning was just magnificent. Once again, I was down there quite early to capture the sunrise. There were already 10 photographers waiting for it - it’s all for the Gram these days!

For a change of scenery, I ventured down to Tamarama. No wonder why people call it Glamourama, this beach is incredible and there were only 5 surfers in the water and one photographer, me. I prefer it this way!

On another note, if you are currently feeling stressed, sleep badly or just feel like having a bit of 'me' time, I strongly suggest you go to this Sound Healing meditation event that is on tomorrow night. If you know me, you know that I'm not typically the type of person that would go there - I'm a big hyperactive that can't stay still for more than 5 minutes and that always think about 100 things at the same time but when I went there last time I just loved it! No, I'm not paid to say this, just helping my friend Viktoria (pictured below) that is putting the event together and just looking after your wellbeing my friends. Trust me you won't regret it!

Have a lovely day and chat to you tomorrow,

Ciao!

Amaury

I call this art, call it whatever you feel like

You gorgeous thing. I wouldn't mind living there...

The beautiful Viktoria, she's organising this event tomorrow night — The beautiful Viktoria, she's organising this **event tomorrow night**

Before 6

October 2, 2018

Morning my friends,

Hope you all had a great long weekend.

Last night I set up my alarm at 5:15am in order to be down the beach by 5:30am and watch the sun rising from the ocean. I know I’m a bit cray-cray but it’s always worth the show!

All the photos from this morning were all taken before 6am. By 6am, I was training hard down at the jungle gym in North Bondi (boring!) and by 6:45am I was heading for coffee and swim!

Have a cracking day my friends and chat to you tomorrow,

Amaury

New artwork by @emjayuc — New artwork by **@emjayuc**

North Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club at sunrise

BOOM!

September 28, 2018

Morning my friends,

I know I tend to repeat myself a fair bit but let’s be honest today was just incredible! I woke-up very early, was down the beach by 5:30am and the sun was already rising from the ocean.

No exercise today, just spent time having fun: caught-up for coffee with the bubbly Caroline Hogh Groth (very cool chick!), then we ventured our way down the beach and stopped along the way to chat to the early birds. Perfect way of starting the day if you ask me!

Have a cracking long weekend, I will be spending most of my time down the beach.

Please don’t expect photos on Monday, I will sleep in and surf instead!

Ciao!

Amaury

Tots my style of photos! I would hang that one in my living room

Keiron Lewis thinking if it's worth getting back there

Coffee time with Caroline Hogh Groth — Coffee time with **Caroline Hogh Groth**

The Charlottes! No they are not sisters just good friends that lookalike...

Caroline didn't want to go for a swim but I still made her dip her toes.

BRIGHT

September 27, 2018

Afternoon peeps,

My apologies for the late update but I was busy strategising and discussing very important matters (not even joking!) That’s right, as most of you know, Morning Bondi is a good hobby that takes a lot of my time but that’s not my main activity. I do have a full time job!

This morning was very bright, like I desperately needed some sunnies bright. It was cold at 5:30am but perfect at 7am and the water is getting warmer! I’m actually thinking about shooting in the water tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to last more than 10 minutes, not like last time!

I can hear people thinking: “Stop talking Amaury, no one cares about your daily monologue, just go straight to the photos that’s all we want to see…” Hope that is obviously not what you think?!

Have a great arvo and chat to you tomorrow,

Amo

Eve wondering if she should go right or left

Epic!

September 26, 2018

Morning my friends,

If you woke up after 6am, you might have missed the most epic sky that we had for a little while.

Believe me, it was worth getting drenched and witnessing this beautiful light, the heavy rain and the incredible colours.

I only have four photos for you but they are pretty, I think!

Have a fantastic day under this rain and hope that everything will be back to normal soon.

#BOOM!

Amaury

Challenging

September 25, 2018

Morning my friends,

There are days with and days without. That was definitely a day without!!

Sometimes it’s easy to take “good” photos, you just need to snap away. Today, I did struggle to only take photos - they are not even good.

I will not bother you anymore today, have a lovely day nevertheless!

Ciao!

Amaury pronounced in French Amo-ree (just saying as my friend John was asking me this morning and realised that he was calling me “Amore” like “Love” in Italian for all these years! To be frank, I’m not fuss as almost no one in the last 9 years I’ve been here can say it properly!)

The photo of the day (for what it's worth!)

When you don't have a telescope lens, just use Uge's photo. Nice one Beau Walker!

Glorious Friday

September 21, 2018

Morning my friends,

Today couldn’t really start better than this: the sunrise was a cracker, the temperatures super fine (especially once the sun was up) and heaps of happy people all around making the most of their morning.

Woke-up early, I was down at the Icebergs by 5:45am to watch the sun popping up, then quick gym sesh down at the bars North Bondi (I had to get rid of the 5 beers that I had last night at the PRIME Awards) and then more photos and swim.

What a perfect start of the day, very hard to beat! Hope you had good one too!

Have a fab weekend and talk to you on Monday,

Ciao!

Amo

Fresh paint, cool light, beautiful pool!

Chris Jamieson and +1 going for an early dip

Brooke Monahan and Liv Phyland and their Softlites

Les archives. Another day, another rainy day… As I could see it was not raining, I ventured down much later than usual, around 6:45 am. I just arrived and a light drizzle started. What are the chances?! I joined my mates for a quick dip in the ocean and coffee at Chapter One (my unofficial gallery, they have five of my prints on the wall). Still worth going out, if you ask me… Have a great day my friends and stay warm as it’s a bit nippy at the moment. Ciao, Amo PS: I’m going camping this weekend with a bunch of mates but pretty sure I don’t have the right equipment to cope with the cold. I only have a summer sleeping bag… It’s going to be fun, they say. 🤦🏽‍♂️🥶

Rainy days. Do you know what rainy days mean? It means archive days. Here are photos from the past couple of months, most of them were my second favourite ones so you wouldn’t have seen them before. As you know, I love doing my Morning Bondi routine but it actually takes so much time. I’m talking about the photo bit especially. At the moment, I take photos from 6:30ish when the sun is up for roughly 30-40 minutes, then selection of the good photos for 20 mins, light edit the best ones for 10 mins, then write the morning blurb for 3-5 mins (I tend not to overthink this, as you can tell), then upload of each individual photos on the blog for 10 minutes, then newsletter for 5 minutes, then Instagram for 3 minutes, Facebook 3 minutes and Instagram Story 3 minutes. Basically, around 1.5 hours on average. So yes sometimes, I’m glad when it’s raining as I’m saving so much time. Have a beautiful day, despite the weather, and chat with you tomorrow, Xoxo Amo

Golden Sea. Slow start this morning, it was pretty average unless you could wait up to 8am (I couldn’t) to see the sun popping out behind the curtain of clouds. It was all about the golden reflection of the hidden sun on the water. Gold 24-carat for a few minutes. I don’t have much to tell you today except that if you live locally and love ‘Shark Tank’ TV show, you will love the local version of it. It’s called the Bondi Innovation Shark Tank organised by the @bondichamber and it’s next Wednesday at @hotelravesis You can find all the deets in the media release and book your tickets on the blog. I’m going with my awesome business partner Mary Proulx and supporting Sam Cust, one of the sharks (I think that’s what we call them). If you come down, let’s have a beer and break bread (what I love the most about our business name is that the puns are endless). I loaf you! (see) Amo

Nothing to worry about, it's just a tornado off North Bondi, ... 🌪️😲 I took this photo this morning around 9:30 am. I was shooting with @versefinejewellery in South Bondi when we saw this waterspout tornado coming out of nowhere. Scary much? Look closely and you can see the person around Ben Buckler's cliffs running for his life... That's all folks!

Pure Heaven. What another beautiful start to the day! While yesterday was all about big waves, today was all about the mad reflo on the sand - absolutely stunning. I was sitting just next to Morning Bondi HQ and was snapping like a maniac. Have a cracking weekend and subscribe to the newsletter if you want to see the photos earlier in the day - new Morning Bondi formula. ;) Xoxo Amo

Bombastic. OMG, what an incredible morning! It's a very late update as I had a pretty busy day and didn't have a chance to post before now. The newsletter was out around 10am though, so subscribe to it if you want to see the photos before everyone else. It was honestly one of the best mornings we've had for a little while. The light, the waves and the surfers braving the waves. Xoxo Amo

Low-tide goodness. What a stunning morning! Today was all about the low-tide gold reflection. It was just the perfect conditions for photos. The problem, only a few people out including two metal hunters. I was with fellow Frenchy @dianeperreau all morning. I reckon she’s the most popular French person in Sydney. So many people are stopping her every morning to have a chat and take a selfie with her. Have a lovely day my friends, Ciao, Amo

Into the wild. What a cracker of a morning! For a change of scenery, I ventured down to Bronte this morning. I reckon I made the right choice, it was just an incredible show. I was with my mate @paolocattaneophoto for the entire morning and we were just looking at the waves rolling in. Bronte Pool was the best place in da house. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen the very rare video of me talking to the camera. With @bread_agency, my agency, I recently started working with the team from @in2thewild.aus, the best tiny houses business around. In order to have a better understanding of the experience, the client kindly invited me to go for a couple of days with my wife and daughter. Real legends, best onboarding! The whole experience was amazing - especially for someone like me that is pretty hyperactive. I just ‘re-wilded’ for two days. Even though the network was working where we were, I put my phone in airplane mode the whole weekend and made the most of the experience. The tiny house was kitted with all the things that you need, all the products in there are premium and sourced from ethical brands. Let’s be honest the firepit and outdoor bath were the highlights for me. I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you are like me and struggle to switch off. They are running a Winter Campaign which is all about swapping your usual beach days for days in the wild. You can book one of the 46 cabins all around Australia using the link in my Stories to get up to 20% off this winter OR alternatively try your luck entering the simple giveaway that they are organising on their Insta. You can thank me later! Xoxo Amo

Monday Madness. This is a very late update compared to usual but busy day today. This morning was just nuts down the beach. I only took a few photos before having to rush to an early meeting in the city. The swell should still be here tomorrow, so go and have a look if you can. Xoxo Amo

FriYay. How’s everyone today? After two days in Melbs (Melbourne for the hipsters), I’m back in the hood. What a morning! Incredible light, the surf was ON and the Icebergs was packed - perfect for photo ops. This morning I caught up with my mate Ben, a fellow Frenchy that I haven’t seen for years. We hung out around the Bergs and finished with a swim in South Bondi - how original. Enjoy your weekends my friends. Mine is going to be pretty epic. I’m going into the wild, literally. That’s right, I’m going to one of @in2thewild.aus’s tiny houses. More on this subject later. Stay tuned people! Have a cracking weekend, Lots of love, Amo

Fresh Tweets

This is a block field

You can put any content in here.

Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Vestibulum id ligula porta felis euismod semper. Maecenas sed diam eget risus varius blandit sit amet non magna. Vestibulum id ligula porta felis euismod semper.