1 & 2 J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3

January 3, 2023

Morning gang,

Happy New Year my friends! How’s everyone today? Recovered from NYE and NYD parties?

I rarely merge two days in one photo album but I thought I should mix it up for once, here is a collection of photos that I took on New Year’s Day and yesterday. On both days, the crowds were absolutely bananas - perfect photo opportunities.

If you want some hot tips on how to discover Bondi, minus the crazy crowds, I strongly encourage you to have a read at the “Explore the Outdoors: The P.E Guide to Bondi” put together by Pip Edwards. Great tips and photography by yours truly. ;)

Have a lovely day my friends,

Ciao,

Amo

Influencers in the wild

December 28, 2022

Morning my friends,

Hope you are all well and enjoying the break so far, if any.

As I’m actually working at the moment, mainly catching up on business admin (the sexy life of an entrepreneur, I guess), I’m sticking to my routine and taking photos early in the morning. The main difference is that there are very few people around, a great time to be featured on Morning Bondi if you ask me.

This morning was actually better than the past couple of days, especially with two ladies down at the pool, doing their things: modelling, photographing and influencing. This is a perfect submission for one of my favourite Instagram accounts called @Influencersinthewild if you don’t know it yet, get amongst it, it’s definitely worth a follow. We also have our local version @Influencing_Academy owned by a mate.

Have a lovely day and I know that most of you might be on holiday and all that but come down in the morning, it’s the best part of the day and I need more people to photograph.

Xoxo

Amo

Even the Icebergs staff were posing this morning

Morning swim for good friend Anita Zanesco

I get it the Icebergs is a pretty backdrop for photos

Aftermath

December 27, 2022

Morning crew,

How’s everyone today? Hope you’ve all had a great Christmas and got spoiled.

We are having such a great run weather-wise, it’s been amazing. Going to the beach every day, like what a real Aussie summer looks like.

I spent a good portion of my morning with Diane Perreau and her partner Loic. Diane is one of the biggest influencers back in France and Loic professional football player. I met them last year and they are now back here for a few months. Lovely couple and a perfect morning for a sunrise adventure.

I don’t like complaining (actually I love it) but if you haven’t seen my Story on Insta this morning yet, the Icebergs got spoiled this Christmas with new home improvements, so taking decent photos of the pool is going to become pretty challenging. Since the stunning lifeguard’s house was built a few years ago and the terrace extension for the Crabbe Hole cafe, some of my photos became collectors (like that one, that one or that one) but soon any photos of the pool will become a rare find. If you are looking at things to do around the pool, would you mind painting the rest of the pool, you missed half of it last time. 🤪

I guess that’s enough for today.

Enjoy my friends,

Amo

I’m never alone taking photos of the sunrise

Ho Ho Ho

December 23, 2022

Morning team,

What a cracker!

Sun-sational colours in the sky at sunrise that lasted for at least 15 minutes, then bright sunshine and I bumped into heaps of local legends.

I spent the majority of my time around the icebergs. If you’ve been following Morning Bondi for quite a while, you would know how obsessed I’m with this pool. Best swimming pool on earth I reckon.

I took heaps of aerial shots today. Nah I don’t have a drone. I just have a secret spot.

That’s it for today, have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy your time with your loved ones.

Chat to you on Monday unless it’s raining,

Ho Ho Ho

Amo

icebergs' scaffoldings are gone - we're back in business

Here is a tip for you all. If you want to have a chance to be featured on Morning Bondi, wear colourful swimmers...

Theo Gupta, the most connected man in the music industry in Australia. Thanks for the impromptu coffee this morning bud!

The Bondi Icebergs Gym is one of the best spots to train locally. It almost makes me keen to exercise (just joking!)

Father & Son moment for Jon & Fox Wearne

Pinkalicious

December 22, 2022

Hola team,

How’s everyone today?

What a start of the day, it literally went off. Incredible colours in the sky pre-sunrise, well worth the 5 am wake up. I got excited and took way too many photos.

My apologies for the late update today but between the too many photos and early call with global - it was hard to squeeze the selection of photos, light edits, blog writing and posting before now…

I’m usually not a big fan of early meetings but that one was well worth it. It was all about ‘Livestream Shopping’. Have you ever heard of it? It’s basically QVC on steroids and that’s exactly what we are about to bring to Australia early next year with my agency bread. Get ready my friends, we are starting a revolution. You’ve heard it first… Yeah baby!

I guess that’s enough for today, enjoy your day and chat with you tomorrow.

Xoxo

Amo

Sullivan Chedanne, one of the coolest French guys that I know...

Early start

December 21, 2022

Morning my friends,

4:20 am, that's the time I woke up this morning to head down to the beach. No time for beauty sleep.

I know it’s a bit cray-cray but sometimes you gotta do it, the light was golden on the horizon line and that's exactly what we were after. This morning, I was filming for a special project with Mike Perry, aka Pez - a very talented director. He’s pretty useless at Social but amazing with the camera, check his work here. By the way, I even let him f-around with my camera at the end - very arty, I like it.

The light was playing up all morning but he reckons we got some good stuff - happy days!

Have a wonderful day my friends and chat with you tomorrow,

Ciao,

Amo

I was looking for some colours all morning... Budgies for the win!

Party in NoBo (North Bondi for the hipsters)

I've alway been useless at mathematics but that's a winning formula: Clouds + Sun = Turquoise water

More archives

December 20, 2022

Morning gang,

How’s everyone today?

This morning was looking pretty grey and uninspiring, if you are super keen, check my Instagram Stories. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t like them - pretty sh*te.

Caught up with my mate Alex for coffee, then quick dip in South Bondi with my mate Julius and back in the house.

As I’m meant to film again tomorrow morning for that special project, hoping for a better sunrise. Sun please stop hiding, it’s your time to shine (not like the last few days).

Alright, final push, don’t really like doing those but if you want a print for Christmas, your last chance is to send me your order between today and tomorrow. I’m going to the printer on Friday to collect a few. If you live locally, I will deliver them the same day - that simple!

Ciao,

Amo

One of my favourite photos from the water.

John Macarthur from Purl Harbour, the unofficial mayor of Bondi

L👎🏼st

December 19, 2022

Morning gang,

Oh well, today didn’t start too well… What a disappointment for all the Frenchies who set their alarms at 2 am to watch the World Cup, but well played to the Argentinians!

The sunrise was pretty disappointing too so I stayed in and tried to catch up on some sleep. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be more positive.

Only a week before Christmas, if you don’t have presents as yet, you can still order a print in a tube (framing is unfortunately too late, it will take 2-3 weeks) or buy a nice bottle of Morning Bondi Gin.

Enjoy the good old archive photos,

Adiós,

Amo

Boys Band, some of my best mates David, Magnus and Julius

This awning and building are now all gone...

Fluffy, don't ask me why but I love this photo.

Steamy, you couldn't even see North Bondi from the Icebergs

That's all for today! Here is a rare photo of me that I don't mind… (January 2019)

Snap & Go

December 15, 2022

Morning gang,

As I didn’t want to miss the match between France and Morocco, I ventured down early to capture the sunrise it was pretty much snap, snap and go back home. Well worth watching it, Allez les Bleus, you made us proud!

I have to say there wasn’t much going on except obviously the Conscious Community organising an unusual ice bath on a Thursday for the benefits of the Waves of Wellness Foundation, led by my mate Joel Pilgrim.

I stuck around South Bondi to shoot, chit chats with a few local legends and headed home to watch the match with my daughter who loves them - cute!

Have a lovely day my friends, mine is going to be jam-packed with some bread stuff but loving it though, we are definitely on a roll!

Chat to you tomorrow potentially,

Cheerio,

Amo

"Here comes the sun, and I say it's alright"

You know it's quiet when I start taking photos of birds...

Quiet Reboot Camp Session - all the others must have been watching the match!

Around the edge

December 14, 2022

Morning gang,

What a stunning morning!

For a change of scenery, I ventured down to Bronte, spent 30 mins around the edge of the pool and shot what was going on in front of me - that simple, no effort whatsoever.

The beauty of Bronte Pool, combined with nice light and people chatting, walking and diving in the pool was all I needed.

As I cannot not go to Bondi in the morning, I still went there and took a few photos - all pretty average so all straight in the rubbish bin.

That’s it for today, enjoy the photos my friends and chat with you tomorrow,

Cheers,

Amo

Ice bath

December 13, 2022

Morning gang,

How’s everyone today?

Sun’s back in town so I’m happy - that simple. I’m a man of simple pleasure…

I slept in up to 5:20 am, I know still bloody early right but 20 mins later than usual. Photos around the Icebergs, then went to check the guys from Conscious Community doing their things. I even did a 2 min ice bath myself - except that you lose all sense of masculinity, there are so many benefits to it and you feel so bloody good afterwards!

Then, I caught up with my mates Lukey and Simon. By the way, the last photo of today is my mate Simon, being all sexy and all that. If you fancy what you see, slide in my DMs and I will give you his number - that simple. #MorningBondiMatchMaking is back ON for Summer! PS: He will kill me for that post but who cares…

Xoxo

Amo

Post ice bath, the ocean feels like a bath

Perfect conditions for a remake of the 'First in, first ripples'

Girls doing ice bath together are friends forever - I know, I'm pretty good with rhyme ;)

More waiting than surfing (here you go, another rhyme for free)

All smile, she stayed at least 8 minutes. Good on you!

Oh stop it mate! So much hotness in one photo 🔥🧯❤️‍🔥 Cover for GQ material right there...

Old School

December 12, 2022

Morning my friends,

How was your weekend? I had a great one, thanks for asking.

Friday started with a bit of a marathon, going from one party to another, starting at Hotel Hollywood in Surry Hills, then Oxford House in Paddington (the new fancy bar/restaurant - well worth trying it out), then Paddo In and back to Hotel Hollywood. A bit too much movement for my liking but great night nevertheless.

The rest of the weekend was pretty eventless, spending Sunday with my daughter while my wife @GaellePersonalStylist was busy shopping with a client.

This morning, I had good intentions to shoot, but it was pretty grey, dull, and not much going on, so I decided to train with the usual crew instead.

All these photos are from the archives, between 2016 and 2018. I’ve been shooting Bondi since 2011 so I can go on for years without shooting that I will have enough content.

Enjoy your week my friends!

Amo

She's moody

December 9, 2022

Morning peeps,

How's everyone today? Hope you had a great week.

Mine was excellent. Since the official launch of my agency called bread (it’s English for ‘baguette’), we've had so many people reaching out willing to work with us. Some might say, we’re the best thing since sliced bread. Keep it up, that's the way and I pinky promise you won’t regret it!

This morning was moody and pretty average, to be honest. I usually don't like shooting on those days but once I started seeing a bit of colour in the sky, I took my camera out of my bag and kept on shooting - I may as well.

You know there is not much going on when I start taking photos of the same things from different angles, buildings and other fellow photographers including Eugene Tan, Mr Aquabumps himself. As you can tell, he loves it being in front of the camera. People often tell me that he’s my main ‘competitor’, but he’s not at all. Photography is his main activity, while photography for me is just a hobby. He gives me photography tips and I give him some Social Media ones - Win-win, you see.

Then finished with a coffee catch-up at Birichina with good mate Anthony from @onlyinbondi - follow his account it’s always a good laugh.

Enjoy your weekend my friends and hope that it will be warmer and sunnier,

Cheers,

Amaury

Before 6am, waiting for the pool to open

Rexy stop chatting away, get swimming instead mate!

...a building shot when there's nothing else to photograph

Epic Thursday

December 8, 2022

Morning gang,

Once again, today didn’t disappoint, the sunrise was pretty spectacular, the clouds were fluffy, the light was decent, the surf was big, the training was tough and people were happy. And once again, I got carried away and took way too many photos...

Let’s be honest it’s hard to come up with new things to tell every day. I reckon that will do for today.

Enjoy your Thursday,

BOOM!

Amo

PS: I was so rushed yesterday that I just realised I forgot to send the Newsletter. Check the blog article HERE

It's So Fluffy I'm Gonna Die - Reference **HERE**

The Charlottes (Charlotte Wearne and Charlotte Connell)

Humps Day

December 7, 2022

Morning gang,

How’s everyone today?

Another morning, another cracker… We’ve had such a great run lately, amazing sunrises for the past 3 weeks, La Niña who?!

I went down early to take some photos with a coffee in one hand and my camera in the other. Then the usual dip in the water. It was rough, with proper humps - perfect timing for a Hump Day.

I have an early coffee catch-up so here are the photos, enjoy my friends!

Ciaoooo,

Amo

Mark Fontela, always good to bump into this guy

Murray Cox on his daily stroll, this guy has been grooming the beach for years

Sun-sational Tuesday

December 6, 2022

Morning gang,

How’s everyone today? After last night’s crazy weather, pretty unexpected but it was absolutely gorgeous down there.

I ventured down around 5:20 am, just in time for the sunrise. It’s so bloody early and it’s only the start of Summer. I bumped into heaps of local legends for a chit chat and I was done with the photos by 6:45 am. I did a bit of exercise on the sand, just for the sake of it, and finished with a quick dip.

The shorey is absolutely nuts - so much water and sand moving around. I have to say, South Bondi is probably not the safest place to swim with the backpacker rip and all that but I love it just like that. I came back from the water, I was literally a sand castle, so much sand everywhere, ears, eyes and bum crack. Fun! 🤦🏽‍♂️

Have a wonderful day my friends,

Amo

Couples that surf together, stay together

It could be a painting but it’s not, just a bloody good photo. ;)

Reminder for myself: I need to stop taking photos of these buildings

Vera Sprothen, first one in the water this morning

South Bondi surf was pretty quiet - only 5 surfers all morning

Darren Mansfield, the most consistent surfer - all year long!

KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) - my philosophy in creativity and life

The BOSS Squad led by the legendary Talbot Henry

The Conscious Community, meditation before ice bath

Swim time - don't get fooled by how calm it looks like

If you want to learn how to do ocean swims, the BOSS Squad is probably your best bet

Le Lundi au Soleil

December 5, 2022

Bonjour my friends,

What a fantastic start to the week!

This morning, I’m dialling up my Frenchness just a tiny bit…

First of all, France won against Poland (3 vs 1), then it was a sunny Monday (pretty much what ‘Le Lundi au Soleil’ means. It’s also the name of a classic French song - worth having a listen if you don’t know it) and I had an early breakfast meeting with the one and only Chef Guillaume for a special project. Oui oui! Stay tuned my friends!

I think that’s enough for today, enjoy the photos!

Bisous,

Amo

Pete Strain and Darren Mansfield talking strategy

TGIF

December 2, 2022

Morning gang,

How’s everyone today? Excited about the weekend?

I was down there by 5:20 am but honestly, there wasn’t any point except probably for these amazing ripples on the pool taken just before the 6 am opening - what a show, it was mesmerising and pretty rare conditions. The last time that it happened, I took one of my favourite shots of the icebergs but unfortunately no sun this morning at that time.

Then, I got ghosted by my mate Bruno who was meant to come down for coffee and swim. Some of you might remember him from Le Cut Studio, he was THE first one to fly drones over Bondi back in 2015 when they used to be rare and cool. People used to take photos and videos of the drone taking off or landing, but now people want to shoot them - too many of them flying all day every day over Bondi.

I guess that’s it for today, have an awesome weekend,

Cheerio,

Amo

Sophie Smallwood and friends heading to Bondi Salties

The Bondi Salties crew before their point to point swim

First day of Summer

December 1, 2022

Morning my friends,

Today is the first day of Summer, how exciting, except that the sunrise was pretty average (we only had 10 minutes of light), it was pretty cold down there and not too many people.

A lot of people have told me in the past that I should still take photos when it’s not picture-perfect Bondi, so here you go. Happy? I personally don’t really like any of them - pretty average.

The three gentlemen pictured Dan, Andy and Walt are looking good though. The usual Bondi photographers are on the other side of the camera for once. I might be wrong but as typical photographers, I don’t think they really enjoy that side.

Bring back Spring. It was sunnier and warmer, with heaps more people around.

I know, French people love to complain and I’m the perfect stereotype. In France, people go on riots, burn cars and break everything for less than this. I’m just having a morning rant on the blog - consider yourself lucky.

Have a great day nevertheless,

Ciao,

Amaury

If you are not taking a photo, were you even there? Love the little sniper at the bottom.

What type of people are you? Is the pool half empty or half full?

I forgot to mention that even the surf was pretty average

You know it was pretty average, when I start taking photos of doors

Buzzing 🐝

November 30, 2022

Morning gang,

How’s everyone today?

Alright, I’m not going to turn another Morning Bondi post into another bread agency sales pitch but holy moly, the launch went so so well. If you are working in the marketing industry, you would have seen all the press articles that we got (our PR consultant Katy did an incredible job), and then all the lovely comments and warm wishes from all of you all over our Socials - it was hard to keep up! A massive thank you for your support, my friends, you guys rock! I’m still buzzing and couldn’t really sleep last night, it makes it two nights in a row.

This morning was pretty much the anti-climax, grey, uninspiring and pretty quiet down there. I still went down, took two videos and went for a swim in not-so-nice water but needed that splash on my face to start the day.

As you know, I’m not a big fan of taking photos when it’s not postal card perfect, instead here are some archives photos for your viewing.

Thank you all again and hopefully, we get a nice sunrise tomorrow,

Xoxo

Amo, buzzing like a little 🐝

What the icebergs will soon look when the rest of the painting is done...

Joel getting a proper splash on his face

Bronte pool - free of charge and as good as the Icebergs

That was us yesterday, making a splash with **Bread Agency**

During the bush fire, the sunrise was hitting differently

...and the best one for the end! I love that photo, I'm actually thinking about printing and framing one for my place.

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

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