20 years worth of great shots.

Shooting the Australian coastline and beyond over the past 20-odd years, filmmaker Mike Calvino has a portfolio of photography that perfectly captures surf, sand, sun, and how we interact with it. It’s clear that he has a fascination with light, having harnessed the element that most photographers have a deep and swaying love/hate relationship with – when the light’s good there’s nothing better, when it’s not working, you feel like stabbing your eyes out.

Growing up in inner-Sydney, the 44-year-old spent his time riding BMXs and hanging out at arcade parlours before moving to the coastal town of Dee Why where his love for surfing and skating was born. His path to film and photography was a little unconventional to say the least.

“Dee Why was a bit rough in those days (mid 80’s) and I ended up going off the rails a bit, getting in trouble with cops etc,” he says. “By the time I finished High School things were kinda messy and I was forced to do a job skills program for troubled youth, but from that I got to doing work experience with a film production company in the city which I absolutely loved! I worked hard and they gave me a job and the rest is history!”

From his humble beginnings, Mike’s worked with some of the most recognisable brands including Red Bull, Canon, Oakley, Panasonic, and Bacardi, and he’s racked up a few Frequent Flyer points, having travelled the world on various shoots. As anyone who’s done so will tell you, journeying through parts of countries that aren’t as fortunate as (most of) Australia is not all rainbows and butterflies.

“One time in Mexico returning back late one night from dinner to our hotel to find that the hotel hadn’t paid their protection fees to the local gang and so they got raided and shut down by the police/gang and all our stuff was put out on the street,” he says recounting one of his hairier experiences.

Check out some of Mike’s finest pic below and head here to follow him on Instagram: