Free Surfing Defines the Day!
The 2013 Ripcurl the Search was held in the always inviting Isabela, Puerto Rico at Playa Jobos!
Playa Jobos is indeed one of the most ideal locations to hold such a large event with its vast shoreline for spectators and guests. When it gets big in NW Puerto Rico, Jobos isnt the place you want to be. With world class waves right around the corner, it was almost as if everyone was hoping for a break to get away to the more favorable locations. I know I was! The contest directors finally made the call we were waiting on. After several days of shooting a range of surf at Jobos, we got to take a break from the contest life and go exploring! We ended up at a spot with locals and contestants such as Gaby Escudero, Carlos Torres, Alejandro Moreda, Rory Reep, and Brady Mackenzie. There was also a few of the locals posted up on the reef cheering on the surfers as they zipped by completely covered up in barrel after barrel.
It was an ideal location to shoot photos because the wave breaks over the reef extremely close to shore, even though I spent several hours shooting in the water instead of the beach. It was pretty sketchy to be in such a heavy wave close to the rock walls and swimming over shallow reef that only got shallower as sets would arrive. Looking back on the photos and the whole experience, I wish I could go back in time and shoot wider focal length than what I used. I was still able to grab a few shots that are unique to my collection but not really good enough to land any shots anywhere.
I learned alot from shooting the ripcurl and shooting this swell and i still have alot of ground to cover to get into the industry.
I am beyond stoked that I can say I was blessed with such an incredible opportunity! A big thanks to http://surfbang.com/ for hooking up media passes and posting some of the event coverage for me! Looking forward to continuing to chase my dreams and getting better everyday!