Back again

Im back again. Its been a very long time since I last updated this blog but I feel that I need to return. Once again I want to share with the world my story, my life, my art, my passions, my desires. Why? To inspire maybe. But more importantly to document all the moments good and bad. Its nice looking back and seeing where you came from and where you are now. My new hopes are that this blog will teach me something new. At the least help me improve with my writing. The future holds so much for all of us. I just want to be able to keep track of where Ive been and where I am going. So here we go.

The Return Post: Bad Weather, Cancelled Trips, and Good Surf

Here back on this blog. Its been so long since I have done any writing so please excuse me for lack of prep. Abandoning this place may have not been the best choice but its never too late to come back. I guess Ill start with a little info on whats been going on the past few weeks.

So my ultimate goal of the summer was to score some big surf in the Philippines. Many of my friends from there always told me how the beach break I went to earlier in the year goes off in the summer with the Southern swells from the South China Sea.I always planned on making it back out there when this happened.

The last time I went Pundakit. Cold Front Swell from the North.

When I recieved news that the first solid swell would be hitting Pundakit last week all I could focus on was getting to that beach before it arrived. I had the miles for the ticket my cousin was down and it all looked like it was happening. But the goal was shattered when I found out that bad weather and thunderstorms would be arriving with that swell. I cancelled my trip and decidedItry gowhen the weather got a little better. A very smart move as the news came out that floods and landslides plagued many parts of the country that week. I was feeling a little bummed but I knew it was the smarter move.

The next day I saw on the forecast that the same storm that was in the PI might just send something here at home. As the days passed the swell looked better and better on the forecast. The day came when it arrived and the scoring began. Three solid days of surf. My buddy Matt got some shots of me below. As you can see I couldnt complain. While my trip back to the Philippines didnt happen and I missed the swell there I was still fortunate to get something back home.

I love being in the shade

Good surf...

While it was all good for me I still want to send my prayers to all those affected by the storm in the Philippines. The weather is still bad and people are still in need of help there! I pray for their safety

Back to blogging...

Im Back... post update soon.

Weekend of weekends

This weekend was the weekend I have been waiting for. After shooting with the Nikon D5000 for over a year and a half now I finally saved up enough flow to get an upgrade! The D7000 came in on Friday and as soon as I took it out of the box I knew it was what Ive been waiting for all this time. What made things even better I knew there might be some waves to try it out on the next day!

The Beast.

So Saturday morning came and I was ready take it out for the first time to test it on the surf! I picked up my bodyboarding buddies Jared and Frank and we headed out for the morning patrol. When we arrived at the spot we were in for a big surprise. The waves were pumping 3-5ft and while it wasnt so consistent the swell was solid.

surprise surprise. Photo by John Barber

I shot first and as soon as I pushed the shutter down I quickly realized the camera was a beast. I wasn't used to the speed and the quality of the photos. Simply amazing! I shot for about thirty minutes and got some awesome shots but I couldn't resist hitting the waters myself. Luckily my buddy Jared was down to man the camera while I bodyboarded. He ended getting some of the best shots of me so far! Over stoke for real.

The Macker. Photos by Jared Catahay. Taken with the D7000

So Saturday was a blast and my new camera was the ish! I really believed the weekend couldnt get better than that. But to my surprise the next day would be just as epic for me. Sunday I decided to pull an all day surf sesh. My buddy Rico came too and once again I had someone manning the D7000 while I hit up the waves. The swell was slightly smaller and the winds shifted Sunday so I decided to hit up a right that was pretty much peaking out and dumping thick and heavy. Nobody was out but I saw a few open and decided to try it out. I worked hard to get in the pits and to my surprise I was making it out. After getting plenty I noticed Rico was putting the camera in the bag. I knew he had got the shots and of course he wanted to surf too! Feeling kind of guilty I went in and took over the D7000. When I saw the shots he got I was so stoked! Below are the ones I made it out of! All shot by Rico!

taking the drop. PHotos by Rico M.

Photos by Rico. Shot with the D7000.

So overall the weekend was awesome. D7000, fat pits and new profile pics for facebook! Yeahhhh!!

Aluminum Casting: Wave Study video

Aluminum Casting from jbarbs on Vimeo.

10/19/10 dawn patrol video and todays score

Dawn Patrol 10/19/10 from jbarbs on Vimeo.

I finished the video clip from Tuesdays dawn patrol. It was a pretty quick edit and I only filmed about a quarter of the time while I was in the water (took pictures and bodyboarded the rest of the time). Definitely plan on doing more in water filming after seeing how this came out. It's the angle Ive been missing all this time... well that and the helicopter angle!!

10/19/10 one of the tubes.

and today we got another blessing from mother nature! More tubes!! Big thanks to Jared for the heads up! Probably would've surfed shetty waves on the other side without the info. Below are some shots I took from today's session...

Johnny paddling out to the lineup.

Super score!

occasional A-frame.

A little bigger and it would've been perfect.

It was pretty good getting some tube time two days in a row. Big thanks to mother nature for throwing us some waves during these times of flatness. Hoping you can send us some big ones soon!

Reefers.

Aluminum Casting: Wave Study update

My 3D attempt at the woodblock print "The Great Wave", by Hokusai

I got started on my third piece this week. Put the clay down so now I just gotta match that with the foam. Let you know when the casting starts...

On another sculpture note the Ceramic Celebration IV opened tonight at the UOG Isla Center for the Arts located in the Deans Circle. The exhibit will be on display October 21-29.