rupErt

Scotland

2011-10-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Scotland has seen a pretty epic October. Not epic all time but epicly fun. Every week has seen a pulse of swell meaning at least a few days of surf every week. I've spent a few swells shooting pictures from the water when the sun's come out, usually at the best stage of tide for the spot. Got mixed results so far but some super good ones. Hopefully do something with them at some point.

Back in the Burgh

2011-10-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

Homeski

2011-09-23T04:54:00.000-07:00

Back in Scottish territorial waters for a while in order to carry out certain deeds and perhaps enjoy some empty waves again after a year of Spanish attitude.

So far it's been ok, some typically random swells have appeared and disappeared, and now the even more typical flat spell has kicked in. Still, it's autumn so in theory there should be waves coming. At some point.

A few bodyboard events in October and hopefully stretching my swimming muscles again and going for a swim with the camera means I can shoot some Scottish action in the coming months. But in the meantime I'm just going to enjoy the random beauty of Scotland. Fkin right mon.

Castles in the Sky

2011-02-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

Castles in the Sky is Taylor Steele's latest release and follows on from his previous offering, the highly acclaimed Sipping Jetstreams from 2007.

Jetstreams blended superbly crafted cinematography with original locations, cutting edge surfing and a subtly brilliant soundtrack with songs by the likes of Ugly Casanova and The Album Leaf. Jetstreams created a niche market within surfing; catering for those with more refined tastes rather than scream, smash and grab of the typical surfing movie. Although it featured huge surf stars like Kelly Slater it was the locations that were given the starring role of the film.

Such success is hard to follow with a sequel as it gives rise to that most fateful of surfing feelings: high expectations. However, using similar ingredients to the first, Steele and his crew have achieved impressive results with Castles. It is a movie that inspires, makes you want to travel and makes you want to surf. Just like all surfing movies should.

The genre created by the likes of Sipping and Castles treads the fine line between documentary and surfing action movie. But it skilfully avoids lengthy dialogues which, as we all know, can become tiring after 2 or 3 viewings. In this way Castles retains its watchability without losing its authenticity.

The locations are well thought out and original. Iceland, Vietnam and Africa are featured with some of the world's best surfers doing what they do. But, like Sipping, the locations are the real stars. Clever editing allows the viewer to get a feel for each location; images of snow capped mountains, frozen roads and rubber clad surfers evoke well the frigidness of Iceland. While views of the Ganges and personalities of India convey the country's claustrophobia and ritualistic culture.

While the soundtrack in Sipping was more sombre Castles seems more upbeat; in this way the mood of the film is slightly different. A more optimistic, stoked movie is the result, whether intentional or not is unclear.

Scottish sPONGIN Open

2010-05-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

Scottish Bodyboard Open 2010 is set to take place over the weekend of 5/6 June at somewhere slabby. Precise call on location will be made Wednesday prior to comp. Not the best time of year for big swells but can be super fun at some little slabs and even more so if there's some sunshine..

The Christopherson Bros have dominated the comp's history, with Josh claiming almost every title since who knows when. Brother Tim is always a close second with style for miles and a solid trick repertoire. Josh has a wicked Tamega style, a mixture of balls out bravado and tight technical skills honed on some very good hollow waves. Plus he is a determined competition machine making him a difficult yin to beat! Tim is always snapping at his heels so perhaps this will be the year Josh gets knocked off his pedestal..

Western Exposure

2010-04-24T14:54:00.001-07:00

Windy 2, originally uploaded by rupertABZ.

Looked at a photo of this wave for so long but put off going there for an equally long time, knowing the chances of scoring it how it looked in the picture was remote. But set off anyway and eventually found it, quite lierally over the hills and beyond the sea...Wasn't quite so good, most waves were not hitting it, wind was strong sideshore and was quite small. But excellent potential and figured out at least some of the variables. Plus a beach round the corner was going for 3 days staright :)

Fit Like

2010-02-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

This is one of the best slabbers in the area but, due to unusual swell patterns, hasn't broken as consistently as previous years. Luckily the unusual swell patterns have led to many other spots being worth it yet this still remains as the premier slab in the area..have managed to get in here about 4 times since last year and each time has been super fun with blue skies, seals and curiously friendly OAPs...Next time will swim out with camera :)

Ye beastie

2010-02-03T14:27:00.001-08:00

Ye beastie, originally uploaded by rupertABZ.

Time to head northsky soon..

Worth it?

2010-01-17T15:22:00.001-08:00

Ice flowing down the river from the Highlands, waste coming down from the city in the background, huge ships passing close to the line up, strong rips

past the peak, angry harbour police enforcing no surfing regulation..

Back into it

2009-12-10T05:23:00.000-08:00

Arriving back in Scotland from Chile has been hard, there lots of things I miss but lots I feel I have gained in the past few months. The past 3 months backhave been a blur of uni work, normal work, no work and surfing.

The surf has been good this autumn, which has helped the easing back into Scottish life. My photography skills are hopefully getting better and I have enjoyed some incredible solo sessions around some of Scotland's slabs on the bodyboard..Now looking forward to

new year and seeing my special someone and frothing over the new experiences 2010 will bring..:)

School Daze

2009-08-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Just finished my post as an English teacher up north. Had some great times with the kids, they were all sweet although pretty unruly in the classroom most of the time..But overall I think they learned a bit of English and my presence made an impact on the local community. Was sad to leave after 2 months there but hopefully will return someday to visit all my new friends and surf the area`s uncrowded waves..

North Dreaming..

2009-08-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Big bodyboard contest going on up the road...i`m not there due to work commitments further south but been thinking a lot about this wave and looking forward to putting in more time there in a couple of weeks.. keeping updated through the webhttp://www.ibaworldtour.com/site and looking forward to those chilly glassy mornings up there----:)

Desert North

2009-07-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Spent the last week in the Atacama Desert in the North, the world`s driest desert. The waves up there are super consistent and crazy powerful..The swell is so well travelled it moves really slowly but carries a lot of weight, so when it finds a shallow rock shelf to unload on the result is some seriously heavy waves!

As it`s winter now the climate is perfect for being in the sea, not too hot and not too cold. I spent most of my time surfing so didn`t get too many good pictures, definitely learnt a lot about the bigger, heavier stuff...Hope to return in a few weeks when I finish my teaching job but for now it`s back to the classroom for three weeks!

Lately

2009-07-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

A few snaps from the past few days around and about the area..

Up North Likesay

2009-07-03T15:30:00.001-07:00

Since leaving Santiago I have been living in a wee coastal village about 7 hours to the north. It´s super bueno, but sometimes a wee bit too small. There are two good beaches which are beautiful but, unfortunately, don´t convert the masses of daily swell into too many rideable waves. Still, the last few days turned on a local river mouth wave and the locals were out in force!

It´s crazy being in the water and looking back to the snow capped Andes mountains, took my breath away the first time! The water is not warm but not cold, with the sun it´s warm enough to stay in the water all day..

When the swell dropped off a bit I took the camera out and tried a few snaps of the local kids surfing and bodyboarding, many are also my students in the local school! They are all super stoked at the presence of a strange gringo in their waters!

Viva Chileeee>!

Santiago De Chile

2009-07-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Spent the week before last in Chile´s sprawling capital, Santiago. It being the depths of winter, it was super cold and rained moreorless everyday.

The city was one of contrast: the dirt poor slums around the airport and the deceptively small and modern central district are just two extremes of Chile´s capital. Huge, shiny skyscrapers tower over slums and many different styles of building hint at the country´s turbulent and chequered past.

I was happy to be there, unfortunately it got dark at 6 every night so after classroom workshops there wasm´t much time to see the metropolis by light..The wine is super good and super cheap, about 50p for a very very big bottle....:)

Arrived to the chile

2009-06-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Arrived in chile last week and it´s been pretty busy so far. Spent a week in Santiago, the capital, doing training in classrooms all day and drinking the stupidly cheap red wine all night, was pretty fun! Now I am in a small fishing village in The North which has some amazing surf setups but, incredibly, the swell doesn´t seem to get in much so have had to travel to get waves. It´s weird staring at a placid Pacific Ocean in the middle of winter! But there´s some more exposed places a colectivo ride away which I am frequenting with some locals. All the internet connections are slow here so I can´t upload photos, but will do as soon as I can....Nos Vemos

ChiLE!!

2009-06-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's ciao to Scotland for a while as am leaving for Chile tomorrow! Really excited, curious, nervous, spaced out, amped to spend the next 3 months over there helping out at a local school, bodyboarding and shooting photos. I'll be living with a local family which should help brush up my Spanish and it's right on the beach so hopefully find a some good set ups for the waves down there.......yeeehaw!!!!

And a few more..

2009-05-27T13:35:00.001-07:00

LineD ups

2009-05-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Line up pictures are some of my favourites, they don't draw the focus just onto a rider but instead let you appreciate the wave environment..I used to just snap a few pictures before jumping in but have been trying to slow the process down recently and actually think about the shot. Here are some line up shots I took over the past few months...

Water Shoooooootin'

2009-05-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

Last week or so has been so good, perfect weather and great little swells lighting up all sorts of spots around the coast..The light was great so I tried to get a few piccers in the water but it's hard to acheive the effects you want! Hopefully with practice I'll improve (and actually do it when the waves are good!)

2009-05-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what a blog is meant to be but have found myself looking at a fair number in recent months. So jumping on the bandwagon I have started my own to document some words and pictures, both of which I am rather keen on..