My brother Phil and I made a last-minute trip south to shoot the Todos Santos Big Wave Event off the coast of Ensenada, México, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. After shooting Mavericks a few weeks earlier, he let me know they called the Todos Santos contest. With little time to prepare, we rented extra photo gear from George’s, charged batteries, and spent the night in Tijuana. We only got a couple of hours sleep before waking up around 4 a.m. to head to Ensenada.

We were to meet at 5:30 a.m. at the boat but arrived in Ensenada 20 minutes behind schedule. We knew to meet at the marina, but didn’t know exactly where. As the confusion began to peak, I resorted to breaking a few traffic laws, including one right in front of a police cruiser. At this moment, I assumed the day would be a total bust. Thankfully, the officer didn’t notice and we made it to the dock. It was a huge relief to find the group and get our bearings on the boat.

It took about an hour and a half to get to Isla Todos Santos, about 12 miles off the coast of Ensenada. The swells were big enough to have everyone excited. The first sign we were arriving was a broken surfboard floating by the boat.

The competition had already begun when we arrived. The water was busy with jet skis and boats, blocking quite a few shots. Some photographers on skis were using weather-sealed digital SLRs, but without water housings. Our captain was pretty conservative and kept us out of optimal shooting position for most of the day. But considering it started around 8 a.m. and ended around 2:30 p.m., there was plenty of time to get a few clear shots throughout the day.

Heat 1 Qualifiers: Greg Long, Carlos Burle, Kohl Christensen

Heat 2 Qualifiers: Gabriel Villarán, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Mark Healey

This next shot is Phil’s, but I have to include it because it does a better job than mine do of giving the scale of these waves (check out his Todos Santos gallery). Gabriel Villarán rode this monster, considered the biggest wave of the day:

Heat 3 Qualifiers: Mike Parson, Jaimie Sterling, Ken Collins

Heat 4 Qualifiers: Grant Washburn, Shane Dorian, Ramon Navarro

Heat 5, Semi-Final 1 Qualifiers: Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Carlos Burle, Mark Healey

Heat 6, Semi-Final2 Qualifiers: Shane Dorian, Ramon Navarro, Grant Washburn

Heat 7, Final: Mark Healey (1st), Shane Dorian (2nd), Ramon Navarro (3rd), Carlos Burle (4th), Grant “Twiggy” Baker (5th), Grant Washburn (6th)

The waves were amazing all day. The sets were largest at the beginning of the day and seemed to ramp down slowly through the competition. I’d never seen waves this size in person; it’s an amazing thing to witness. The power and force of the water, the color, the sound. It’s breathtaking to see someone take on a giant.

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Three of my pieces (Self-Portrait, Race Cube, Crayola Monologues) were included in the group exhibit "Embracing Ambiguity: Faces of the Future" at the Cal State Fullerton Main Art Gallery from January 30 to March 3.

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Over the holiday break, we took three of our nephews (ages 13, 13, 16) on a trip to Oaxaca, México. Here, we tried some grasshoppers in the market. They’re cooked with lime, salt, chile and garlic. They taste surprisingly good!

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La Orquesta de Baja California joined forces with Nortec Collective artists Bostich and Fussible on Sunday for a free concert in the plaza outside Tijuana’s cultural center. It was the final day of Entijuanarte, a three-day contemporary art festival featuring work ranging from painting and photography to digital and performance arts.

I’ve seen Nortec Collective artists perform before and it usually involves a lot of sitting behind laptops. But Sunday was a much improved live performance. Nortec’s signature sound comes from layering samples of banda brass over electronic beats. And for a city increasingly recognized for cultural hybridity, it’s only more fitting to have a high-brow orchestra perform pop culture riffs alongside electronic music for free in the public space.

The concert started with “Tijuana Makes Me Happy,” which garnered cheers despite a bad audio mix early on. “Tijuana Sound Machine,” the title track from the latest release by Bostich and Fussible, was well received; the song’s music video recycles the city’s campy heritage in a fun, sequin-covered spectacle.

In its early stages, the Nortec Collective seemed to be more widely received internationally than on its home turf. But that seems to be changing as the youth embrace the city as their own, taking pride in Tijuana’s cultural identity.

YouTube videos from Sunday, October 4, 2009:

I spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend in San Felipe, México, with a large contingent of my wife’s family. On our final night, we unrolled our sleeping bags on the sand to sleep under the stars on the beach. Just before bed, my 5-year-old nephew plopped down next to me and said, “Let’s make wishes on the stars!”

 

 Wish Upon a Star [3:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Here’s a very rough track. I’m recording using the laptop’s built-in mic and an acoustic guitar, then processing it with Garage Band effects. It’s quick and easy, but not exactly pretty. I added some drums to fill it out a bit, which points out my wandering rhythm. You can grab the full mix, guitars, effects, or rhythm track to use as you will.

This work by Nathan Gibbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.