Cover & Article: new Issue of The Surfers Path

Cover shot from Octobers epic mundaka session. Inside is also an article on " the Art of Surfing" with keith malloy, all the images from our trip to Nicaragua earlier this year. 

The Best Bags... Period.

My closet used to have like 20 camera bags inside.. But now there is only 2. A few months back I contacted F-Stop bags about becoming a part of their team. I can honestly say they make the best product I have ever used. I did a short interview on their website. If you would like to check it out the link is here.

http://fstopgear.com/en/team/brigade/chris-burkard

Look for a full write-up on the bags soon.

Their website is : www.fstopgear.com

How to Document your Surf Trip.

I did a little piece on Surfline.com about how to document your next Surf Trip. Turned out pretty cool. 

 

Check it out. 

http://www.surfline.com/travel/how-to-photograph-your-surf-trip_39502/

Silber Studios Interview

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Marc Silber. He is an incredible photographer that runs a video driven website www.SilberStudios.TV about different photographers and their techniques, skills and projects. This was a great opportunity for me to talk a little bit about my style of work.  P.S. Keep in mind this is my first attempt at being in front of the camera.  

Here is the Link:

http://www.silberstudios.tv/videos/chris-burkhard-surf-photographer

For more videos check out Marcs website. www.Silverstudios.tv, I really enjoy the Chase Jarvis interviews. 

my first movie....

Couldn't sleep last night. Too much on my mind.  I decided to mess around with a few video clips I shot with my  Nikon D300s, everything was shot from one session in Santa Cruz about 2 months ago. It was the first time I had ever shot video, and all files have just been sitting on my computer, s000o I decided to put together a little edit....lemme know what you think.

song: Claisson, By Jonathon Deans

surfer: Josh Mulcoy

PS. sorry the song doesnt fade out at the end.. i dont know how to do that yet.

a few things Im Grateful for... in no particular order.

Christmas is my favorite holiday.. even though i tend to gain a few pounds.. its all good.  heres a few things i am grateful for..

1. Mexican Food

2. Family

3. A job that brings me joy.

285〬 WEST

The Swell was short lived.. but it had some moments. It was 25 degrees when I left my house wednesday morning, i think that coming from the coast we are pretty much pansies when it comes to cold weather, at least that was the way I felt that morning. 

Randomly, I was involved in 2 near death situations over the weekend.. one on tuesday night which involved a friend of mine spearing his posterior tibial artery and almost bleeding to death on the beach after he stabbed himself in the leg with the nose of his board. His accident was just a worst case scenario of jumping off a wave the wrong way. Luckily  because we were close to the road we were able to get him up to safety  and call 911, and he was rushed to the ICU and he is going to be ok, He lost 8 quarts of blood. The next morning as I jumped on the jet ski i was heading out to an outer reef and I saw a stand up jet skier launch off a wave and come of his ski in mid-air. The jet ski landed on him... from about 30 ft in the air. We could see him struggling in the impact zone.. we couldn't get to him because a clean up set was heading straight for him. He went over the falls with his ski and almost drown. His initial thought when we picked him up was that he broke his femur, he has a total loss of control in his legs and was about to pass out. We rushed him to the beach and called 911 on the way in. As it turned out he had a severe bone bruise but was altogether OK. The momentary loss of his legs could have drowned him but he luckily made it to ski.

Definitely an eye opener for me. 

jeeez im a Slacker....

Been to long since i have updated this thing. Last few months have been some good ones. Spent some time in Nicaragua, then went over to  Europe and drove back and forth from France and Spain. Probably some of the my favorite places i have been... The food in Spain was amazing. I have been working with Peter Mendia on a profile piece and we spent some time with his family in the town of Axpe. Its an incredible place, tucked behind Mt. Antobo in the Basque country. Got a few waves at mundaka as well...

What a long strange trip its been...

this sorta sums up the feeling.....

Finally home.. i think there might have been  a moment where i even wanted to kiss the ground like Kevin Costner in Robin Hood.. but that would have been weird. For those not savvy on the social media networks like Facebook I recently did a trip to Russia.. 

To make the long story short, I had some visa issue and was detained in a Russian holding cell. It was a room with a metal door with no handles, 5 deadbolts and bars on the window.. It was probably one of the scariest moments in my life when i realized that i was completely alone in there and they just locked the door and left. Luckily my phone worked and the US embassy was able to speak on my behalf so i could get something to eat.. and drink. After 24 hours I was deported back to Korea then had to come back to Russia 2 days later. I missed the best day of the swell and basically ended up sitting there for two weeks with flat conditions. I don't think I have ever endured such hellish adventure.. 

Needless to say you have to take the good times with the bad. This trip ended up costing double what i thought it would and definitely left a lasting impression. I don't think ill be going back to Russia anytime soon. But at least I have a few photos to remember it by.

Frozen.

Looking back through some archives from last spring/ summer.
This time last year at this time I was camping on Icelands frozen beaches. Such a great trip, and well worth the cold. People are always asking where my favorite place is that i have been, I always tell them Iceland> Someday I will be back there. 

It doesnt have the best food, and its not cheap, but it does have some of the most accessibly beautiful coast i have ever seen.

Close calls n' Big Sur.

The last 3 weeks have been a flurry of Emails, deadlines and lots of time staring at my monitor, it is scary how fast time can pass when your eyes are fixed on a computer. For some quick R&R and a little bit of AD work, I headed up the coast to Big Sur. Me and my good friend Guy Jones, who happens to be a 4x4 enthusiast decided to leave late in the afternoon and camp on the Ridge Rd. For those of you not familiar with the Big Sur ridge, it is a 4x4 only access rd that sits high atop the big sur hills,  it is mainly used as fire rd access to get out of Big Sur, just in case. High above the fog layer and dismal conditions of the coast this road leads you straight to what might look like cloud 9 for a central coaster in the summer. 

Around 10 pm we started on the road and climbed upwards for what seemed like an eternity. Navigating this rd in the dark and fog is not Recommended. Finally we reached clear night skies and it seemed like the most incredible night ever. Above the fog there was a warm summer air that was as still as could be, you could even hear your echoes through the canyons. When you finally reach the top there is an ocean of  accumulated clouds below you reflecting back at you the moon and stars. 

We drove for about 2 hours and looked for a camping spot. But about 2 miles before we got to our destination, we wanted to take a look at this tree with and odd shaped root system, we came up to the tree and in order to get the headlights closer we tried to climb the small embankment and get a closer look. What we didn't realize that the small embankment was not small and the truck we were driving did not have capable clearance. We were stuck, about to tip over in what seemed like possibley the Lamest situation ever. I have to climb out the passenger side window to balance weight evenly and as I clung to the window and front tire which was hung about 3 ft from the ground I realized this was not a good situation, we were on about 2 1/2 wheels with most the weight hanging on the front axle. Both of us made the realization that because of the roof tent that was on top of our vehicle , were were top heavy and off balance by about 2oo lbs. That was why we were so tipsy. 

It was the military shovel that eventually came to our rescue, we had one lodged in the back of truck and decided to dig out the embankment under the tire, At the same time we propped the front left tire with a jack and pushed the truck over the jack, about 6 times we had to do this until the truck was more balanced... By this time is was 1:30, and were on a rd that gets seldom travelled.. Maybe once a day, so having someone drive by to help us was pretty much outta the question.

Finally we made camp around 2.. talk about some rest and relaxation. All in all it was a great trip with some even better memories. 

An Ode to waves.

Meager swell conditions with a utterly terrible forecast has forced me to look deep in the archives for some wave abstraction. 

It has felt like groundhog day on the Central Coast lately, every morning there is a dense fog layer and every afternoon it blows out.. Like clockwork. Biding the time I have been doing some Climbing, working on Intern'l submissions and trying to make sense of this years "El Nino" rumors. I guess we will have to wait and Sea...

 Anyone around Santa Barbara area should cruise over to Latitude Gallery on Saturday 11th for a Surfrider Foundation Art show that is going to be called, Closest Thing to Walking On Water. Should be a killer show.

CLOSEST THING TO WALKING ON WATER

Closest Thing to Walking on Water

“The realms of art and surfing merge in the work of artists who surf and surfers who make art. The individuals who straddle the worlds of contemporary art and cutting-edge surfing are united by a sense of freedom from social norms and received opinions.”

    -Bolton Colburn Surf Culture

 

This exhibition highlights the work of surfing artists and art-making surfers. This breed of creative beings is united by their alternative lifestyle and the thrill of free expression, whether it is walking on water or pushing paint across paper. Our lack of words to define the excitement we get from such simple pleasures, as brushing our hand along the face of a curling wave, is what leads us to the universal language of visual imagery. We struggle to describe how it feels when time slows as we glide through a glowing green tube at sunrise, so we attempt to capture the tactile sensation through art, virtual and poetic representation. We seek the perfect means to express the inexpressible, be it with a slab of clay or a peeling right point break. Whether we make our art about surfing because we want to relive the moment or share the exhilaration of what it means to be alive, our passion for this activity translates into our work. With this show, we investigate what motivates us as surfers and artists to capture the physical act of surfing through a variety of art forms.                                                                                                                          -Katie McLean

Opening Reception:

SATURDAY, JULY 11 6-10PM

Live Music by Travers Adler

Beverages by New Belgium Brewing and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly

SURFRIDER FOUNDATION BENEFIT

Santa Barbara Chapter 

will benefit from the opening reception's beverage sales

and 10% of art and photography sales.

www.latitudegallery.com

Latitude Gallery

20 Helena Ave.

Santa Barbara, Ca 93101

Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm

Sunday 11-5pm

&by appointment

O Brother Where Art Thou?

Photos: Compliments Nature.

In between the hustle and bustle of trying to scrap a living from taking pictures and selling books.... me and my brother went to Yosemite for the weekend and hiked Half Dome..  17.5 miles of beauty and sore legs, such and epic trip. Always good times.

THE SURF GALLERY --->> SATURDAY 27Th

The Laguna Surf Gallery will be hosting The California Surf Project, on Saturday the 27th. Me and Eric will be on hand with Art, photos and books. Be there!!