Shooting From The Heart: A Steve Fitzpatrick Folio

It’s pretty ridiculous how many waves there are on Puerto Rico’s north coast when the south winds blow and there’s swell. This beach in particular has been under attack by overzealous developers despite being a regular nesting ground for leatherback turtles and home to peaks like this under the right conditions. Thanks to some equally zealous Puerto Rican environmentalists it's safe, for now.

Aguadilla Bay is home to some of the best and most world-renowned waves in Puerto Rico. The wind is pretty much always offshore, the light is either full-on high performance or backlit, through-the-wave, golden magic, and the bottoms are mostly shallow reefs. A local guy who makes minced meat of this particular spot is Alejandro Moreda enjoying an early morning bomb.

If any surf photo ever qualified for ‘Green Room’ status this has got to be it. Aguadilla local, Aron Geiger, standing tall in the eye of perfection a mere 10 minutes from where he lives, and leaving no doubt about the occasionally world-class quality of the surf on his home island.

Hurricane Frances blew past Puerto Rico in September 2006 and sent seven straight days of overhead swell and offshore winds for the north coast. When a bit of trade wind did come along Rincon was all-time with no one around. I'm very lucky to have a friend with a house overlooking the premiere spots on Punta Higuera, and it's a mandatory stop on any visit there for the initial surf check. A few minutes after capturing this image, two mates and I were surfing (well, I was swimming) a peak just out of the frame by ourselves.

In the US we don’t have much to thank our Army Corps of Engineers for. More often than not they create a mess of our coastline, and my home state of New Jersey is a perfect example. In the town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico the Army Corps decided to install a jetty to help the local fisherman with getting their skiffs, or “yolas”, through the shore-pound during the winter. What was supposed to be a small, still-water harbor behind the jetty, filled in with sand in no time, and to our delight a gut-wrenching wave formed over the sandbar out front. Carlos Cabrero about to get intimately acquainted with the sand.

Javier Rivera styling a late afternoon bottom turn.

September of 2006 also saw Hurricane Helene spin through our wave window here in Puerto Rico. With a straight north swell direction and stiff south winds, Isabela was the place to be. No one knew this better than Ismael "Maelo" Rodriguez who was on it before anyone at this well-known break. Weeks earlier I had scouted out this location waiting for a day exactly like this to capture a previously unseen angle.

The water on Puerto Rico’s north coast can be incredibly clear at times. You never know when, really, but when it does happen I always try to take advantage of it. On an assignment shooting a group of girls from Florida I captured this image of Ashley Bob duck-diving in Isabela.

Dylan Graves has made a lot of noise on the international stage over the last few years, and nowhere is he more comfortable than in his home waters. Dylan pretty much laid the groundwork at this spot and knows it better than anyone as evidenced by his quiet body language in the pocket.

As much as the Salvadoran wave gods made sure I knew who was in charge, they also let me get away with some great imagery. When the waves are this good and the water is as warm as a bathtub, it's hard to think of a better place to be.

Gracias Army Corp of Engineers

Esteban “Charlie” Miranda is one of Puerto Rico’s most stylish surfers, be it on a 7’6” gun at giant Wilderness or Tres Palmas, or a 9’6” noserider on a small day like this one at Crash-boat. Not too many other 50-year-olds do it as silky as Charlie, who escaped from Cuba in 1960 at the age of 12, and has been surfing in Puerto Rico ever since. His appreciation for life shines through in his wave riding.

On my first trip to El Salvador I began to feel comfortable swimming out at the point. The Salvadoran wave gods were quick to let me know who was in charge.

It’s pretty ridiculous how many waves there are on Puerto Rico’s north coast when the south winds blow and there’s swell. This beach in particular has been under attack by overzealous developers despite being a regular nesting ground for leatherback turtles and home to peaks like this under the right conditions. Thanks to some equally zealous Puerto Rican environmentalists it's safe, for now.