Ojos Del Mar - Panama City 2009

Back in January of 2009 I was in Bocas Del Toro to visit old friends, surf and put on an art show. It was during that trip that I first Fidel Ponce.
Fidel is a Panamanean who grew up in one of the roughest cities in all of Central America - Colon. Growing up surfing all over Panama Fidel knows this country like nobody I know except maybe Bolivar Andres.
Fidel broke his back surfing solid surf at Isla Caranero years back and during his recovery learned a lot about business, internet marketing, and water photography. When we met last year I asked him if he had ever shown his work and he said "no". So this year as I began to plan a trip down I contacted him and asked if he might be interested in doing a show in Panama City. He said sure and I started making flyers, doing online promotion for the show, making calls to Panama to my good friend Damian Pinzon who found us a sick location.
Moat Chillout Lounge is a two story restaurant/lounge with a pool inside and everything. Legitimate!!!
When I met up with Fidel in Panama City the first thing he said "theres waves in the Caribbean do you wanna go?" Humm? Let me think about that for a milisecond. Yeah!!! So we were off on the Corredor for a two hour drive in the rain to Colon. From there we pulled up to his buddy's house sitting across from Isla Grande and we quickly had a boatman picking us up from his buddy's dock. Fidel had his water camera with a fish eye lense and although the surf was small I was pumped to be where I was at that very moment.
Looking back I can say I had a great time thanks to Fidel. We took turns shooting shots of each other and surfing in a Caribbean paradise. I will post a couple of the shots Fidel got of me that day so you can see how beautiful it was.
The show went off without a hitch. There were maybe 65 people total all night but not bad for a Monday night. I sold three pieces to friends and took the rest over to Bocas Del Toro the following day for a 2nd showing the following Friday night at the Ultimo Refugio waterfront restaurant on Isla Colon.
Once again must say "Muchas Gracias" to my buddy Fidel Ponce for helping me out and for showing his work. Check out some of his stuff on http://www.panamasurfphotos.org/ or look for him on facebook.