15th Annual Nun's Beach Surf Invitational

Nun's at Nun's Beach in Stone Harbor, NJ | ©2010 Hopping Frog Studios

We had our 15th Annual Nun's Beach Surf Invitational last weekend and it was a beautiful day. I took some video and some stills, judged a few heats and shot the shit with friends, but I mostly took it easy. I'm a little tired of working these events, truth be told.

In fact, I haven't even processed the pictures of video yet. The above photo is from a few years ago, when Sister Loyola was still with us. She was a peach. I can't for the life of me remember the other Sister's name. Maybe someone else remembers.

On another note, I had heard rumors that this was going to be the last year for the Nun's Beach surf event. While it is true that this was Bill Deger's last year running the event, others have told me that the event will continue. I'll have to take their word for it as I haven't heard who is taking over and these things just don't magically happen.

Jersey Bros : The Portraits

In addition to the documentary I'm working on (endlessly it seems), I decided that since I really didn't have enough on my plate, I'd also shoot stills for a coffee table book of black and white photography of the South Jersey surf scene. Here are a few of my selects.

20th Annual Brendan Borek Surf Memorial

Circle of Friends | Brendan Borek Surf Memorial | Avalon, NJ | ©2010 Hopping Frog Studios

The weather always seems to be beautiful. The waves always seem to be small. And the event is always a raving success.

This year was no exception.

It was my sixth or seventh year shooting the event, which kind of surprised me. I also designed a t-shirt, a sweatshirt and the event poster. It was also the first year where I had my underwater housing and could paddle out. It was a cool feeling.

Back To School | Bronx, NYC

Back to School Shoot | ©2010 Hopping Frog Studios

20th Annual Brendan Borek Surf Memorial Poster

Design + Photography: David McCarty. ©2010 Hopping Frog Studios

Dan Barry Album Cover

©2010 Hopping Frog Studios

Badass Axe

 

I love this kind of shit. Leather, wood, steel. This is from a company called Best Made Company. Absolutely gorgeous stuff. If I hadn't given my friend Bob an axe last year, this would be what he would have gotten this year.

Sailing Townsend's Inlet

©2010 Hopping Frog Studios

As part of a music video I was shooting, I jumped into the ocean with nothing but my camera and an underwater housing while Dan sailed back and forth. It was definitely creepy. Here is one of the stills.

Shark Fishing

Shark Fishing from David McCarty on Vimeo.

A day trip last weekend on the Od-D-Doe, my daughter Julia's boyfriend Mike's boat. A little anti-climatic from a shark point of view, but we had fun.

Canon 5DMII
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L
Final Cut Studio

Music:
"Someday Baby" R.L. Burnside
"The Burn" Long Miles
"I'm Ready" Dan Barry

Listen To The World Around You

I'm in an airport. Again. 

I spend a lot of time in airports and unlike the George Clooney character in "Up In The Air", I find nothing romantic about this.

But, when you're paying attention, wonderful things can happen. A writer I was reading recently caused me to pay attention.

I flew from Philadelphia today. I'm on my way to Edmonton by way of Toronto. I had gotten my boarding pass, checked my bag and was headed to security which was one level up. As I approached the escalator, I saw there was a hold up.

Let me say here that I DO share the Up In The Air protagonist's viewpoint about effeciency in travel. I hate to wait. I don't like being slowed down. There are not many roses in the airport and nothing good to smell otherwise. I want to get where I'm going and quickly and as painlessly as possible.

The cause of the hold up was an elderly Indian couple. Not Native American. Indian. 

They were standing before the escalator like deer in headlights. The way an aboriginal might stand before an escalator they had never seen before. The truth is she had trouble walking and he couldn't figure out how to carry both roller bags, hold up his wife, and navigate the quickly moving stairs.

Two young men were standing behind them and I heard one of them ask if they needed help. The young man was then trying to figure out how to grab his bag and both of theirs at the same time.

I had only a briefcase slung over my shoulder and two free hands so I stepped forward, grabbed both bags, and told them to go ahead. They manuevered each other onto the escalator and I followed. When we reached the top they stopped to get their bags but I urged them on so we would not back up the area. I moved in a few feet and off to the side and placed thier bags down for them.

Nothing about this story up to now is exceptional. Many people perform random acts of kindness without thinking about it. Myself included. Even if the reason is just to move people out of your way.

What happened next surprised me and I'm not easily surprised.

He looked me in the eye, raised his arms up to me (he was much smaller than I) and hugged me. Not a macho, half shoulder, slap you on the back hug. A full throated embrace. This is how I would expect my own grandfather to hug me....when I was ten. It was pure love and appreciation. You would have thought I'd saved his wife's life by catching her from a two story fall.

I smiled, a little embarassed and told him he was more than welcome. It had been my pleasure. And it was.

As I walked away, along with the other two young men who had witnessed the entire exchange, I said to them, "That certainly beats your normal air travel experience."

I would bet money that wherever they are tonight, they'll be telling that story as well.

The point of the story is not what I did for the man and his wife. The point is what he did for me and those two guys. I'm sure it will change how we see people when traveling. Old people (whom I normally adore) do not mix well with air travel in my world. Maybe this will change my viewpoint.

David (Sent from my iPhone)

Husky | Feb 11, 2010

I leave for Mexico in a few weeks and I’ve begun to think about my physique, such as it is. For months now, it’s been covered up, turning pale and growing soft. A friend was recently telling me how she’s also going on vacation to a warmer climate and felt the need to lose 10 pounds before she left because one of the women she is traveling with is in incredible shape. She admitted that her husband wasn’t going to care if she lost ten pounds or not, but that she felt self-conscious knowing she’d be laying by a pool next to her friend. She also mentioned that women were nuts.

I work for an advertising agency and the other day I was discussing a radio commercial that a freelancer had written, with said freelancer. He had written a male character that was overly impressed with his ripped abs. As this spot was supposed to be aimed at women, I mentioned that I thought this was a particular male point of view. That while women were certainly attracted to fit men, women were actually more concerned about their own appearance than ours. Only other men would think that a guy impressed with his own ripped abs was funny.

His response was that if he had ripped abs, he’d never wear a shirt. Or at least walk around in a half shirt, all the time. We laughed for a full five minutes.

But it’s true. He and I are both what the department stores used to call husky. Which sounds much better than overweight. Husky. It just sounds more manly.

Snow Day | January 31, 2010

We had a pretty good snow storm yesterday. Snowed most of the day. We got somewhere between 6-8 inches, or so I'm guessing at the moment. The roads don't look too bad, but I'm looking at a state highway. I'm sure the side roads are still pretty covered.

It's still wicked cold out, about 11° it would appear. I started a fire, but I'm going to have to get dressed and go get more wood. I also need to shovel the walk and dig the cars out. The good news is, because it was so cold, the snow is light as a feather. Usually, this close to the coast, we get wet, heavy snow. This is powder.

Also, it's supposed to be a beautiful, sunny day. Very cold, but sunny. I should get out and take some pictures, but did I mention it was cold?

Back To PV

We're headed back to Puerto Vallarta for some fun in the sun, surf and partying. The place is called The Palladium. While I vowed never to do an all-inclusive again, I'm giving it another shot. We'll see.

Jane and I are traveling with a group of local surfers from home. Older guys who are traveling with wives, girlfriends and in one case, kids. The girls will most likely sit on the beach and enjoy the open bar, while the guys are going to try to spend some time surfing in warm water.

When, did you say? February 20-27. Just five short weeks away.

While I have decided not to get crazy with camera equipment (I'd like to surf and relax too), I will be bringing the camera and a few lenses to document the experience.

Hopping Frog Studios | January 7, 2010

First thing, I need to say that Bob Farrington actually came up with this name. He was going to use it for his painting business, then for various reasons, didn't. I liked it so much, I asked if I could steal it.

This is my new website for Hopping Frog Studios.

That's Bob walking down the beach, by the way. We stopped at 10th Street to see what the waves were like during the November Nor'Easter. It was all blown out, but when we got down to Cape May and Poverty Beach, it was ripping and clean.

Shave and a Haircut | December 23, 2009

Ricky hasn't had a professional haircut since he was...I don't know, maybe 10 years old. He's eighteen now. He's always grown it long, or cut it himself. I finally convinced him to get a haircut and we began talking about finding a place that also gave old-fashioned straight-razor shaves. I went online and found a place in Philadelphia called Groom.

Groom is owned by Joe The Barber and is located in the basement of a building at 13th and Locust.

A few days before Christmas, we drove up to Philly and got haircuts and shaves, ate lunch at the bar at Capital Grill, did a little clothes shopping, then drove home. It was good day. It was incredible the transformation.

BEFORE


AFTER