Bobby Martinez, Arpoador, Brazil

After a week of Lay-days, the Billabong Pro, Rio De Janeiro, finally made the move from Barra da Tijuca to a more contestable wave called Arpoador. The wave’s a punchy left-hander with some rippable sections. Most the top 34 turned up at 6.30am to find a pretty good-looking setup and everyone was pumped, especially after so much contest downtime. The call was made to kick off at 8am.

At 7.50am, the winds changed. “Fucking bat-shit, 65kph onshore,” says out man in Rio, photog Ryan Miller. Things started looking a little grim, but the guys in heat one were in the zone – Bobby Martinez (pictured here in the distance), local hero Heitor Alves and heat-winner Owen Wright. All said they were going out for their heat no matter what it looked like. As they hit the water and started paddling, things turned even more grim – the rain came. That was enough for Miller, he was outta there to get some food.

“I went to this little cafe and had breakfast,” says Ryan. “As I was eating I had my camera in my hand and snapped off a few of Bobby in his heat. There’s nothing like shooting photos while enjoying a nice cup of coffee at the same time. I’ve shot photos while drinking red wine on the beach at sunset, but this was the best by far.”

Be sure to check out more of Ryan’s photography on his site, here.