Originally, Rados had uploaded a photo of the same trick in the same location with the same lighting, but without the rider framed in the lit rectangle. I thought it strange and commented on the photo, asking why he hadn’t done so. He replied that he actually had, and uploaded that image. That image is what you see before you now, the Photo of the Week.
“It was a hot summer day in Belgrade and around 37 degrees celsius. Bike Festival was held in city center. I got call from my friends to go there, so I packed my gear, took my bike and rushed to the festival. Half of the streets were closed because of a bike race and thats why route to the center wasnt complicated. Once I got there, there was a flatland demo session after which we went to ride, we found couple of places which would be impossible to ride if there wasnt bike festival. One of those places was this old building without windows and without roof, it was perfect place for shooting. The light was getting through opening of a window and thats what gave me idea for this photo. I asked one of my friend Miroslav Springelj aka Mire to throw some flat line on the spot where the light was, plan was to capture his shadow there. Setup was simple, only one Nikon SB24 flash (on the right side, behind the wall) triggered with wireless trigger. At the end of the day I finished with couple of great shots and one of them was this one.
For me, photography is more of a fun hobby than anything. It doesn’t come with the same pressure of shooting video. I shoot mostly for fun and when the situation presents itself. The following photos were shot in conjunction with filming for Animal’s QSS6. The majority of the stills have accompanying clips in the video. I wanna thank all of the riders for being patient with me when shooting and allowing me the opportunity to shoot them. Gear- Canon 5d MK3, Canon 8-15mm F4, 70-200mm F2.8, 50mm 1.4 –Ryan Navazio
Most of these photos have been posted on Instagram already, but we’re guessing that they’ve been forgotten about. Here they are again, in all their pixeled glory.
The usual Flip Clips plus a little extra time and effort. The usual McCarren skatepark clips plus some Europe and Cali footage. The usual ragtag cast and crew plus Blackman and Hamilton and a cameo by Regis Philbin. The usual soundtrack that no one seems to like plus TV samples that may or may not make sense. Enjoy, enjoy!
“Remember the name Wesley McGrath. He’s one of a new breed of talented BMX photographers. Judging from this photo gallery we’ll be seeing his photos for years to come.
Over the last couple years I’ve gotten to know Wes pretty well and it’s been awesome watching his skills as a photographer grow. This past year it seems like he has really hit his stride and is starting to make a name for himself. They say hard work pays off and Wes is one of the hardest working photographers in the game. He’s always out shooting and has extremely high standards for the images he puts out into the world. The thing most notable about Wes’s work is his ability to make even the simplest tricks look extraordinary. His images are full of energy and you can’t help but wish you were there to witness that one 1/500th-second in time. I can’t wait to see what 2014 will bring for Wes and I’m glad to not only call him a colleague but also a friend.” – Chris Mortensen
In the BMX world, Steven Hamilton needs no introduction. I wanted to talk with him more in-depth about his numerous, varyingly experimental and always entertaining video projects. Having just finished his latest video “13”, I called him to get the inside scoop while the process was still fresh in his mind.
So, what’s in the name “13”?
Well the reason that it’s called “13” is because I worked on it through all of 2013, among other reasons… It’s was a big year for me because I was born on December 13th, and it was 12/13/13, and since there are only 12 months it can never actually be 13/13/13. Also that thing about how the world was supposed to end on 12/12/12, then the next day would have been my birthday, so… It was a big year for me. And I finished the video on the 13th of this month.
It’s possible that this is also your 13th video release, no?
Yeah, I guess it’s possible. If I were to count all of the VHS tapes and DVD’s I’ve made it would probably be close to 13.
Was the whole thing filmed with your TRV-900?
Yeah.
And that modded Lomo fisheye?
Yeah, the fisheye I hacksawed off of a little Lomo camera. But I got a new fisheye for Christmas this year so video 14 is gonna have a real fisheye.
What are some of the filming locations?
Off the top of my head- Columbus, New Jersey, The Bronx, Dayton and Philly…
Is this video anything like your previous videos? Can you compare it to any of them?
Yeah, I’d say it’s a mix between “The Price is Right” and “Inception 1”.
You mean “The Price is Wrong”?
No, “The Price is Wrong” was that Animal video, “The Price is Right” was my video.
Really? I had no idea. What is Lobsterspine Productions?
(long silence)
You’ve never seen “The Price is Right”?
No, I’ve never even heard of it. Where can I see it?
Well it’s sold out now but it was the first DVD I ever sold through Empire.
Do you guys venture outside of BMX or you just do BMX videos?
Just BMX videos.
Where did that name come from?
I was walking around Seattle one night- all night- and in the morning I found this thing… Well what it ended up being was the thing that holds nails for a nail gun, but I couldn’t figure out what it was, I thought it was a sort of bone or something. I was like “What could this possibly be?” and the only thing I could come up with was a lobster’s spine. Then I remembered that lobsters don’t have spines, but I thought it was a cool name, so I kept the name.
When did you get your first video camera, and when did you make your first video?
I got my first video camera in the eighth grade, then I finished my first video, “Inception 1” during my senior year in high school.
How many copies of these videos were you making?
I probably made 50 or 80 copies of Inception 2.
Damn. All on VHS?
Yeah.
Just VCR to VCR?
Well we had a stack of ten VCR’s so I could make ten copies at a time.
What’s the deal with you deleting your Vimeo account?
It was a couple years ago, but what happened is that I had put so many videos on there- I had over 100 videos and a lot of them were repeats or just the same video edited a little bit differently and I just got sick of it… But I don’t really like Vimeo that much anyway so I just thought “Screw it, I’m just gonna delete it” so I just got rid of it. I kinda regret it a little bit though because some of the videos that were on there I don’t have backed up anywhere. I still have the footage but a lot of them were live videos where I had my camera hooked up directly to my computer or had two videos playing at once… I kinda wish that I had kept the account and just made some of the videos password protected, but I just ended up saying “Fuck it” and deleted the whole thing so it’s gone now.
What kind of music is in “13”?
It has a mix of punk rock, indie rock and hip-hop.
Who has full parts?
Eric Probst, Ian Fendrick, Darius Hart, Jimmy Kleoudis, me, Damian Racut, Mike Rose and Luke Padelski.
You said you edited this video in one session. How did that go?
Yeah, normally once I get going with editing I don’t want to stop, so I just banged it out and did the whole thing in one editing session. I was up for… I don’t know, as long as I could possibly stay up and until the video was done.
What is your editing process, as far as the soundtrack goes?
I kinda lay out a couple clips then try to come up with a song, then once I have the song figured out I’ll edit to the song. Sometimes I’ll have an idea for a song and I’ll see if it works, then edit right off the song.
What is your favorite video that you’ve made?
Right now I really like “The Price is Right” but “Inception 1” will always be my favorite because I worked so hard on it and it was the first video I edited and I spent so long on it.
Do take your camera with you every time you go riding?
No.
Do you film anything outside of riding?
I film my dad’s basketball games every Tuesday.
How important to you is the quality of the picture? Do you clean your lenses and set the white balance and all that?
I usually set the white balance, not necessarily on something white but the cleanliness of the lens does’t really concern me that much. I’ll wipe it off with my shirt or something, but it’s not really that important to me.
You just stuff your camera into a backpack, yeah?
Yeah I’ll usually just wrap it in a sweatshirt and throw it into my backpack.
What software do you use to edit?
iMovie.
Do you watch all the current BMX videos that are released?
Yeah I try to.
What is your favorite movie outside of BMX?
Right now my favorite movie is “Raising Arizona”.
You also shoot still photos- will you ever do a project with those?
Yeah, hopefully someday I’ll do something with my photographs.
How is “13” packaged?
The DVD’s are contained in handmade folded paper sleeves.
So how can people get ahold of the video?
It will be available through Empire this Thursday.
Will filming for “14” begin immediately?
Yep.
You have any big plans for this year?
Just filming for the next video. I’m pretty excited to film with this new lens. I just got a new bike too so I’m excited about that as well.
A short film from Brazil about the thrill of street riding and the love for an unknown/unknowable future around each corner and down every alley of a city. Spectacular cinematography and a heartfelt message.
I got a roughly translated behind-the-scenes account from director/filmer/editor/co-writer Germano Gamba:
“Well, me and my friend Julyanno started riding bmx before you even know that it took that name. Surely with our 14 or 15 years to really begin to understand this universe s what he meant to us. We live in a town very large n then we have only one bmx itself in mid-2009 over the internet because everything is happening slowly here on the bmx.
We started in Dirts but did not have much time to ride because we worked from 13 years to keep the bike moving, and if that was not enough we could not have the same long dirts because the owners of the land to put them down . That was really sad but it broke new ground , began to venture into the street since our houses were far from unique skate park . And the street was really where we learn virtually all tricks and movements that we know . Surely as every young man who begins to walk wanted to learn as many tricks and get support to maintain and live bmx bike . But bmx was so grateful to his teachings and good times that we did not want more learn the best tricks but make the cutest possible , as if it were a work of art !
Other difficulties appeared the worst .. Lesions , particularly I almost lost my left leg with a compound fracture en different my friend , but always were one supporting each other and going against our parents who supported us and did not realize that this was more than a sport that was our life!
On this film, we wanted to show a little than think about BMX, to go up against this madness trick trick in the world of BMX.
We film all our rides in our own city (many say they have no places to walk here , but in my opinion ride on the street is having creativity ) so with a more artistic language, film or if you prefer, use only 2 DLSR cameras and some old lens and a lot of creativity and patience e sensibility to chose the best angles.
All features we use
Camera : Canon 600D ( T3i ) and Canon 650D ( T4i )
Eos Lens : Canon 18-55 kit , Canon 70 – 300mm 4.0
Analogic Lens : Yashica ML 50mm 1.9 , 50mm 1.4 Yashica M42 , Pentacon 135mm 2.8 M42 , M42 Revuenon 35mm 2.8
Microphone : Shenggu SG -108
Suports : Black Lambel , Gazslider , Gaz Smartstabil Mini
Started filming in March 2013 and the interrupt filming in July 2013 because Julyanno crashed at work (he fall on the head of a roof as cleaned, and spent several days in a coma with a serious head trauma, but he recovered 100% and we were able to release the film with images that had until then)”
This photograph is visually striking because of the color contrast. The rider’s red shirt against the gelled blue environment demands your eye’s attention. The angle is simple but I like it- I feel like I’m standing there on the side of the ramp watching him ride it. The composition is great and I love that the coping meets the corner of the frame perfectly. From a riding standpoint, this is a first-rate tabletop at heights out of a vert ramp that most riders will only dream about.
“I woke up to the first snowstorm of the season in Baltimore with the day off work. Charm City Skatepark is our local indoor park here and they had just finished building one of the smoothest vert ramps on the east coast. First thing I did that day was gave my good friend John Burnie a call so we can shred that thing. He brought up the idea of grabbing a photo.
Once I got there I had noticed that the ramp was a much lighter color than anything else there. I am a huge fan of using color gels and had the idea to throw a #8 on an Einstein and hide it behind the matching pillar at the bottom of the ramp. I placed the other at the top of the ramp and got to work. John is a rider that get higher off the ground than anybody you’ll see without a sponsorship so he was the man for the job, ended up pulling a couple of steezy tabletops that this photo doesn’t do full justice to. End result was this photo, which is one of my favorites. I originally wanted to have the entire ramp in the photo but I had limited space. What I ended up with was much more satisfying than the goal set.
Camera: Canon 5dmk2
Lens: 17-40 @17mm
Iso: 800
Aperture: f/8
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Triggered with pocket wizard flextt5 with mc2’s for einsteins, both lights at full power (for hypersync)”
Miles Rogoish is not a stranger to the BMX world. Most people know that he is as talented in front of the camera as he is behind it. His videos capture the raw energy of BMX and allow the viewer to see into a session through an unedited window. After watching the Stranger Mixtape a few times I decided to hit up Miles and find out what goes into his filming and editing process.
You’ve been in the filming game for a long time, how long was it before you really felt like you hit your stride with your film work?
I’ve been filming for almost as long as I have been riding, I really caught the first stride during the beginning of the TWM (Tuesdays With Miles) series. Once I was laying footage to music and color correcting once a week besides the other projects I was working on it started to be a steady routine. Now I have the same stride but it just gets better everyday, except for my OCD making me nuts since I have a checklist of about 10 things I have to make sure are just right after actually editing the piece. Shits hectic these days between my Mac screen and the inside of my brain.
What’s your current filming gear set up?
I have 2 current set ups
1- Sony VX 2100, Century Optics Mark II Death Lens
2- Panasonic HMC150, Century Optics .03 Extreme Fish
And I am currently looking at grabbing a Cannon 7D DSLR set up for filming mediums outside of BMX.
What’s your editing process like?
FAWK, Get it done I guess? I have more projects unfinished on my computer now than I have ever had. Guess it really depends on the project. If it’s a long term project it’s not ready till it is. If its a quick content piece then I import, lay down the preferred timeline by trick difficulty, watch it with the sound off to random music, pick a track, chop it up, ramp slo, color correct, audio adjustment, titles, and export! I love the feeling of a piece being complete and dialed from start to finish, even the fades come in and end on beats, nothing just gets set down and is “fine” it has to be perfectly on point for me to be able to move to the next.
What’s your best advice for filming lines?
Get on a skateboard with big soft quiet wheels and if you hit a crack grab that mother fucker like its your own child. A lens blemish can put filming on old for as long as it takes century to replace the front element. Also get UP IN THERE! Don’t be scared to get up and close with the crunchiness, the closer you are without chopping heads and wheels is the prime distance to be from the rider the whole time you are filming a “line”.
What filmers in the game do you look up to?
BMX Filmers – Tony Ennis, Tony Malouf, Will Stroud, Ryan Navazio, and Ty Morrow actually kills the film game, plus a small handful of the homies know what it is to get crunchy.
Filming for the Stranger Mix, was it nice to get back on that VX kick?
I never jumped off baby! What you think this is Chris! I had been using the VX for The Trip and the Deadline video, which is currently playing on my flat screen right past this laptop #CRUNCHberries. If anything the VX has been chillin harder then ever but is still filming some upcoming Trip vids you guys should start to see soon. #VXForLife #NeverForget
The editing for the new Stranger Mix was done really well. Could you just share a little about what went into it and how you approached the project?
Always loved the raw and real life style edits with teams and squads around the world, that style editing is my preferred go to style, but you have to have the right project and people to make it happen. No offense I don’t think you could make a ramp rider mix with the same vibe… That being said, this project literally fell out of my mind and hands as easy and dope as it could. Rich Hirsch handled most of the tracks and once the soundtrack was picked the formula is pretty straight forward considering Rich and I know whats worth seeing and how fast you should see it. A little B-roll between rider sections and there ya have it…
Any advice for the up and coming filmers out there?
Just go shoot and be inspired by everything you see. Instead of bitching about VX vs. HD or tripod vs. skateboard or anything you think you can complain about just focus that energy on creating something new for someone else to rant about. You’ll stay happy and your video work will keep improving. Never compete against anyone but yourself.
Huge thanks to Stranger for the opportunity to have so much creative input into the video aspect of the brand, Its amazing working with people who are on the same page with ideas and actions and to top it off Rich Hirsch and Aaron Brenner (teammate / team manager) are two of my most solid friends. Osiris shoes for supporting me while I ride and not being bummed I wear out my right shoe extremely faster then the left due to filming the homies on a skateboard. The Trip for giving me my time here on earth surrounded by beautiful and amazing souls that share the same passion. Anyone I have ever pointed a camera at me or was scared to hold my camera back at me, I love you all. Cheers ++
Push It A Stop 