“On the small island of Gozo exists an ancient landscape of quarter pipes, banks and hips all carved into the rock by the forces of erosion over thousands of years…”
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Category Archives: BMX
Photo of the Week: Joshua Lucero
This photo immediately struck me as soon as I saw it. The lighting is wonderful, with a beautiful rimlight to the far right and a perfectly exposed and warmed fill light from the left. The composition is good- but almost centered. No big deal. I love the subdued yellow of the rail, the muted red in the sign and the deep blue gradient in the sky. The timing is on. More than anything, I love the shallow depth-of-field here. It really gives the rider an extra pop out of the background.
“Since breaking my ankle a couple of months ago I was stoked to go by the skatepark in my small hometown of Portales, New Mexico to hang out and pedal around a bit with Jaron Turnbow and Michael Sanchez for the afternoon. Feeling good with walking around this past Sunday, I asked if they wanted to go check out this spot that had been left by the road construction crews working in town.
We showed up to the spot as the sun began to set and they went to work moving the sign into different areas of this small parking lot trying to get a feel for it. I set up one light at first and gelled it to compensate for the warm sunlight and we shot a table and a few other tricks to flat before they moved the kicker close to the yellow rail that enclosed the parking lot.
A few warm up runs over the rail and Jaron started throwing tuck no-handers over it and seemed like he was getting pretty comfortable with the set-up so I called out a barspin. I still had the strobe left of Jaron gelled with a ¼ CTO about 15 feet away zoomed to 35mm and the strobe to the right of him I left bare 15 feet away zoomed to 85mm (would have had both strobes gelled but I was a bit absent minded and only had one ¼ CTO on hand). After one dead sailor over it Jaron nailed it second try.
I really liked the back of the College Cleaners building for this shot because of the old maroon sign and accidentally lucked out and realized after the fact that this composition had the sign lined up with our kicker set-up.
My set-up for this shot was my 5D markIII with a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 as well as two 580ex strobes set at ¼ power triggered with pocket wizards. I rarely take my 50mm out and I decided I needed to start using it more recently. I shot it almost wide open at 1.8 to get a shallow depth of field and kept the background a little under exposed with an ISO of 50 and my shutter synced at 1/200th.”
Check out more of Joshua’s work here.
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Posted in BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Canon, Jaron Turnbow, Joshua Lucero, Photo of the Week, Pocket Wizards
Photo of the Week: Charlie Quigley
“So the day started off with me leaving 5050 Skatepark after getting a call from John (Bosco) Santorelli. He asked me to shoot this photo of him doing this wallride I had never heard about. So around 3 o clock I pull up to a couple of stores and park in the back where the spot is. A huge man made cliff overlooks the wallride. I joke around saying i should shoot it from up there. 5 minutes later I am up there setting up everything. It took him a couple of tries to get the perfect wallride but the end result was amazing. I also shot this in black and white but the natural colors of the sky and railing stand out way better
Shot with:
Canon T3i
18mm-55mm 3.5/5.6
ISO 400
1/800”
Check out more of Charlie’s work here.
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Photo of the Week: Mario Alciati
It doesn’t get much more bizarre than this week’s photo. When I first saw it I laughed out loud. What the fuck is going on??? Let’s break it down. A guy (Jack Hartje) is boosting a large launch ramp to flat over a semi-circle of fire and a guy on a motorcycle doing a burnout. There’s another guy on a motorcycle who is chugging a beer and also looks to be doing a burnout. There’s another motorcycle rider in the far background for reasons unknown. A guy is standing next to a tank of gas and filming with a cellphone. Seated next to him is a guy shooting a photo on an SLR who presumably had placed the flashes (looks to be 2 Sunpak 555‘s and a Vivitar 285) around the subject. We see the back of another man is crouching directly in front of the camera and looks to be also filming on a cellphone. The very best piece of this Xtreme puzzle is the GoPro on a jib arm creeping into frame from the right. Too fucking funny. I love that Mario realized that the whole scene was pretty wild and decided to take a few steps back to really show what’s going on, instead of just shooting the action.
“Jack Hartje is from Buffalo, NY. One morning he called my friend/roommate Korey and said something along the lines of
“Hey, a bunch of stunt riders are coming to an abandoned parking lot in Syracuse. I’m coming through with my ramp and I want to jump some shit. Oh yeah and bring gasoline if you have some.”
I threw my camera in my bag like I always do and without hesitation Korey and I set out (with gasoline) and met up with these guys. That day we proceeded to witness some of the craziest stunt riding we had ever seen.
While the riders were taking a break and having a beer, Jack got a couple of them in on the idea of sitting in front of the ramp and doing burnouts while getting jumped over.
They rode over and parked in front of the ramp while Korey poured some gasoline in front of them.
Jack peddled to the end of the parking lot and I ran over to a spot about 25 feet away hoping to get the photo I pictured in my head. I had to focus on the building in the background. I set the camera at 500 or 1000 shutter speed since I figured jack was going to be hauling ass as usual, and clicked the aperture a couple notches lower since I knew jack would be darker than the building I was focusing my camera’s light meter on.
Korey lit the gasoline, Jack peddled full speed at the ramp, engines redlined as the stunt riders did burnouts (and one chugged his beer), I snapped my shutter, and the rest is history.
Gear: Canon AE-1p on (400) and all manual, (I either use this or my Pentax K1000)
Film: Cheap Kodak B&W 400 film”
Check out more of Mario’s work here and more of Jack’s riding here.
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Behind the Shot with Johann Chan
English photographer Johann Chan put together a nice little behind the scenes story about shooting for this Profile ad with Craig Stevens. It’s funny and somewhat educational, check it out- “Don’t Instagram That Shit”.
Photo of the Week: Dylan Alvarado
This week’s photo is a strange one, with on-camera flash usage and mysterious crystal-like orbs. I thought it was rain, but Dylan vehemently denies any precipitation… Could be dust? I don’t know. Whatever it is created an appealing effect. The colors of that skatepark are wonderful as well.
“Joyce Park’s skate park, also known as [JP], is my local skate park and I go there just about every day I can. Ray Coleman, a good friend of mine, is also a local there and seriously kills it every time he rides. He’s the guy that all the kids talk about and they always ask if I know him or if I’m as good as him which is usually followed by the typical little kid “Can you do a backflip” question.
The day I shot this picture was just like any other day at [JP]. Ray was shredding and boosting the park as usual and since I don’t take pictures nearly as much as I should, I decided to whip out the camera. The sun was starting to go down so it was getting darker and the only type of flash I have is the one built on top of the camera. I started to use it just messing around but started to get some decent shots. The only problem I was having was the arc shadow from the fisheye lens. So when I shot this picture of Ray boosting an invert on one of the quarters in the bowl, I made sure to aim the camera to where the arc shadow wouldn’t look as noticeable. The arc fit perfectly in the shot just at the bottom of the bowl with the quarters lit up from the flash, making this the result.
Nikon D5000
Rokinon 8mm f 3.5
1/160
ISO 500”
View more of Dylan’s work here.
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Markit Zero: Christian Rigal and the Markit DVD
Hot on the heels of the Deadline video comes another highly anticipated release- Markit Zero.
Firstly, how long did you guys film for?
Well everyone was supposed to be done after a year and 9 months (June 1st), but Dennis was hurt for more then half the video (separated shoulder, dislocated the other one 3 times, broken femur, broken wrist, broken colar bone, and a broken foot), Geoff came on late and also got hurt towards the end, and I broke my foot. So that deadline didn’t really work out, haha. Filming ended up going into August (I was even filming last week, haha) and now its fully done in September. The day I finished the video was actually the same day we ended our first SLC trip two years ago somehow. Crazy coincidence.
What format/cameras did you use?
It’s all 720x60p, and it was shot on 2 HPX170’s, a 60d, a couple of clips from the dennis ghetto cam (HMC40), a HPX250 and a couple iPhone/Go Pro clips. There’s is also a standard def clip in Chad’s intro that’ll make sense when you see it, haha.
Who has full sections?
Everyone- Chad Kerley, Connor Lodes, Dennis Enarson, Mike Jonas, Geoff Slattery, Rob Wise, Ronnie Napolitan and myself.
Where did you guys travel to?
I think we did about 14 trips for this video, we hit both sides of CALIFORNIA as well as ARIZONA, UTAH, OREGON, NEW MEXICO, MASSACHUSETTS, PENNSYLVANIA, TEXAS, NEVADA, ILLINOIS, SPAIN, and Dennis an I managed to get some clips on random trips to JAPAN and RUSSIA.
How will the video be released?
Both DVD and iTunes. We’ll be selling hard copies at the Texas Toast world premiere in Austin and at our San Diego premiere on the 26th of October at the Mission Valley YMCA park. All of the shops and distros that put in orders will also be premiering/selling the video that weekend too. Then on November 1st it goes live on iTunes for purchase/digital download.
What’s the duration of the video?
It’s 1 hour and 3 mins long
Did you do 100% of the editing/authorizing?
I did all of the editing and Mike Jonas did the DVD authoring.
Who did the design work and how much work went into titles and graphics?
Our cover/menu art was done by Nick Sawyers, he did all of Hucker’s S&M frame graphics too, thats how we found him. We came up with some ideas, gave him some notes and he pretty much came up with everything else himself. We went back and fourth a couple of times until everyone was stoked, I think it all turned out rad.
As for the titles, I knew I wanted to do something a little different, but nothing over the top. So I hit up Kelly Bolton and he started working on some 3D titles for us. I sent him all the clips with the title placements and then he worked his magic with lighting the titles and creating some movements. I think it gave the video a nice touch.
How long did you spend editing?
Well I gave myself 2 months to finish it all, but between all the riding I was doing trying to finish my part and a couple of trips that came up it was done it about a month and a half.
Besides the injuries, any other setbacks?
Kinda, nothing too crazy though. One of my cameras slowly went out on us and a couple of clips look kinda crazy because of it. That happened on the same trip that someone dropped my tripod on too, so we took almost a month off from filming until I got a new camera and got the parts for my tripod.
Aside from that, I had to re edit a whole section because this band wanted and insane amount of money for a song. Finding a new song that we can clear/afford in 4 days was less then an easy task. So that whole ordeal pushed the end of the video back a week to the point where we had to rush the duplication for the hard copies.
Will you be releasing a trailer?
Yeah, but we’re just going to do a quick 60 second trailer to give you a little glimpse of the video, we’ve actually got a full 2 song leftovers promo that’s dropping next week. So because of that I think the short trailer will be perfect. This will also double as the trailer that the general public will see on iTunes if they’re browsing around or want to see what it’s all about.
How/when/where will it premiere?
Our main world premiere is at the Texas Toast contest in Austin Texas on October 19th. It’s going to be all ages at Shakespeare’s bar and well be selling hard copies as well.
Then our other main premiere will be in San Diego October 26th at the Mission Valley YMCA. We’re doing a jam at the park, giving a bunch of free stuff out, selling products, premiering the video and then selling it as well.
Aside from that all of our distros and shops will be hosting premieres as well the same weekend, with copies available for sale at all of them.
The Albion Issue 16 Out Now
Issue 16 of The Albion is out today, with cover artwork by Mat Waudby. You can read an interview with him about his work on The Albion website.
Contents of Issue 16 include:
Harry Mills-Wakley – Colts
Grimaldo Duran – Back On A Promise
Josh Bedford – A Family Trait
Harry Main – Stepping Out Of A Crowd
Waffle – Hard Target
Kevin Kalkoff – Je Ne Sais Quoi
Tyrone Williams – “You Gotta Love It”
“The Albion is available for FREE in all good BMX shops in the UK. Click here to find your local stockist.
Subscribe: If live outside the UK or would like each issue delivered to your door subscriptions are available here.”
Posted in Art, BMX, Gear, Photo
Tagged Grimaldo Duran, Harry Main, Harry Mills Wakley, Josh Bedford, Kevin Kalkoff, The Albion, Tyrone Williams, Waffle
Photo of the Week: Matt Hildebrand
In an increasingly colorful and digital world, it’s good that people like Matt are going against the grain shooting black and white film.
“Every city has its staple street spots, the kind of spots that riders from out of town ask about. The 23rd street trannies fall into this category, they also take some time to get comfortable on. The bump where the ground and brick meet can bump and frustrate you while you’re concentrating on the lip. The transition is really quick and there’s a brick of vert at the top which makes any slip up’s painfully unforgiving. James got this toothpick stall right after pulling up to the spot. He locked in and held it for a second making my job easier and Jacob Hope filmed the clip since he was in town. Keep an eye out for the clip and visit delicvision.tumblr.com for more photos/edits from us.
Hasselblad 500c
80mm f/2.8
Fuji Acros 100
1/500th @ f/2.8″
Check out more of Matt’s work here. Check out some of James’ riding here.
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Posted in Art, BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Fuji, Hasselblad, James Anderson, Matt Hildebrand, Oklahoma City
Push It A Stop 