Check out a writeup for the making of this photo of Shane Weston, used for an Éclat ad, from the opening clip in his recent Fly Signature Isla Line video.
Category Archives: Gear
Behind the Photo with Andrew White
Posted in BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Andrew White, Éclat, Fly Bikes, Shane Weston
Photo of the Week: Spenser Lee
“Shapes! Colors! Lines! Patterns!” – My brain when I first saw this photo. Combine that with an amazingly framed, expertly composed trick (with great lighting too) and you have the photo of the week. I think that the orange of his hat placed against the blue sky (and the reflection of the blue sky in all those windows) really does wonders for this photograph. If I were to make a list of my favorite photos of the week since we started doing this segment, this photo would be very close to the top of that list.
“This photo is of Jose Manuel Torres doing a hop over double peg to back over in Brussels, Belgium. We shot this on our recent Europe trip that me, him and another friend took late last year. Joey did this first thing in the morning on our second day or so. I tried to keep my gear pretty simple for the trip because I was the only one with a camera and had to cover filming and shooting duties. So I shot this using my Canon 7D, two Neewer speedlites and Pocket Wizards. The alley was pretty dark so bumping up my ISO and only using two flashes worked out totally fine. After he landed it and we got the photo I had to switch my setup to film a fisheye angle with the same camera. So thank you Joey for being willing to do this twice!
ISO 640 f/11 1/250th”
Check out more of Spenser’s work here. See more of Joey’s riding here.
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Posted in BMX, Gear, Photo of the Week, Tech
Tagged Belgium, Brussels, Canon, Joey Torres, Neewer, Pocket Wizards, Spenser Lee
Photo of the Week: Travis Mortz
I was immediately drawn to the colors of this photo- the way the red frame plays off the blue sky. I also really like the green in those plants. The rider is nicely framed between the two trees and the brick triangles in the wedge point to the action. The timing is pretty great for a downside whip. The sun to the rider’s back creates a beautiful highlight and the balance with the flash on the front of the rider is nearly perfect.
“This photo of Neal Richardson was shot in Loomis, CA at a small skate plaza. I originally planned on shooting a bar on this wedge and it just didnt work the way I wanted it to. Neal then suggested a downside whip and I was all for it. After moving to the opposite side of the skatepark I realized that the sun was extremely harsh on the bank and Neal’s entire face and body was shadowed from the sun at his back. so I grabbed a Qflash and set it to full power and had my friend hold it right underneath Neal just out of frame to fill the shadow on his face and chest without lighting the already bright wedge. This photo was shot using a Nikon D3 paired with a Nikon 105mm F2 DC lens. My settings were 1/250th @ F9 with a Quantum wirelessly triggered by a Pocket Wizard.”
Check out more of Travis’ work here.
Join the Flickr group and get inspired.
Posted in BMX, Gear, Photo of the Week, Tech
Tagged Neal Richardson, Nikon, Pocket Wizards, Quantum, Travis Mortz
“The Chase”
I just did this as a volunteer for the SNOB Film Festival. They wanted some kind of action sequence to put in their Kickstarter fundraiser. I was heading to LA anyways so I hit up Jush [Allen] since I knew he was doing some acting out there and we busted the filming out in a few hours.
Gear: Canon 5DIII
Canon 60D
Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Canon 70-200mm f/4L
Sigma 50mm f/1.4
Glidecam
Tripod Slider
Zoom H1 mic
Big reflector
It was basically a backpack movie… everything could fit attached to my bag.
Photo of the Week: Matt Vargason
I’m pretty sure this was Matt‘s first upload to the Push It A Stop Flickr pool, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t the greatest first impression ever. I was taken aback to learn that this was shot with only existing light- I guess it’s the mixture of color temperatures that threw me off. The whole ambiance is surreal- a dark, snowy night on the outside, and a quarterpipe (in a library) on the inside. The framing in the doorway is perfect. I’d love to have this hanging on my wall. In fact, I’ll be asking Matt for a print as soon as I’m done writing this.
“It’s always cold in New York at this time of year. The night I shot this photo was no exception, either. The sun had just gone down, and a snowstorm was rolling in. I was actually getting ready to head home when Derek [Nelson] started doing wall rides on the inside of a bookshelf in his skatepark, HCS. I had been toying with this composition for a couple of days at this point, but it never felt complete. The light snow falling outside was exactly what it was missing. Naturally, I walked outside and propped the door open. It took around fifteen minutes for me to get this shot. Spending that period of time kneeling in the snow caused my knee to freeze to the ground and my hands to go numb, causing the tail end of shooting to become somewhat difficult. I only used the available light at the park to shoot this photo, creating a stark contrast between the different temperatures of light indoors and the light outdoors. This was my first photo of 2014, and I think it was a great start to a new year.
Gear & Settings:
Body: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 6400
Location:
Vestal, NY”
Check out more of Matt’s work here. See Derek’s unique riding here.
Join the Flickr group, add your images to the pool and be considered for next week’s photo!
Posted in Gear, Photo of the Week
Tagged Canon, Derek Nelson, HCS Skatepark, Matt Vargason
Cooper Brownlee Interview
The Daniel Johnson exclusive edit posted earlier today on TCU was filmed and edited by this man, Cooper Brownlee. In fact, Cooper has had a hand in the majority of the BMX media that has come out of Southeastern Australia. As a filmer, editor, photographer, graphic designer, product designer, art director and team manager (upon other various job titles) Cooper still finds time to ride. I’m actually a big fan of his style too. How does he do it?
Colony web video from 2012 Cooper’s part in the Colony DVD from 2011.What came first, the bike or the camera?
Definitely the bike, I think I got my first camera about a year after I started riding so I could take photos of us riding our trails, it was just a shitty point and shoot that my mum had but you gotta start somewhere! Not long after that my friend had a video camera and so did my parents so we would use them to make videos via the old tape to tape style. It was such a good feeling going out riding all day, having fun, filming clips then we would stay at our friends place that night and mess with the footage. Everything just evolved from that.
How long ago was that?
I would say like 15 years ago? Not long after I started riding.
How old are you now?
Just turned 32
Focalpoint “Into The City” Mixtape #1 – filmed and edited by CooperDo you shoot and film in equal proportions or does one take priority?
It goes in stages but lately filming has definitely taken priority. I still shoot photos a lot just haven’t used my flashes much of late, just really into documenting the lifestyle side of things as cliche as it sounds.
Do you do all the work for Focalpoint? and at Colony?
Yeah video and photo wise I do, along with Division Brand and Academy BMX. We get help from other guys to get clips of dudes in other countries but overall yeah thats mostly my work. With Focalpoint the video stuff is me but photo stuff is a bit of a contribution base.
Do you ever get overwhelmed trying to ride and document at the same time, as well as enjoying the moment?
Not really, sometimes I wish there was another person shooting photos if I am filming but it’s all good. Riding wise, yeah I don’t get to ride as much but I love shooting as much as riding so I dont get too stressed. These days getting clips of myself I find planning it out and just doing it on a seperate mission is working better. On trips I barely get to ride because I really try to focus on filming and getting as much stuff as I can because I know when I start editing if I slipped getting something cool I will be pissed haha.
Alex Hiam 2013 web video – filmed and edited by Cooper
I find that a lot of photographers and filmers ride a freecoaster- when did you start riding a freecoaster?
I’ve had a freecoaster for about 6 years now, never going back! I also run a 23t which is partly to do with having to ride around everywhere with a camera bag on my back.
How often do you go out riding without any gear on your back?
Basically never! We drive to most spots but I always have my bag in the car and will take it in to spots all the time. When we ride the city I usually leave my flashes at home and also sometimes the HPX because it’s dark most of the time we are in there. I would love to roll around the city with no bag but I just know the day I do I will miss something haha.
What gear are you using these days?
Panasonic HPX-170
Nikon D800 – I just recently got this from having a D700 and I am love with it, dialed for photos and filming with it is on point! Filming wise I mainly use it for lifestyle sort of stuff and timelapses as it has a built in function which is basically the best thing ever for someone that is into timelapses! I sometimes use it for fisheye clips aswell but the 16mm isn’t as wide as the Canon lens and I would prefer the $300 lens get hit then the $1,000 lens.
Canon 7D – I use this just for filming fisheye lines, no photos shot with this.
Nikon 16mm fish
Nikon 80-200
Nikon 50mm 1.4
Nikon 28mm 2.8
Canon 50mm 1.4
Rokinon 8mm Fisheye
Eazyhandle for filming lines with a mod on it to hold both my mic and light
2 LED camera lights but I usually only use 1 of them.
Rode Mic
A Hoodman LCD magnifier for lifey shots and some fisheye stuff, which works pretty well I just wish I got one that had a 90 degree angle on it.
3 Vivitar flashes
Pocket Wizard plus2 transmitters
Manfrotto tripod and a shitty $20 tripod just for city missions as it’s nice and light and does the job
I have a Primary deck for my filming board with Penny board wheels on it which are nice and big.
Mick Bayzand 2013 – filmed and edited by Cooper
Tell me a little about the current format of Focalpoint. It’s kinda like a scrolling web mag.
Focalpoint started out as a free print mag and we kept it in print for about 8 years but printing and postage costs killed my bank account so we moved it to online via issuu which was also good but I wanted to do something that was more consistant and had frequent original content from Australia so that’s what we have now and I real, real psyched on it! Like you said it’s kind of got the aesthetics of a mag look to it but in web format.
Which websites do you check on a daily basis?
TCU obviously along with various other BMX sites. Outside of riding I hit up these 2 sites on the regular as they are always posting up good photography/design work…
designyoutrust.com
designspiration.net
Who are some artists/riders who inspire you?
Riding wise… All my friends that I ride with on the daily. Dudes like George D, Will Jackson and Lino Gonzales growing up. I will always be hyped on footage from Alex Kennedy, Daniel Johnson and Nathan Williams. I am a mad flat ledge jibba these days so anyone killing it on the streets and being creative will get my vote.
Artists wise… Jeff Staple, 13th Witness, Ricky Adam and Mike Manzoori
Tom Stretton 2013 – filmed and edited by CooperWhat do you have planned for this year?
Filming a fair bit right now for a Division project we have in the works, the web videos for Colony seem to never end so we always have them in the works. In a couple weeks some of the Colony team is coming to Melbourne to shoot this cool video project we have planned which should be alot of fun and also give Melbourne riders a few new spots to ride as well.
I am heading over to the USA for a month sometime in March to film which I am looking forward to. Hopefully Daniel Johnson will be coming with me. I’ve been trying to travel a bunch here in AUS so hopefully we can keep that rolling aswell.
Anyone you’d like to thank or shout out?
Thanks to my parents for being so damn awesome! Clint Millar for giving me the best job and for supporting BMX so much. My girlfriend Sarah and all the crew I ride with be it everyday or once every few months. Shoutout to anyone that supports the brands and is enjoying BMX.
Thanks to Scott and all the TCU crew for the interview.
Division Hub Guard that Cooper helped design
Division ad that Cooper made
Posted in BMX, Gear, Interview, Photo
Tagged Academy BMX, Australia, Colony, Cooper Brownlee, Division Brand, Focalpoint
Photo of the Week: Rados Ruzic
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.
Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 28-105mm f2.8
Iso: 100
Aperture: F7.1
Shutter: 1/200”
See more of Rados’ work here.
Join the Flickr group, add your images to the pool and learn how to be next week’s photo!
Posted in Art, BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Miroslav Springelj, Nikon, Photo of the Week, Rados Ruzic, Sigma
Talking Shop: Steven Hamilton and his Video “13”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwLAmnkU6QM
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.
Damn. I’ll have to get my hands on that.
You can see it on the Coca-Cola promo video.
So what is Lobsterspine Productions?
Lobsterspine is my production company.
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.
You have more than one YouTube page don’t you?
Yeah, I have one for Lobsterspine and then I have Sonicyouth4130
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.
Posted in BMX, Gear, Talking Shop, Video
Tagged 13, Coca-Cola, DVD, Empire, Inception, Interview, Lobsterspine, Steven Hamilton, Talking Shop, The Price is Right, TRV900, Undercover Autopsy
Photo of the Week: David West
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)”
Check out more of David’s work here.
See more of John’s riding here.
Join the Flickr group and post your photos for a chance to be featured here next week.
Posted in BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Canon, David West, John Burnie, Paul C. Buff, Photo of the Week, Pocket Wizards
Photo of the Week: Ryan Ogawa
“February in a bike shop here in central California is typically a slow time of year. On this day in 2012 Chad Osburn and myself took an extended lunch to ride Chad’s Alma Matter. After shooting a few other shots digi around the school, we stumbled on these rails. I knew this would make for a good medium format shot, due to the ambiance and timeless, reckless, high school feel. What obviously added to the difficulty, was trying to avoid the snack bar counter, but he ended up sliding a few nice slow cranks across the cool blue rail. I shot this packed up and back to the shop we went.
As far as flash setup, my memories a little foggy, but I believe I used two flashes – Sunpak 555 in the far back right approx. 8ft. back, and a Nikon SB-28 to the camera’s left facing Chad.
Camera: Hasselblad 500c/m with the 80mm 2.8
Shutter: 1/250
Aperture: f 5.6
Triggered with: Paul C. Buff’s Cybersync’s
Film: Kodak Ektar 100”
Check out more of Ryan’s work here. See more of Chad’s riding here.
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Tagged Chad Osburn, Hasselblad, Kodak, Nikon, Photo of the Week, Ryan Ogawa, Sunpak
Push It A Stop 