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”.
Category Archives: Photo
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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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.
Add your images to the Flickr group to get some advice and show off your best work.
Posted in Art, BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Fuji, Hasselblad, James Anderson, Matt Hildebrand, Oklahoma City
@pushitastop Instajam of the Week
Tag pushitastop on your best shots (shot with a phone, only!)
Figuré Issue 6 Online
Contents include an interview with Sergio Layos, an article with Josh Bedford, a story about pegs, a piece on the Sosh Urban Motion smartphone video contest, lots of French words and really great photographs. Enjoy!
Posted in Art, BMX, Gear, Photo
Tagged Figuré, Josh Bedford, Sergio Layos, Sosh Urban Motion
Photo of the Week: Josh McElwee
I chose this photograph to mark the beginning of fall, because I think this is about as summer as it gets. The tones are so warm that I can nearly feel it. The composition is incredible and the lighting is more-or-less perfect. It’s an ultra clicked invert and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this on the cover or in the spread of the next Woodward brochure.
“This photo of Dan was shot in July at Woodward East. We originally decided to shoot a footjam on the 18ft. mini-mega ramp quarter, but a giant cloud came over the ramp and pretty much ruined the photo. The resulting sunset through the clouds, however, prompted me to ask Dan if he would be down to shoot something a few hundred feet away in The Cage.
We showed up right as the sun was disappearing over the horizon. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the pastel-like quality of the clouds facing southwest, behind the vert wall. I asked Dan if there was anything he would like to shoot on it. He simply responded ‘Table’, which was all I needed to hear. Since the sun had gone down by this point, I set out to mimic the last few moments of daylight via the use of three flashes.
All of the flashes used were gelled, no white light was used. The main light is an Einstein coming from camera left about 10-15 feet away from Dan, gelled with a ‘soft amber key’ to mimic the warm glow of a lamp high above. A one-stop sheet of diffusion material was also used to soften the edge of the light. The rim light was an AB800 about 50 feet back-camera right and aimed directly at the vert wall, feathered a considerable amount to the left in order to keep the light on the vert wall and not as much on the bank on the right side of the frame. This light was used to mimic the natural rim light effect that the sun would have normally. A 1/2 CTO was used to give this a slightly warm, more realistic feel. The third and final light was a Vivitar 285 hidden behind the vert wall, pointed at Dan, also with a 1/2 CTO, just for a little bit of underlight/separation.
I shot this wide open at f/4 in order to further enhance the soft quality of the clouds in the distance. Dan did the table twice, and this was the result.
Gear info:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 70-200 f/4
Einstein 640
Alien Bee 800
Vivitar 285
Vagabond Mini battery packs
Pocket Wizard Transcievers
Various gel sheets”
More of Josh’s work can be seen here, and more of Dan’s riding can be seen here.
Join the Flickr group to get some help with your photography and become next week’s photo!
Posted in BMX, Gear, Photo, Tech
Tagged Canon, Dan Foley, Josh McElwee, Paul C. Buff, Pocket Wizards, Vivitar
Photo of the Week: Adam Cook
My favorite part of this photograph is the composition- it’s almost symmetrical (it would be completely if the homies weren’t chilling (but that’s what homies are for- chilling)). I love the tones and textures in the pipe itself. I like sneaky homie holding the flash and quiet homie way in the back. I’m thinking this photo would look great printed big.
“The guys and I were planning on riding this full pipe in our town all summer but never got the chance to (its one of Lake Eries main waterways, its pretty dangerous to be in there apparently). Anyways, towards the end of the summer my buddy Bryan was getting real serious about riding this thing. He and Herby knew what to do because they were the only ones who rode the thing before. I got a text when I was finishing up a music video for a hip hop artist to get down there and ride it that afternoon. Well I couldnt ride it because my shoulder was still seperated and I knew I only had an hour until I had to help my cousin with something so I grabbed the camera bag and flew down there. When I got there they had already set up the ply wood and woodpallets and were riding it so I got right into shooting.
I couldn’t bring a flash stand because the water was 3 inches high and flowing fast so they had to hold it for me. I snapped a few pictures of Tommy. All of those were vertical and I was leaning on a wall hiding everyone else from the shot (also keeping me out of water). I slipped up and totally soaked my shoes so I said screw it and just stood in the deepest part of the water to get one more picture of Tommy. Andy was up and asked me to get another picture of him going as high as he can. Soaked and short on time I was totally reluctant to do it but I did one last one anyways.
I got home later that day and just applied a preset I made that I usually use on my photos and work from there. Turns out this one was pretty underexposed and looked a tad out of focus so I pretty much trashed it from the start. I came back to the computer later and just tried to see how much I could fix it by bumping the exposure up a ton and boosting the whites, all it did was make it worse. Black and white was my last option because I really liked the colors of that place.
I played with every possible adjustment lightroom could offer in attempt to save this photograph and this is what I came up with.
Weird sometimes that the photos you may think are your weakest end up being the best in that set.
Details:
Canon 550D
1/200
f8
ISO: 200
@ 40mm w/ 40mm 2.8
1 Yongnuo 560 @ full power to the left of the rider near the ground.”
See more of Adam’s work here.
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@pushitastop Instajam of the Week
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Push It A Stop 