The contest that put Alex Kennedy in suspenders and a top hat is back for their third season of seeing what today’s top filmers can create using only a smartphone. Filming will happen July 5th – 11th in Paris then all 7 videos will be screened and judged at a ceremony whose location has yet to be announced.
You’ll probably recognize Daniel‘s name from a number of Division Brand edits and associate him with fast and burly riding, but I sure didn’t know that he’s got an eye for photography and knows his way around a camera- check out his website for some breathtaking landscape shots (also seen on his Instagram). He sent in these photos that he shot with Jack Kelly during a trip to California a few months ago to film for his recent Colony edit, and damn, they are clean.
I remember Cooper and DJ were talking about heading to California for a month to ride, so I asked if I could tag along. I’ve been to America once before, but without my bike, so I really wanted to go again and ride after seeing some of the spots they had in person. That month of just riding, hanging out with awesome people and riding amazing spots was incredible. I can’t wait to go back, thanks to Colony for helping me out with the trip. – Jack
The latest creation from Jon Edwards’ Naive Studio.
On-line commercial for a latest addition to the skatepark.
Filmed on the Sony NEX-FS700
Lenses: Zeiss 32mm f1.8 E
1920 x 1080 HD / 16:9 / 240fps / 24fps
Music: Lorde – Tennis Court (Flume Remix)
Album: Deluxe Edition
Label: Transgressive
Posted in BMX, Skateboarding, Video
Tagged Academy Skatepark, Jon Edwards, Naive Studio
Filmer Matty Lambert got his hands on the new Panasonic GH4 and despite having a broken leg, went out with Paul Ryan to film some 4K test clips. If you’re a camera nerd, you can also have a look at a little blog post he put together and be on the look out for a slow-mo comparison test with the Sony FS700.
Tagged Matty Lambert, Panasonic GH4, Paul Ryan, Sony FS700
“This slab of cement is located in the Indian River along US Route 1 in Titusville, Florida. Mark noticed it while driving into town one day, and we decided that it was great location for a bunnyhop barspin photo.
We arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon, so the Florida sun was in full effect. Since we were in the water, my setup options weren’t exactly ideal for getting the strobes in super close to Mark, which is my first line of defense when trying to freeze action during the middle of the day. The first light that I set up was an Einstein on half-power (320 w/s) on the cement slab parallel to the one Mark is riding. Although I placed it in a rim/kicker light position, it serves as the main light in this case by both lighting the camera-right side of his face, and freezing his spokes (to a degree). The atypical positioning was done in an attempt to get the light a little more off-axis and create some depth, and avoid having flat-looking light.
I placed two more strobes in the water about 15-20 feet from the slab. The large distance is due to the depth of the river, although I might have been able to get away with putting them in closer, I wouldn’t trust having normal light stands in water more than a few inches (a C-stand would be a perfectly safe solution, though). To compensate for the distance, I used an Alien Bee 800 at full power (320 w/s) on a small stand, and another Einstein at half-power on a larger stand. This gave me a reasonably large amount of light to kick some fill into Mark’s face and the front of his bike.
Both the pair of strobes and the single strobe metered at f/11. I ended up shooting a third of a stop under at f/13, just to try and get the sky a tiny bit darker, knowing that I could bring back detail from the flash portion of the exposure in post without much of a hassle. I originally envisioned the photo with Mark in the left side of the frame, but it just wasn’t working out, so I ended up switching the composition completely about halfway through shooting. Mark was nice enough to fire out a whole bunch of these so that I could get the framing and timing just right.
Tech info:
Canon 5D MK II
70-200 f/4
Paul Buff Einstein Strobes (2)
Alien Bee 800
Vagabond Mini Lithium Batteries (3)
Pocket Wizards
Light stands”
See more of Josh’s work here.
See Mark’s riding here.
Join the Flickr group.
Posted in Photo of the Week
Tagged Alien Bees, Canon, Josh McElwee, Mark Mulville, Paul C. Buff, Pocket Wizards
May 7th, 2013…Brian Michael Histand- “Take each day not day by day, hour by hour, not even minute by minute but moment by moment. Fill your life with love and watch it manifest. Negativity, judgement, laziness all of these are evil and ment to poison the brain. Love is where the power is, love is the way of life”
This is a quote from Brian’s journal he began keeping 9 days before he went missing on May 15, 2013. I believe everybody should take that quote and apply it to their own life. Brian’s journal has become my bible. Love is the answer to everything. Brian’s only true satisfaction comes from helping the world by spreading love…so in the name of Brian Histand, spread the love…it’s contagious – Dave Krone
It’s been one year since Brian Histand went missing and I wish we could bring you better news, but the cold, hard truth is that there is no news. He’s still missing. No one has seen or heard a trace of him in a year. It’s a scary thought and I’m sure at this point the most convenient thing to do would be to dismiss him as dead but that is simply insensitive. There is no definitive answer to his location and wellbeing other than he was last spotted walking alone towards a large mountainous area south of Phoenix. There is undoubtedly a chance that he’s still out there, alive and well. If an entire airplane can go missing for over a month with multiple countries looking for it, a single human can go missing for over a year with only a handful of his closest friends actively looking for him. There is still hope, and frankly, stranger things have happened.
I don’t want to make it seem like I’m a great friend of Brian’s- I knew him for literally a couple of hours. I knew of him, like many of us did, as an eccentric intellectual with a passion for pedaling really fucking fast and jumping huge gaps.
I met him on an unusually hot summer day in Philadelphia when I was already semi-delirious from a lack of sleep the previous night. Navaz was filming Dave Krone trying to polish up one of his unique G-turn clips in Talk is Cheap and I was patiently shooting a sequence with my camera on a tripod. Brian appeared and instantly the session took a turn for the weirder (I say ‘weird’ in the most endearing sense- I love weird). Conversations went in tangents I never conceived possible. Brian is one of those people with a brain full of “what if’s”- some more fantastical than others, but entertaining nonetheless. He lived up to and actually surpassed any notions I had collected of his living spirit from preceding hearsay. He is one of those people you meet and never forget talking to.
During this time, someone pointed out a small, plastic Barbie-like figurine on the litter-strewn ground and suggested that it resembled Brian. Everyone present agreed on account of the bounty of hair lopped to the side of his head. Brian agreed and laughed and posed for this photo-
All said-and-done, Krone was unfortunately defeated by the attempted cleaning-up of his clip and we left the spot to head to another. While driving, our cars lined up and I could see that Brian and Dave were having a great time, singing and laughing- almost dancing- in their car. I could tell that they’d been friends for a while and were on similar wavelengths. They clicked- and I clicked this snapshot- one that I feel embodies the unavoidable energy you incur when in the presence of a being like Brian.
As fate would have it, our plans to reconvene at another spot fell through and their car vanished out of sight. I didn’t really get to say a proper “Goodbye” but then again- given this situation- no one got to. Not even his best friends or family. I can’t imagine dealing with this had I been closer to Brian. I’ve dealt with the death of friends and family, sure, but with that there is closure. You know what happened to them and that they have moved on. With these circumstances, however, there’s nothing you can be sure of. I can only hope that by this time next year a discovery has been made and we can finally understand what actually happened to the enigma who is Brian Histand.
I could say soo much about him. I really wouldnt even be the person I am today if I never met Brian. I looked up to him for his riding before ever meeting him and then as a person as we became friends. He’s just the kind of person who is always looking to make everyone have a good time and feel at home even if it means the shirt off his own back. Always had a positive vibe and his own vision on life. I wish he was still with us to spread the love of life and bmx he always gave to me. – Eric “Ewip” Whitescarver
Moving forward, we should celebrate Brian’s work and his riding that will forever be archived through his videos. Yo Guy and Chocolate Milk are certified classic scene videos. Brian showed a strong desire to show off his friends’ riding which is a trait that is rare nowadays. He put in endless hours behind the camera and computer for no reward other than his personal satisfaction. Until he turns up, I think it’s healthy to think of Brian not as a missing person but as a gifted artist, rider and videographer. – Charlie
The latest project from French agency Write The Future.
“I’ve made this little project this winter with my friends because they are totally unknown in Europe but there riding is so insane. They ride their bike all day long because they love that and not just because BMX and MTB are fashion since a few years. Lot of people in France think riders are so bad in my country so that’s why I want show to the world the truth. In the North of France and Belgium we don’t have a very good weather all year long, very few street riding spots and no mountains for the freeriding. I also made this video to show that the barriers between mountain bike and bmx are finer. Finally the main difference between the 2 sports is the playground.”
Brandon Means dumped a grip of photos from the the Cinema/Markit trip that produced this incredible edit…
(Foreword: Niki’s near-fatal injury in 2010)
“One of the reoccurring comments I’ve read or had people say to me since the edit went online, is how great it is to see Niki “at peace” with his bike these days. At first this is quite an odd thing to hear, but on reflection is perfectly true. There was a great feeling on the trip, a vibe that could only be present with a rider who is, for want of a better word, happy.
We woke up at 6am most days, explored the cities at sunrise, had a couple days to chill, BBQ and drank coffee at little café’s – this was a riding “holiday” more than a riding “trip”. Perhaps now I see this attitude really was a reflection of how comfortable Niki now is not with himself on a bike, but BMX in general.
One of the many moments I’ll remember from this trip was the opposite table we shot of Niki at sunset in Kortrijk. That afternoon we were driving from Oostend to Kortrijk. After filming some lines and sessioning with the locals we left to go grab some dinner. At this point we had no Sat-Nav, we were doing it old school and following road signs. With the intent of heading to Antwerp that night, we got a little lost just trying to get out of Kortrijk. The sun was setting in the distance when we both saw Kortrijk skatepark at the end of the road … we’ve just driven back on ourselves.
However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With the sun lighting up the sky a blood red Niki turned to me bursting with his usual, sometimes intense, enthusiasm and said “Richie, want to get an awesome photo here!?”. Well … you don’t need to ask me twice!
I don’t know many riders who would be up for that after riding all day. However Niki has a great appreciation for “the moment” and I’d like to think that’s a quality that comes from being “at peace” with himself and his bike. The fact that came across in the edit, I take as a big compliment.
Between filming, we managed to shoot the odd photo. Here’s a collection of some of the moments, I hope you enjoy.”
The first thing I noticed about this photo was the unique perspective – how Rudy chose to shoot from behind the ramp. If the rider hadn’t gotten high enough to clear that back railing, the shot would be a wash. Luckily the nicely lit barspin was thrown at a perfect height and this photograph was a success.
“Pretty much, this prefab park isn’t too far from where I’m now staying and is located in a parking lot of a cop station. I recently just started hanging out with A.j whose riding abilities are on another level. He got off at 8 pm and we met up at the cop station park & just did bikes on it. As usual, I got hyped at around 9:04 pm, before going to this other spot, when I saw him doing tucks & bars on the neat green little quarter pipe. Well crap at that point, my monkey instincts kicked in naturally & began noticing this tree I could climb like a damn ape that has been injected with heavy doses of caffeine. I originally was getting a snap of the tuck no-hands but he did this barspin, which caught me off guard, but was able to get lucky enough to snap this at a decent time or at least what I think is a decent time. I think my settings were ISO: 400, Shutter: 60, aperture: maybe 7.1 (p.c is acting up to get correct info.) Also, I’ve never owned a legitimate camera bag but hopefully one day that will change that I can get to experience that. And using a vivitar & sunpack off camera flash and still shooting with that canon t3 but i think maybe that might be changing soon.”
Check out more of Rudy’s work here.
Join the Flickr group for a chance to be next week’s photo.
Posted in Photo of the Week
Tagged AJ Carvalho, Canon, Rudy Rodriquez, Sunpak, Vivitar
Push It A Stop 