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!
Today I’m pleased to (officially) welcome to the Push It A Stop collective Nick Jones (Central Jersey) and Chris Mortenson (Los Angeles). Both of them have been putting in work behind the lens for a number of years which has afforded them both a tremendous knowledge of the photographic process and a keen eye. Combine that with a driven passion to collaborate and share, these two will are more than qualified to be working in the TCU family.
I first met Nick in person at a Mullaly skatepark jam a couple years ago. He had been emailing me for a few months, asking questions about camera gear and flash durations. I could tell he was dedicated because he was shooting with flashes on stands during a jam. Ask any photographer- that’s a risk you’re only willing to take if you really want some great photos. Through the years Nick has proved his worth by getting published in DIG and landing galleries on RideBMX, ESPN and WeAreOrangeJuice amongst others. At just 19 years old, Nick has already established himself in the industry and, thanks to his friendly nature and willingness to work, will only be expanding his client list from here on out.
To be completely honest- I don’t know Chris that well. We have only corresponded through email. What I do know is that he is extremely motivated and involved with multiple creative projects. He has a ton of very clean work on his website, but I’m pretty sure that’s only the tip of the iceberg that is his portfolio. I had him include his own bio so that I wouldn’t mix up facts.
Christopher Mortenson is a Los Angeles based photographer with a background deep rooted in New Mexico, where he grew up riding and shooting. He graduated from New Mexico State University in 2011 with a BFA in photography and made the move to LA in 2012 for a full-time photo gig with Quintin Co. Chris’s extensive interests in photography go way beyond shooting action, exposing him to a lot of different aspects of photography. But he still hits the streets with some of LA’s finest on the regular.
Raul Ruiz, 2013
Jackson Ratima, 2013
The BBQ, 2012
You can expect to see original content from these two on a regular basis. Follow their day-to-day at @nickjonesphoto and @cmortenson. Follow @pushitastop to see the best riding photos that Instagram has to offer.
Last Saturday was the LA premiere of Animal Bikes QSS6 video. A good amount of riders came out to the On Some Shit store to enjoy the video and meet Nigel Sylvester and Ralphy Ramos. The kids were hyped, the video was awesome, and good times were had by everyone.
Kids outside the store waiting to see the video.
Stevie Churchill deciding whether or not he can three whip this motorcycle.
Nate Richter.
Alfredo Manusco looking extremely surprised to have his photo taken.
Ralphy Ramos and Nigel Sylvester throwing out some Animal goods to the kids.
Every person for themselves during the product toss.
Nigel Sylvester poses.
This helmet probably went on Ebay right after Nigel gave it his signature.
Brooklyn based skate photographer Jonathan Mehring is featured in The Berrics next installment of their Shoot All Skaters series. Being one of the most well traveled photographers in skateboarding, he’s got an incredible body of work to show why. I advise you to Click here and check it out.
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 Cooper
Do 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.
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.
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.
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…
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 Cooper
What 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.
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.
Push It A Stop 