Mason Dyer, Mitch Abshere, Brian Bent, & Enoshi Takashi – Oceanside, CA _ 10/12/2009

Mitch was kind enough to ask me to whip up a couple t-shirt designs for Captain Fin Co. the other day, and I was very happy to help out.  These are what I came up with.  I personally like the butt/baby graphic best, but it isn’t up to me to decide which one will be wearable in the months to come…

So like I said yesterday- I ventured to Tyler Hatzikian’s garage in El Segundo, CA with Scott Stopnik Sr. & Jr.  to pick up Scotty’s new Test Pilot model with the Riddler outline and resin ?-mark; the thing is 100% totally bitchen.  Absolutely mental.  It’s 9ft 6in vs. Tylers usual 10ft template.  Scotty tested it yesterday at Blackies and let me tell you- prepare for lift off!  The thing is nearly impossible to pearl or bury the nose in the flats.  My mind has been completely F-ed after seeing, touching, and now shooting the board being ridden.  Wow.  Action photos being posted tomorrow…

I’ve been searching for the words to thank and express my gratitude for this acknowledgment, all day long- and am still speechless.  Updating every single day is something that I can’t help.  I do it everyday whether I’m here or out of town- it’s something that is incredibly important to me, and has made me want to follow through more and more after each and every random email I receive.
Thank you Nick, for your incredibly kind words and taking the time to write something so very incredible about me- just some average loser with a heart and mind that won’t let me stop taking pictures.  It is a habit that I will never be able to break.  I’m grateful others can appreciate my habit- whether it’s perceived as bad or good.  I’m here for this very reason.
Thank you Simon, for your visit and for the encouragement and love you and your wife Jazz poured out on me during the duration of your trip.  You two are incredibly special individuals, and the Lord is definitely doing some incredible things with your talents.  Thank you for this incredible picture of myself at work, and the extremely humbling title you gave it.  You are my brother Simon, and I love you so very much.

A new webisode of Sliders TV is up- Check it.  Filmed by Peter King, hacked/edited/destroyed by Beau Stopnik.

R.S. IS COMING..

The kind people over at Hurley- namely, Robby Adams hooked me up with some (and by some- i mean upwards of over 1000) stickers for free.  In his exact words- “I really admire what you are doing and thought I would help where I could.  Self promotion rules the world.“  Dang man, how humbling and how exciting; I didn’t even know these were coming- complete surprise.  Thanks so so SO much Robby, you’re the man!

Just wait- it’s coming, and will destroy your TV, just like the shotguns did to these two (2) TV’s about three (3) seconds after these shots were taken… But while you wait, check out the previous four (4) episodes that have been done; Sliders TV man- GET SOME.

you know who on his $20 swap-meet special, pulling in and out of two nice ones at the point in Newport Beach – GET SOME.

Scotty lettin’ loose with a burnout and a skid on his ‘73 Harley Shovelhead.

I remember the day I met this Man.  “What the fuck is your deal?!” were the very first words out of his mouth, directly at me.  Intimidation at its finest.  He then followed that opening by taking me by the hand and leading me into some of the most amazing opportunities and experiences, I as a growing artist have ever had the privilege of taking in.  You want determination, an unstoppable spirit, or a heart that will never give in?  This is your man.  This here is another lifer for me.  Sharing the same struggles and complications from opposite ends of the country at thee exact same time, without even knowing it.  It’s these people that you hold close to your heart- to your creativity, and who keep you going with that “F yeah, I’m never going to let anything stand in my way” type attitude all through the crap you’ve seen them persevere through.  This here is my man, the one who has single-handedly inspired me to never give up and to always give my all.  His name is David Tindale, and he is unstoppable in all forms of the word.  Underground celebrity status.

Captain Helm had a great turn out last night- lots of familiar faces, and some new ones too.  Mitch is seriously going to murder it down there, it’s going to be really exciting to see the progression of an already phenomenal shop.  Mason is the perfect dude to help him out, plus he has a real sweet mustache.  Mochi is a real neat dude too, thanks worm for the introduction.  Anyway, here are a few randoms from the past couple days…I’m working on finishing a roll at the moment, with a bit of experimentation and don’t feel like rushing the process.

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While we were sweeping out the ditch with random tree branches and our feet- Turkey spotted this lil’ guy drawn onto one of the walls.  I just had to snap a photo of it with the point and shoot…too funny to pass up- dude I love drawin on stuff too.

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This (these) was (were) taken while we shot in the same ditch- my camera was stuck in rewind mode without me knowing.. One of those unfortunate mishaps that kind of worked out I guess.  The shot on the left is Turk doing a boneless, and the middle is of him doing a crail-block (or maybe a sweeper…), i can’t really tell or remember.  (C-41 process on a roll of Fuji Provia 100ISO).

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On our way down to Captain Helm opening, Scotty heard SanO was 3ft and glassy- WRONG.  But when we got there he still wanted to “catch five waves and be done”.  I pulled out my EOS 1Ds and fired off way too many frames (reminding me why I’m so apposed to digital photography) of some sub-par surf.  I did get this ok shot- you know, all gay-artsy-life with the bushes in the foreground, the fake vignette via photoshop, etc.  God I hate shooting digital; Such a phony approach.

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Though the Dead is EASILY one of my all time favorite bands (tied with Slayer)- I found myself loving this art piece of Jerry.  If they would have had a shirt of it- I definitely would have purchased it.  The second shot is of the Cycle Zombies display, shot from outside on the sidewalk, both images shot with my digital point and shoot.

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I shot this of Scotty doing the last wall ride of the day, due to a flat back tire on the mo-ped.  One of them ran over some glass, so it cut our session a bit short.  This was taken with my EOS 1Ds/fisheye and fill-flash…pretty weird shooting with my digital equipment again, not refreshing in the least bit.

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I was really pleased with the results on this photo.  I shot this with one of my numerous 35mm 70’s era cameras on a self-rolled HP5 canister.  I over exposed the shit out of it because I mainly only wanted them, and the natural surrounding to show up while the rest of the photo was mainly white with little detail.  Easily two of my favorite subjects I have ever had the opportunity of shooting, super comfortable and easy to work with- it’s more just hanging out while I have a camera or two with me, rather than set-up shots and asking them to pose or do certain things.  It’s a ton of fun, and I mean- seriously, we’re all gay (according to jealous old men) and wear tight pants.  How much more fun can it get?!  “STOP FREAKING BETRAYING ME!!!”

GET OVER IT.

click photos for more from the same session…

These top two photos are sequential frames that i shot of Turkey and Scotty discussing something I can’t quite remember…

I didn’t shoot these, Keith did.

My good photo buddy Keith Romanowski, took the above black and whites on a few trips he’s been on recently- and I just had to share them, as they really impacted me artistically.
Keith and I met on a NY BMX trip for Fox, which was a couple years back now, and have kept in touch ever since.  Keith is a super inspiring (yet very, very, quiet) guy, and has such a pure approach to photography.  His BMX work is just plain mental; whether it be action or lifestyle, and his portraits are technically powerful and moody.  I find myself being inspired by his work, whatever it may be, quite frequently.  If you’ve picked up virtually any BMX mag in the past year or so (foreign or US), I can almost guarantee you’re familiar with Keith’s work, without even realizing it.  The dude knows flash exposures better than any other photographer out there in my personal opinion.  It honestly blows my mind the things he can pull off with his 6+ flashes…(& I’m pretty sure he has even more now…)
It’s always refreshing being inspired by things, people, and lifestyles you may not participate in full time- and seeing the inspiration you can derive from it as a growing artist.  I grew up riding BMX and worshiped the ground Robbie and Castillo walked on when I was in 7th grade (’97), as they were locals around all the trails I’d ride everyday after school (of course, after i watched all the Road Fools videos…and Robbies epic Dave Mirra skit with the toy skate park- if you rode/ride, you know exactly what i am referring to).

Keep it pure & sincere.

…was he Black, or White?  (*and in no way is that a jab or low-blow to MJ, as he was my first favorite musician from the ages of five to twelve…) Well, these photographs (and pretty much everything I’ve been posting for the past year, or so) are definitely both black and white.  It’s just a shit-ton more convenient when i can shoot a roll, come home, develop it in the garage, then go straight to enlargements & scanning- vs. waiting a few days for the lab, and then having to spending $7 (when an entire bag of D-76 only costs $5…).  My color rolls will be done today around 1:30p- which should help get me out of this black and white trip I’ve been thriving on so much.  My apologies…bare with me…

(check radballs.com & svrf†destroy for a few more, & check these cats blog.
I should be getting more rolls back here in the next day or two…stay tuned)