I’m back on the east coast for Kevin Robinson’s surprise 40th birthday party his wife Robin put together for him in Rhode Island. Somehow it stayed a secret, and Kevin had no idea that a heap of BMX friends were in town from all over the country. Mat Hoffman, Dennis McCoy, Mike Dominguez, Xavier Mendez, Brian Blyther, Ron Wilkerson, Joe Johnson, Brian Curran, Warren Marchese, Brett Downs, Kevin Martin, Mike Rotondo, Josh Heino… in addition to tons of local friends and family, all packed into an American Legion hall with a country theme and mechanical bull. This morning we all headed up to Rye Airfield, a skatepark in NH. Kevin cut the vert session short by falling asleep on the flat bottom of the ramp, but fortunately he was (relatively) okay. I did manage to snap off a few photos of the Condor (above), and one of Josh Heino at the park, as well as a few from the party. Read more…

This was the first time I met Anthony Napolitan, who I’ve shot an awful lot since then. At the time, Anthony was a flow rider for the distributor System Cycle, and lived right down the road from the skatepark pictured above, Section 8 in Columbus, Ohio. Section 8 was a bad-ass bike oriented skatepark, producing some amazing riders over the years. I had recently moved to Pennsylvania, and took trip out there with Kevin Robinson, Alistair Whitton, and a few other guys. Anthony was killing the mini ramp, and the pink bike was a nice spark of color in a dark indoor park, so we shot for while that night. This photo was used in BMX Plus Magazine a few months later. Seven years later, Anthony’s still killing it. He’s all grown up now, and went on to win X Games medals, and a Dew Cup in Dirt.

Just took a road trip down to San Francisco to shoot another urban snowboard rail jam for Yobeat. It’s halloween weekend, and there’s no distinguishing between those who are dressed up, and those who just live here and are out for a walk. Check out the gallery I shot at the bottom of the post here on Yobeat.

I posted a teaser shot from this shoot a week or two ago, but recently I shot a bike check feature with Ryan Barrett for ESPN BMX that went up today. In addition to some photos of his set up and the customization process, we shot a couple photos at Nemo Design where he works, and took a trip down south to Myrtle Creek, OR for some action. Check out the whole thing here. The action shot above is a fastplant over a railing that sits atop a pipe at the Myrtle Creek park. It’s nuts in itself, but it was nearly dark when we got to the park. Neither of us had been there, but as soon as we pulled up he said “you can go over that rail.” Ryan got out of the car, and immediately figured out the speed line so we could shoot it. No warm up, he just got it done.

I am one of the lucky ones. I’m certainly not one of the elusive 1%, and, unless there’s some sort of lottery winning in my future, I don’t stand a chance (nor does it seem at all appealing). Shit, I went to art school, so I can only hope I’ll be worth more after I die. But unlike most of the Americans (that are fortunate enough to even have jobs at this point), I have made my living doing stuff I’d do whether or not I got paid to do it. For the last ten years (somehow I made it that long) I’ve worked for myself, and, while I can pay my bills and live my life, I’m also well aware that America is fucked. But I’m lucky and I realize that. I switched to a much smaller local credit union this week… something I should have done a long time ago. Anyway, a few times in the last few weeks I’ve checked out the Occupy Portland protest camps, and, while I would have expected them to thin out over time, the two city blocks filled with tents have only gotten (seemingly) more crowded. While things were peaceful, a few police officers kept watch at a distance across the road. For now, all still seems well in regards to the city’s acceptance of peaceful protest. Check out a heap more photos after the jump. Photos can be viewed larger by clicking. Read more…

I had nothing to do with making this, but The Big Lebowski is, without a doubt, my favorite film. The Coen Brothers are brilliant. This is the story of the dude behind “The Dude,” Jeff Dowd, produced as part of the USA character project. Since I also watch almost exclusively documentaries these days (after the Big Lebowski, nothing else really seems relevant), the fact that this exists is basically a dream come true. Or something. Watch it in its entirety after the jump (it autoplays so I had to put it on another page). Read more…

A couple weeks back I took a trip down I-5 to Southern Oregon with Ryan Barrett and Codie Larsen to hit up some skateparks we’d never been to before. There are simply too many to hit in one day… small towns all over Oregon have amazing skateparks. This shot is from Aumsville, Oregon which apparently doesn’t actually allow bikes, but it was empty, so oops. I am putting together a bike check for ESPN BMX on Ryan’s bike, and we got a couple shots on this trip for that feature. Trails style merging with concrete is always a good thing.

This week I got to check out a preview of the Mongoose bikes documentary Know Your Roots that Plywood Hood Legend Mark Eaton directed along with mountain bike film maker Don Hampton. Mark also directed the awesome BMX documentary Joe Kid on a StingRay as well as a great film on BMX racing icon Stu Thomson. This piece was produced by Mongoose, but I goes beyond a typical promo piece. This thing really delves into the history of the Mongoose brand. When I was getting into BMX in the early ’80s, Mongoose was toward the top of the list of bikes every kid wanted. I even rode a Mongoose Decade for a bit in the 1990s. The film goes way back — 40 years to the roots of the brand — and touches on the development of the infamous MotoMag. The directors got some great interview with Mongoose Pros past and present, and it’s a must-see for anyone with an interest in BMX racing or freestyle. Mark tells me it will be released for free online this week, so I’d keep your eyes peeled on the Mongoose site.

Yesterday I went up to Seattle and shot the Sixth annual Downtown Throwdown, a snowboard rail jam in Occidental Square. Hundreds of bags of trucked in snow and some rail features brought out a huge crowd. At one point a lady asked me “is this one of those Occupy protests I’ve been seeing on the news?” Yes, yes it is. You can see the full gallery here on Yobeat.

Here’s the look book we started sending out last week to retailers for the fall 2011 / winter 2012 Yobeat line. This stuff should be available in select snowboard related shops around the country in the coming month or so, and it’s all available now on the Yobeat online store. In addition to the above Issue flipbook, it’s also downloadable as PDF here. All this stuff gets designed and printed in house. 25 different styles plus colorways… I didn’t realize it was that much stuff until we put it all together.

I’m a bit slow in posting this one… just pretend I had to get the film processed. Anyway, about a week ago, right before driving to California, I shot a Red Bull skate contest at Marginal Way skatepark in Seattle. It was an elimination, jam format contest, where teams from different Washington area codes competed against each other. At the end the winners got some cash, as well as a donation in their names to the skatepark. The final round was amazing. All three of the guys on the team had some insane lines through the park. Check out a few more after the jump. You can blow them up by clicking. Read more…

Last week I drove from Portland back down to Woodward West in Stallion Springs, CA (outside of Bakersfield) to shoot some photos for their catalog, web, ads, etc. I shot a little of everything… BMX, Skate, MTB, and even some cheerleading. Woodward West is roughly a fifteen hour drive from Portland, but it goes by fast as you cruise through Mt. Shasta and California’s desert. Driving also allows me to bring all the photo gear I like, as well as my bike without having to pay astronomical baggage fees. That, and you don’t want to be in Stallion Springs without a car. This post includes some outtakes from the trip, and features Codie Larsen, Josh Clemens, Mike Saavedra, and a ridiculously large ollie from Jaws. Keep your eyes peeled for next years Woodward West catalog, to see some of this stuff and more bangers.

One thing I noticed on this trip, is that every kid at Woodward who approached me while I was taking pictures asked “what site are these going to be on.” Years back the kids would ask “are these going to be in a magazine.” Read more…

I’ve been down at Woodward West in California all week (I’ll post photos soon), but made a point to be back for the annual “Enjoy the Trick” Portland summer flatland jam that went down today. Last year’s summer jam was actually what got me psyched on riding flatland again, so it was fun to get back and actually get to ride a bunch this year. I didn’t shoot many photos, but I did make a point to get some shots of OG Plywood Hood / Aggro Rag ‘Zine maker Mike Daily (left), and Bill Freeman (right), who made the trip up from Los Angeles. There’s a lot of flatland BMX history in these shots. To be honest, I had a couple shots of both of them that I liked, and I couldn’t decide on my favorites, so I posted a couple more after the jump. The above shots can be blown up by clicking the image. I love the contrast here. Both guys have been riding bikes forever. Mike’s riding a CW California Freestyler from the 80s, while Bill is riding a much more modern, brakeless flatland setup. There’s also a clip of me from the jam that Mike filmed at the bottom. Read more…

When it comes to BMX bikes, it doesn’t get any better than the stuff from the early days — the late 70s and early 80s. In many respects, the late 70s Patterson Racing bike shown above (and in some of the other photos, it was definitely my favorite of the show) was ahead of its time. BMX frames have come full circle to a similar design and aesthetic, yet the Patterson was built over 30 years ago and stands the test of time. Amazing.

The NW Vintage BMX show happens annually in Vancouver, WA. This is the first year I’ve been able to make it out and check out some of the bike builds, and the stuff was amazing. Freestyle, racing, cruisers… there was a little of everything. Check out some more photos after the jump, and if you’re in the area, be sure to make it out next year. Photos can be expanded to a larger view by clicking.

Read more…

Jay Eggleston has been blasting to the sky as long as I can remember, as part of the Denver area “Lip Lords” crew. You’ve probably seen him if you’ve watched a vert contest… he’d be the skinny guy going two feet higher than everyone else on the ramp. Just a real nice, mellow, down to earth guy, who was once sponsored by a porn shop. He’s one of my favorites to watch, and his straight up and down style makes a photographers job very easy. I always end up with good photos of Jay when he’s on the ramp. Jay had a bad crash at a contest in Maryland this weekend, and remains unconscious. We’re all pulling for him to come out of it okay. I’m just staying informed via text messages through the grapevine. Sounds like the Athlete Recovery Fund got involved and got his wife out to MD. Those guys are on it. If you have some free cash, donate to them for sure. They’re doing good things for good people. Get well soon, Jay. Hope to see you blasting soon. I’ll try and update this post when I hear any developments in Jay’s condition. The photos above are from the old school BMX reunion in April.

The ARF has posted a press release about Jay here.

Update: Mike Mancuso added a link to the comments with a page the family set up for regular updates.

Update 2: ESPN have put up a news post about Jay here.

Jay’s family is updating the carepage site above pretty regularly. Keep up with him there… the latest news tonight was that he opened his eyes, and was responsive to a few commands, which would seem to be a good sign.

I met Matt back in the mid to late 90s, before I moved from Massachusetts to California. When I moved in 1999, Matt was starting to get better at flatland, and over the next few years I started seeing him at some contests around the country. In 2000 I shot a photo of him at a contest in Florida that ended up in Ride Magazine, where I was working at the time, but I’m not sure I’ve shot photos of him since. Matt ended up going to school for Graphic Design at the same school I went to (The Art Institute of Boston), and recently moved to Portland to work at a small time advertising agency called Wieden+Kennedy. They do work for some upstart brands like Nike and Old Spice. He now lives a few blocks from the flatland spot downtown, so we’ve been riding quite a bit. I saw him doing the above seatgrab plastic man variation the other night, and thought it would make a cool photo, so tonight, despite heavy parking lot traffic from a Major League Soccer Game, we shot it. There’s another shot after the jump as well. Check it out. Read more…

It’s possible I posted this years ago on here. But either way I’m bringing it back out because I like it. It’s a turndown flair, over a channel on the B3 BMX Ramp at Woodward Camp in 2003. I was laying on the roll in that runs through the channel, and getting attacked by birds which were nesting in the side of the ramp. It was off-season for camp, so birds had taken up residence in the ramp, and they were dive bombing me between Jamie’s runs.

The annual Pipe to Pipe went down today up at Mt. Hood. There’s a snowboard portion at Timberline, followed by a skateboard contest at Windells Camp. I hit up the skate portion this evening, and shot a few photos, some of which should be in the Yobeat gallery tomorrow. I’ll ad that link when it’s up. Until then You can check out the story and full gallery here on Yobeat. There are two photos above: Rion Linderman, who unfortunately left his front teeth on the concrete in qualifiers (but won best trick for the day with a huge McTwist on the quarter) and Omar Hassan, who recently relocated from SoCal to Portland. Omar is boardsliding from the wedge in the background, around the bowl corner, to revert out. Smooth as glass.

Basketball? Yes, basketball. I shot some basketball for Red Bull in Portland last weekend at it’s King of the Rock event. It’s a one-on-one battle from 64 competitors down to the winner, who qualified for a spot at the main event later this year at Alcatraz. I’m not a fan of traditional basketball, but this was much more entertaining and energized. Fun to shoot, and it didn’t rain in Portland. Check out a few more shots after the jump. Read more…

Matt Haughey brought be another custom bike last week, this time around it was a MTB. Matt’s a tall guy, so a fitted custom bike is the way to go. In the past I’ve shot his DeSalvo Cyclocross bike, and more recent his Cielo roadbike. His new MTB is made by local builder Vertigo, and outfitted with as many local-made or made in the USA parts he could come by (Matt is the founder of buylocalcycling.com so all his bikes have a lot of locally sourced components). Check out more shots after the jump. Horizontal shots can be expanded by clicking. Read more…

Since summer is in full swing, and two of the major snowboard summer camps are on Mt. Hood, right outside Portland (there is snow there year round), we wanted to do a special Yobeat shirt for the summer that had a kitchy tourist sort of feel… A souvenir of sorts for some of the campers and staff up there to take home. We ended up with a nice clean vector illustration of Mt. Hood’s silhouette, with a two-color print.

Rather than just design them and hand off a disk to someone else, I printed a ton of them myself right here on our press. One of the things I like about design and photography is the hands on part… the process of making shit. That hands on process is easy to lose when you pass off a computer file to a printer. I try to get as much hand done process in as I can, when I can, which is part of the reason I like screen printing. Now that we have a set-up in house, I get to do more experimenting, and keep myself sane and off the computer at times.

These are sort of a “locals only edition.” We’re not selling them in our online store. We gave away one free to each of the snowboard campers at the first week of camp at Windell’s (it was “YoBeat Week” at camp) and they’ll be for sale exclusively through Exit Real World’s Government Camp location throughout the summer. I just shipped up a batch yesterday for those guys so keep your eyes peeled in their shop if you want to get your hands on one. After the jump I’ve posted a few detail shots, and some images I poached from the Yobeat Facebook Page of kids wearing them around snowboard camp last week. Turned out to be a great promo, and kids like free stuff. Read more…

Last summer, Mark Rainha built the weirdest ramp I’ve ever ridden, hidden on a hillside in Southwest Portland. It’s small and tight, but fun, and hidden in a bizarre jungle environment that overlooks downtown. I posted this shot last summer after the ramp was finished, and now that the weather is clearing up around here, Mark has added to the ramps sketchy nature, and added an extension off the side. The weird jungle ramp is now even weirder, and it’s added to the challenging fun. You just have to be careful not to go over the side, or you’ll end up dropping a few hundred feet into the heart of PSU. The photo above is Mark, transferring from the new transition in the background into the mini. If you look closely, you might also see Ryan Barrett wearing a sweater over a collared shirt in the background. “It’s formal Friday.” At least he looked good, on and off the bike, while making the rest of us feel under-dressed. Heavy session on the ramp tonight, though, Barrett, Mark, Anthony Levenda, Anthony Buglio, Caleb Ruecker and more. I suspect I’ll shoot more on this fun contraption as the summer continues.

I came across these shots of Mat Hoffman from 2002, sort of by accident, while searching for some shots in my files. I’m not sure if they ever got used, but they’re from a “Soul Bowl” contest in Huntington Beach, CA in 2002. HSA (Hoffman Sports Association) was the sport organizer for the event, and while Mat wasn’t riding in the contest, he took some runs during practice. I can’t remember if he was injured or healthy… Injured or not, when Mat drops in it’s full throttle. Judging from the photos, whatever limb was almost detatched from his body at the time wasn’t holding him back. The photo on the left is a no-hander one-footer, which I’ve been know to call the “best trick in freestyle” on several occasions. Subjective, yes, but I stand by that, as it’s one of my favorites to shoot and to watch. Sure there are harder tricks, but that’s one that will never get old, at least to me. The photo on the right is pretty serious. The Soul Bowl was/is a full-size vert ramp, but also featured a 45-degree hip and bowl corners. People would jump the hip, but they’d mostly creep over it, and do feeler airs. Mat on the other hand, blasted the shit out of it with very little practice. In all the years the Soul Bowl events ran, I don’t think anyone else went this large over the hip… and Mat wasn’t even in the contest. Check out both shots larger after the jump. Read more…

Back in 2009 I posted another photo from this Warped Tour shoot with Joe Rich from 1999. I just came across two more slides from that day, and since Joe Rich photos are gold, I figured I’d scan them. The shoot resulted in an Etnies ad/postcard which you can see after the jump, as well as the other photo I scanned. You can also blow up the shots by clicking. Read more…

I drove up to the Seattle area today for a flatland BMX jam. I only shot a few photos as I spent most of the day riding, but you can see a few more shots after the jump. Above is Mark Florek, who I spent many years riding with on the east coast. Mark now lives in Seattle, and fired out plenty decade variations and combinations. Read more…

A little while back, FBM Bikes Team Legend Mike Tagliavento (or Mike Tag as we all know him) was diagnosed with cancer. Aside from being all together shitty, we all know that stuff like that is unbelievably expensive to treat. FBM immediately set up a fund for Tag, and riders all over the globe have been coming together to kick in money. Today’s gathering in Hillsboro, Oregon was organized by some locals including Pro rider Chester Blacksmith, in an effort to raise some money through prize raffles and a BBQ. From a turnout perspective, this was one of the larger Northwest jams I’ve been too, which hopefully resulted in some decent help for Tag. If you’d like to help out Mike, here’s a link to the FBM Bikes page where you can do so.

Above is Portland’s favorite former Huffy rider, Josh “Boyd” Cornell, who took some time off of the Party Planet and shredded some lookbacks. You can check out some more photos after the jump (the horizontal photos, including the one above can be blown up by clicking them). High turndown ration warning. Read more…