2009 Rewind

It was set off in April of this year. As my family got older I realized that I could return to a big love of mine. That love is skating. At that time another love had come into my life, that love was photography. It hit me one day at the park...lets merge these loves! Done. Here is the year in review for me. If you peep this blog, thanks for visiting. I'm looking forward to another year of skating and shooting. Shutter snaps and board cracks!

Christian

The end is near

Ok so the end of the year is approaching and on that note I'm going to put together a small "best of" shot gallery. The year has been killer. Thanks to all the folks who have made my transition into skating photography possible. People like ...ok this list will be long.., Jonathen Perez, Dookie Collins, Steezy, Noah Scott, Joe, Oc, D, Kevin, Josh Sanchez, Alex, Nick, Ron Allen, Trent, Paz, and my boy Buddah. There are so many fools who helped to make up this blog and I want to thank all of you, if it wasn't for you it wouldn't be possible. Bottom line much love to all the skating community in the East Bay and beyond. Special thanks goes out to Mike and the SPINWRENCH crew. These guys helped to get me hooked up with the scene.

Christian

Twas the day before Christmas...

And I had cleaned up the house. Then Crystal came home and is the best spouse. She said to me "Honey I thought you would like, to go out with your friends you can if you'd like." So I packed up my gear and ran down to the car, put it in drive and didn't go far. Berkeley was the spot to skate and warm up, skating was fun and then Trent showed up. We got a few snaps, Trent's a ripper for sure then off to Richmond I went in a blur. Traffic was wack but I finally got there. Met up with Paz, D, Oc, Joe, and Walker. Other people were there cuz there's always alot, that park is so fun how could there be not? More fun to be had doing skating and shooting, then my time was up I had to be scooting. Said peace out to the homies and packed up my stuff, leaving the park and fun is quite rough. I had a great day and I heard Joe say "Merry Christmas you scrub and have a good holiday!"

Christian

Ricmond marina

Oy... its not often I hit a blog on such a high note but this afternoon/eve was the bomb for catchin snaps!! Richmond park then to the marina to get some shots of Joe and Paz throwing down on some terrain that was super worthy of some pics. You guys rule! Killer stuff and I super appreciate it. Ey..... and Kevin and Dukie got saucie on the A frame. The details will follow, this is a quick post just cuz I'm so stoked on the shots from the marina. Much love and PBR in the house!!

Christian

There's somthin' fishy goin' on round here

Just made the jump and received my sigma 15mm fisheye lens. I have been really scrutinizing skating photos lately and realized the tool was a necessity. The talent to shoot with a lens of this type is going to be a bit to learn, but I'm down. I have been shooting with it over the past couple of days and I'm semi pleased with the results. I obviously have a ways to go and will be shooting a lot of garbage in the future. Raise your glass high... here is to humbling experiences! *Clink*

Christian

Bill Tomlin Interview

I found Bill on a site a fellow photographer, who has graced the blog, told me about. As I began to familiarize myself with his work I soon realized that this man was multifaceted. I have been holding out on another interview until something different caught my eye and I'm pleased to say Mr. Tomlin fills this bill aces. I'm being kind of vague on purpose so as to not spoil the interview...so read on and learn somethin'.

Christian

C: So thanks for being here, lets start with the basics. Name, place, age, and what you do.
B: Bill Tomlin, Upstate NY, and I'm a 20 year old photographer.

C: I came across you on Skate Perception. Are you new to this site?
B: Indeed I am new to the site, I joined about a week ago.


C: What brought you there?
B: I have lurked and contributed to many online forums in the past. One of my favorites, wheelsandwax was shut down due to people lack of knowledge joining by the boatloads. I came to perception to get some critiques on my work. Even though it is mainly scrutinizing sixteen year olds, I love the input, it makes me a stronger photographer.


C: Lets talk about your photography. How did you get started doing the skate stuff?
B: I have been skateboarding since seven years old, so when I picked up a camera two years back, skate photography made sense.


C: Biggest challenge when shooting skaters?
B: The filmer.. Sometimes kids land the trick and are over it before I am done setting up.


C: A fan of digital/film or both?
B: I love film, however I never shoot skating with it. Soon I will make the jump.

C: When you are not shooting skating whats your fave thing to shoot?
B: I enjoy shooting people being people, I also enjoy architecture.


C: Do you travel much?
B: I have traveled a fair amount as of late. In the last two months I have been to Philly, DC, South Jersey, Baltimore, and Suburban PA in three trips.


C: How does that treat you?
B: Traveling is always fun. I love observing the differences in culture, as subtle as they may be. Weather I am driving, all stressed out because I am not sure if I have enough gas or I am chilling in the van drinking, taking a trip with homies old and new never gets old. Also a big fan of all of the different types of architecture.


C: I have to say the Topic East Coast publication and blog are dope. What got you motivated to do that?
B: I love magazines, period. So, I thought it would be fun to make my own.

C: Are all the contributors east coast?
B: Yeah, all three of them. I met David Stuck at Manny Mania in NYC, David is a great guy who has done so much to help, he is also an amazing photographer. Rob Collins I met on a trip to Springfield, Mass. Crazy kid with serious skills on a board.


C: What is your primary means to get this mag into peoples hands?
B: It is carried by various in the north east. You can also order a copy directly from me. Order form

C: I would assume you put in some plank time?
B: If by that you mean skating, yes, some say too much..



C: Hey Bill I just want to say thanks for being on the blog and I wish you all the best on your endeavors, any shout outs as we sign off?
B: Thanks for the opportunity. I'd like to thank David Stuck, Rob Collins, Mike Hiskey@Hype, Dan Scott@Keystone, 50, DP, Harry, Sivan, Eamonn@Convoy, Drop In Skate Park, and many more..

Noah Scott Sponsor Me Video

With weather working against the skater without an underground spot to skate options are few. Video games, cook, carpet board, clean or take all your clips and assemble a sponsor me tape. My homie Noah Scott just got done doing the latter. Pretty sweet stuff and its a start to big things. Take a peek and if you know anyone who needs an Oakland ripper on team move em' this way.

Christian

gotta do something when it rains from noah scott on Vimeo.

Hand In Hand

A slight detour from the normal post...but not totally off track. Over this past weekend photo ops presented them selves in the shape of S.O.T.Y. and a reunion show at Coda both in San Francisco. For those that don't know the previous acronym is for Skater Of The Year, put on mostly by Thrasher magazine and a host of other sponsors. This is a big shindig held to honor the public's choice for who to give the title to. This year Chris Cole took the title and deserves it, in my opinion. The gig was loud and there were many stars in the industry to be seen. I was lucky enough to roll with the Add-A-Trick crew, Ron, Jason, Mustafa and this cool cat Damian. It was a brief visit cuz the next gig came a callin at about 10:00 p.m. We made our way across town to a club in the Mission dist. Coda was a nice place where Ron Allen was gonna hook up with a group he spent sometime on the mic with. Cannon Ball is a kickass jazz band that involves some hip- hop attributes, Dj spinnin' and an mc spittin' game on the mic. The sound was killer and seeing Ron up on stage was a trip. He tore it up! Chilled there till the a.m. then a 1:30 taco run and home to bed. So all in all a skate and music oriented eve...just like the title says "hand in hand" and to me that's how skating and music go.

Christian

Cornucopia

Man...talk about getting it done. This past Saturday I had a friend Anthony Anaya come from Santa Maria to get some snaps and just do some skating in the east bay. We connected in the morning and made our way out with a full agenda. On our way to Richmond park we collected Josh Sanchez and at the park we hooked up with Ron Allen and my homie Oc. We all had a good session there and I got some shots of Anthony working the corner quarter pipe. I had received a call the night before from Karl Watson about hitting the "local love" event at Townpark. I had intended on going and skating there and while I was there it turned out I could help Karl with some content shots for L.R.G. This event was super fun and the vibe was all positive. Cory Duffel showed up and played skate with the kids and as it turned out it was good Anthony was there cuz Karl wanted to get a demo vid from a young ripper. After a couple of hours we smashed out to a rail and grass gap spot and got some more shots. It's a trip the way light is gone by 4:30ish and to that effect the last spot was the Harrison park. This is the Berkeley park and the lights make it a night spot to session. A productive day ends at about 8:30 in the eve, drop Anthony with his folks and dump my cards. "Sigh..." Legs cramp and I'm tapped, but so worth it.

Christian