Christian
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Where It All Began
There is a special place in my hart for my local park. Gilman and 4th is where the dream started to take shape. As I reflect on almost a year of shooting skating I am reminded that although "park shots" are not the coolest, it's a place many folks start shooting skating. Bangers can still crack at the park and where else can you see the homies, skate with out the hassle, and snag a few shots? The skate park that's where! Lets all give it up one time for the local park.
Christian
Christian
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tom Ledin Interview
Lets set the way back machine like 20 plus years. I'm skating in the Contra Costa area and there is a tight knit crew of guys. Tom is one of those guys. Skating and having a good time. Bang! Present day puts me knee deep in a family but getting back into it. Tom finds me on facebook and its good to hear from a cat from back in the day. I browse his profile and see a guy that is raising a killer family and has skills in the graphics department. Here we are...Tom is the second artist to honor the blog with his stuff I would like everyone to look, listen, and recognize the talent we see.
Christian
C: Name, age, location, occupation.
T: Tom Ledin
I just turned 40...feels so weird being old.
Pleasant Hill, CA
Information Technology Specialist (real job) / Graphic Designer/Illustrator(pretend job)
C: How long have you been doing design/illustration?
T: I've always drawn, but never had the confidence to try and market myself. I always understood art to be one of those things you were either good at, or you weren't, and I wasn't,...but I ALWAYS wanted to be. One day I was talking to some artist, (I wish I could remember who it was), who said, "Just like anything else, if you practice at art, you get better. If you love doing it, you'll do it, and you won't be able to help getting better." At that point I started consciously practicing, and watching myself improve was a big confidence booster, and once people started to seek me out for art, I started thinking, 'Hmm...maybe I can do this for more than just fun.'
C: Formal training?
T: No formal training. I wish I had gone that route. If I had, I would not be doing what I do for work, and that would be a good thing.
C: Is your method more traditional or digital?
T: It's more of a hybrid, and it depends on what I'm working on. For my clean looking illustrations I start with pencil and paper, then clean the original sketch up with a lightbox, scan it, clean it up digitally, and fix things that don't look right, then sometimes I ink it digitally, or I print out my cleaned up line drawing, and ink that traditionally. If there's color involved, that's always done digitally. I really kind of suck with color. I'm wearing bright yellow vans today, and my 11 year old laughed at me this morning.
C: Anywhere particular you get inspiration from?
T: I'm kind of a pop culture goon. Stuff that makes me stoked in life usually ends up on paper, movies, songs, cartoons. Most of my stuff tries to be funny, so humor plays a big part of it.
C: I have seen you do tee shirt designs, does this pay well?
T: It can. I did one shirt that sold almost 2000 shirts in a 24 hour period. I designed that art for fun, and teefury.com asked to print it, so that was like free money. My next shirt sold 400 in a 24 hour period, and my third sold like 250 in a month, I've got a couple more coming out, and I hope they do better. I need new windows in my house. Some people make tons of money doing shirts. I had one successful one, and a couple duds, but I'll keep at it because it's easy.
C: How have you hooked up with the skateboard companies you have worked with?
T: Sacrifice, was the first company I did skateboard graphics for. Rene Morales had seen some of my stencils, and asked me to cut a couple for him in trade for some decks. I was stoked, but after cutting a few stencils I remembered I hate cutting stencils. I told Rene I could make board graphics for him, and so he gave me a little art direction, and I ran with it. I ended up doing all the art, and print ads for Sacrifice for a few years. As for the other companies...once somebody sees that you know how to design for a skateboard, and understand what goes in to printing them, they come to you. Once you're out there, you're in it.
C: Could you talk with us about the Big Lebowski board series.
T: Just like everybody else, I love that movie so much. I drew a portrait of Brandt, because he makes me laugh, and from what I could tell, he had not shown up in much art. As soon as I did it, and posted it, everybody contacted me about doing other characters, and as I did them, it became apparent that it should be a series where the art covers multiple boards when displayed as a set, but each deck can stand alone as well. I didn't want to pay to print them myself, so a small company from Canada paid me for a limited run of decks, and handled the printing, and shipping. I think it sold for $250 for the set of 5, and he sold a bunch of them. Unfortunately, they were heat transferred instead of screened. That bums me out, so someday, I may get them screenprinted myself, and do another run. There's a lot of money to be made with that set, but I'm just so damn lazy it's hard to do anything...ever.
C: Are you still skating?
T: Yes, but I've broken my right ankle 3 times skateboarding, so, I'm over trying to get better. I just like to cruise around skateparks and try to go fast (kook). I built a mini-ramp in my garage about 7 years ago, and had it up for a long time, but now we've moved, and since I have a bigger yard, my plan is to re-build it, but make it taller, and wider, and have pool coping. I can't ever imagine quitting. I'm in it for life.
C: Do you work from a studio?
T: I have a little space set-up in my garage for painting, but I do most of my drawing at my regular job on breaks, and when I'm on the phone. I have a pretty wicked case of ADD, so, whenever I'm not paying attention to what I should, I'm doodling...which is always.
C: What would be a dream gig?
T: I think it would be so kick-ass to be a professional fine artist. Not graphic design, or illustration, just fine art, and not good fine art, but crappy abstract art. I'd like to wake up each day, take the kids to school, and then go to my studio to splash paint all day. If I could sell 10 paintings a month to clueless art collectors who think my spilling of paint on canvas was 'so full of feeling', and, 'tells an amazing story with color', then my life would be complete. It might sound like it, but I'm totally not kidding. I really like throwing paint around.
C: That ought to do it...thanks for your time and best of luck in the future. Any shout outs?
T: Thanks man! Shout outs to my wife and sons, also you and the old Orinda crew!
Christian
C: Name, age, location, occupation.
T: Tom Ledin
I just turned 40...feels so weird being old.
Pleasant Hill, CA
Information Technology Specialist (real job) / Graphic Designer/Illustrator(pretend job)
C: How long have you been doing design/illustration?
T: I've always drawn, but never had the confidence to try and market myself. I always understood art to be one of those things you were either good at, or you weren't, and I wasn't,...but I ALWAYS wanted to be. One day I was talking to some artist, (I wish I could remember who it was), who said, "Just like anything else, if you practice at art, you get better. If you love doing it, you'll do it, and you won't be able to help getting better." At that point I started consciously practicing, and watching myself improve was a big confidence booster, and once people started to seek me out for art, I started thinking, 'Hmm...maybe I can do this for more than just fun.'
C: Formal training?
T: No formal training. I wish I had gone that route. If I had, I would not be doing what I do for work, and that would be a good thing.
C: Is your method more traditional or digital?
T: It's more of a hybrid, and it depends on what I'm working on. For my clean looking illustrations I start with pencil and paper, then clean the original sketch up with a lightbox, scan it, clean it up digitally, and fix things that don't look right, then sometimes I ink it digitally, or I print out my cleaned up line drawing, and ink that traditionally. If there's color involved, that's always done digitally. I really kind of suck with color. I'm wearing bright yellow vans today, and my 11 year old laughed at me this morning.
C: Anywhere particular you get inspiration from?
T: I'm kind of a pop culture goon. Stuff that makes me stoked in life usually ends up on paper, movies, songs, cartoons. Most of my stuff tries to be funny, so humor plays a big part of it.
C: I have seen you do tee shirt designs, does this pay well?
T: It can. I did one shirt that sold almost 2000 shirts in a 24 hour period. I designed that art for fun, and teefury.com asked to print it, so that was like free money. My next shirt sold 400 in a 24 hour period, and my third sold like 250 in a month, I've got a couple more coming out, and I hope they do better. I need new windows in my house. Some people make tons of money doing shirts. I had one successful one, and a couple duds, but I'll keep at it because it's easy.
C: How have you hooked up with the skateboard companies you have worked with?
T: Sacrifice, was the first company I did skateboard graphics for. Rene Morales had seen some of my stencils, and asked me to cut a couple for him in trade for some decks. I was stoked, but after cutting a few stencils I remembered I hate cutting stencils. I told Rene I could make board graphics for him, and so he gave me a little art direction, and I ran with it. I ended up doing all the art, and print ads for Sacrifice for a few years. As for the other companies...once somebody sees that you know how to design for a skateboard, and understand what goes in to printing them, they come to you. Once you're out there, you're in it.
C: Could you talk with us about the Big Lebowski board series.
T: Just like everybody else, I love that movie so much. I drew a portrait of Brandt, because he makes me laugh, and from what I could tell, he had not shown up in much art. As soon as I did it, and posted it, everybody contacted me about doing other characters, and as I did them, it became apparent that it should be a series where the art covers multiple boards when displayed as a set, but each deck can stand alone as well. I didn't want to pay to print them myself, so a small company from Canada paid me for a limited run of decks, and handled the printing, and shipping. I think it sold for $250 for the set of 5, and he sold a bunch of them. Unfortunately, they were heat transferred instead of screened. That bums me out, so someday, I may get them screenprinted myself, and do another run. There's a lot of money to be made with that set, but I'm just so damn lazy it's hard to do anything...ever.
C: Are you still skating?
T: Yes, but I've broken my right ankle 3 times skateboarding, so, I'm over trying to get better. I just like to cruise around skateparks and try to go fast (kook). I built a mini-ramp in my garage about 7 years ago, and had it up for a long time, but now we've moved, and since I have a bigger yard, my plan is to re-build it, but make it taller, and wider, and have pool coping. I can't ever imagine quitting. I'm in it for life.
C: Do you work from a studio?
T: I have a little space set-up in my garage for painting, but I do most of my drawing at my regular job on breaks, and when I'm on the phone. I have a pretty wicked case of ADD, so, whenever I'm not paying attention to what I should, I'm doodling...which is always.
C: What would be a dream gig?
T: I think it would be so kick-ass to be a professional fine artist. Not graphic design, or illustration, just fine art, and not good fine art, but crappy abstract art. I'd like to wake up each day, take the kids to school, and then go to my studio to splash paint all day. If I could sell 10 paintings a month to clueless art collectors who think my spilling of paint on canvas was 'so full of feeling', and, 'tells an amazing story with color', then my life would be complete. It might sound like it, but I'm totally not kidding. I really like throwing paint around.
C: That ought to do it...thanks for your time and best of luck in the future. Any shout outs?
T: Thanks man! Shout outs to my wife and sons, also you and the old Orinda crew!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
A Re-Do Thank You
Sometimes things just don't come together and I have to remind myself that more days will come. This was the case yesterday, and lo and behold today comes around and Booya things bubble. Today started out with a session at Berkeley. Nice weather and the need to get out had been covered then Augie showed up and was in the mood to get out to some spots and shoot. Some solid stuff was grabbed and it helped to reinforce my "things will come around" concept.
Christian
Christian
Thursday, March 11, 2010
6 Twentyone
The first time I went out to this shop was to collect some folks and get on the road to LA. It was dark and the stop was uber quick. I then had another chance to get out and see the shop in the day and for a bit of time to kind of check it out. At this point the shop was in transition and the space was being readied for the mini ramp. Below is a brief interview with a good friend of mine and a smattering of photos that really only hit the tip of an iceberg that is a hot spot for skating in the lovely downtown area of Livermore. Check it out, and then, if your in the area drop in and see how the kids at 621 get it done.
Christian
C: Name, age, position at the shop.
J: Jason La Barbera, 37, co-owner.
C: How long has 6 twentyone been around?
J: We started working on the build in April of 2008 and officially opened our doors in Nov 2008.
C: How did you get involved with a skate shop?
J: My partner Dave Eastman and I grew up together in San Leandro. We skated quite a bit and loved the industry and the people we met along the way. We shared the same views of most of the industry; that there are a lot of bull shit politics and who-knows-who, and not really about the skating. So we decided we would try and change a lot of that and provide the resources to help the community and most importantly the riders. We wanted them to have a place to hang out and skate and also give them advice and resources to help them navigate through the industry and avoid a lot of the bullshit they might otherwise get sucked into.
C: Can you give me some background on the name of the shop?
J: Yah, people always wonder what the name means. It's named after June 21st (6-21). Go skateboarding day. Most people think its our address but we're actually located at 2321 First Street. 2321 just didn't have enough soul in it, so we think we made the right choice.
C: I know 621 has gone through a lot of changes just recently. How is that workin out?
J: When we first opened, the city wasn't really sure about another skate shop. The previous shops weren't really run as clean businesses, but more like heroin dens, with music, underage kids partying and doing shit they shouldn't have been doing. I've heard stories about the city walking in on a party where underage kids were in backrooms doing some pretty crazy shit. They weren't going to let that happen with us and in fact said we couldn't have any ramps because the zoning wouldn't allow it. It took us about 6 months to convince the city that we weren't going to have teenage orgies in the shop and they permitted us to build a mini ramp in the back of the shop. That permit eventually let us build the mini that is inside the shop. We teach lessons, throw contests and open it up for sessions all the time. It's working out real well so far. We have plans to bowl out the ramp inside the shop by summer time and we're going to make the outside ramp much bigger.
C: How does 621 get involved with the local community?
J: We're all about the community. We donate a lot of free stuff and lessons to underprivileged kids and other community groups. We are a venue for local bands to show the world what the got. we give back any way we can. That's really the core of what we do. Our mantra is help others and they'll help you back.
C: 3 years down the line...whats goin on with the shop?
J: By then we have a street park built on the lot next door (our landlord owns it and wants us to build) and the ramps are all interconnected from the inside of the shop, to the outside ramp, so the lines will go on for days and days and days. We're really starting to get into contests, events and video production too. We like to think and dream big and most importantly execute... too many people talk about shit and never do it. We like to talk, but we mostly like to deliver. Keep an eye out for the events for sure, they'll be a mix of large and small. The largest will be at Altamont Speedway this October. We have some big music acts already lined up and we'll be partnering with a lot of great companies to make this thing pop. It'll be a skate contest, music, independent skate film festival at the same spot of the infamous Rolling Stones concert in 1969. We're also having our Best of the Bay again this year on June 5th and 6th. Last years was incredible, but we learned a lot and figured out some better ways to do things this time around. You can expect us to do big things, take big risks and to have a really good stable of riders who we call La Familia.
C: Thanks for your time Jason, your one of the good ones!! Any shout outs as we wrap this bizzle up?
J: Yah, thanks to our loyal customers, our team and the community that supports us. Our team: McClain, Balogh, Henderson, Manchester and all the locals... Jake, Vinnie, Feldman, Clayton, Ben, Mike O, Cal, Kyle, Mitchell, etc etc. Sorry I know I'm missing a million others. We promise to keep giving back. So please continue to support us.
Christian
C: Name, age, position at the shop.
J: Jason La Barbera, 37, co-owner.
C: How long has 6 twentyone been around?
J: We started working on the build in April of 2008 and officially opened our doors in Nov 2008.
C: How did you get involved with a skate shop?
J: My partner Dave Eastman and I grew up together in San Leandro. We skated quite a bit and loved the industry and the people we met along the way. We shared the same views of most of the industry; that there are a lot of bull shit politics and who-knows-who, and not really about the skating. So we decided we would try and change a lot of that and provide the resources to help the community and most importantly the riders. We wanted them to have a place to hang out and skate and also give them advice and resources to help them navigate through the industry and avoid a lot of the bullshit they might otherwise get sucked into.
C: Can you give me some background on the name of the shop?
J: Yah, people always wonder what the name means. It's named after June 21st (6-21). Go skateboarding day. Most people think its our address but we're actually located at 2321 First Street. 2321 just didn't have enough soul in it, so we think we made the right choice.
C: I know 621 has gone through a lot of changes just recently. How is that workin out?
J: When we first opened, the city wasn't really sure about another skate shop. The previous shops weren't really run as clean businesses, but more like heroin dens, with music, underage kids partying and doing shit they shouldn't have been doing. I've heard stories about the city walking in on a party where underage kids were in backrooms doing some pretty crazy shit. They weren't going to let that happen with us and in fact said we couldn't have any ramps because the zoning wouldn't allow it. It took us about 6 months to convince the city that we weren't going to have teenage orgies in the shop and they permitted us to build a mini ramp in the back of the shop. That permit eventually let us build the mini that is inside the shop. We teach lessons, throw contests and open it up for sessions all the time. It's working out real well so far. We have plans to bowl out the ramp inside the shop by summer time and we're going to make the outside ramp much bigger.
C: How does 621 get involved with the local community?
J: We're all about the community. We donate a lot of free stuff and lessons to underprivileged kids and other community groups. We are a venue for local bands to show the world what the got. we give back any way we can. That's really the core of what we do. Our mantra is help others and they'll help you back.
C: 3 years down the line...whats goin on with the shop?
J: By then we have a street park built on the lot next door (our landlord owns it and wants us to build) and the ramps are all interconnected from the inside of the shop, to the outside ramp, so the lines will go on for days and days and days. We're really starting to get into contests, events and video production too. We like to think and dream big and most importantly execute... too many people talk about shit and never do it. We like to talk, but we mostly like to deliver. Keep an eye out for the events for sure, they'll be a mix of large and small. The largest will be at Altamont Speedway this October. We have some big music acts already lined up and we'll be partnering with a lot of great companies to make this thing pop. It'll be a skate contest, music, independent skate film festival at the same spot of the infamous Rolling Stones concert in 1969. We're also having our Best of the Bay again this year on June 5th and 6th. Last years was incredible, but we learned a lot and figured out some better ways to do things this time around. You can expect us to do big things, take big risks and to have a really good stable of riders who we call La Familia.
C: Thanks for your time Jason, your one of the good ones!! Any shout outs as we wrap this bizzle up?
J: Yah, thanks to our loyal customers, our team and the community that supports us. Our team: McClain, Balogh, Henderson, Manchester and all the locals... Jake, Vinnie, Feldman, Clayton, Ben, Mike O, Cal, Kyle, Mitchell, etc etc. Sorry I know I'm missing a million others. We promise to keep giving back. So please continue to support us.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Two To Tango
A person who continues to be a presence here is Noah Scott. Noah and I met at the Berkeley skate park...as you may well know. He continues to be a driving force behind the blog. His willingness to be shot and go out to spots keeps him in the camera's eye. He rules and is always willing to do it over to try and help me to get the proper shot. A trooper and great skater he is, and this is a collection of shots that have been taken over the past few days. It's kinda a showcase of our the most recent work. Enjoy, and remember it takes 2 to make the shots happen.
Christian
Christian
Monday, March 8, 2010
Theo Hand Interview
The ambassador from down south. This is probably the way I will forever remember our next guest photographer. I had the pleasure of meeting Theo at about 3 a.m. after road tripping down to the LA/ San Diego area with a bunch of guys from add a trick. We had been on the road for what felt like an eternity, and even though it was mad late Theo put us up at his pad. This first experience set a chill pace for the whole trip. On our way back to the bay I said to myself "I gotta get Mr. Hand up on the blog for sure". Oh and by the way Theo and I chat on "the book" from time to time and this particular interview went down while chatting. Hence the different format.
Christian
2:56pmChristian
Welcome to the blog. Lets start with the basic background. Where are you from, where are you now, age, and what you do?
2:58pmTheo
I was born in Vancouver Canada but my parents moved to Marin county CA when I was 7 months old
I lived in the Bay area until about 25 years old
3:00pmTheo
After that I moved to costa mesa for a couple years. Thats when I was working with TSA which is now KREW
3:01pmTheo
After that I went to France for a year and lived with Tom Penny and Ali Boulala to help film the first Flip video
When that was done I decided to move to Los Angeles where I've lived for the last 10 years!
(thats the longest I've lived anywhere!)
Oh yeah, I also lived in Australia for a bit like in 98.
3:04pmTheo
I'm an old school skater now! 36 years old!
been skating and still skate for 25 years!
3:06pmTheo
what else you got?
3:07pmChristian
What do you do professionally?
3:07pmTheo
Photographer/Camera op.
I've always done both...Still photography as well as motion picture.
3:09pmChristian
When did you and skating find one another?
3:10pmTheo
Around 10 years old I had a friend with one of those little plastic boards and we would take turns sitting on it and bombing the hills by our house
i think by 12 we had some proper boards and we started to learn some tricks.
Street skating hadn’t really been invented yet so we would do bonlesses off curbs and bomb drops off roofs and shit like that
skating down hills was the main thing we did though
S.F. was our skatepark!
3:15pmTheo
I used to play every sport there was. Once I was hooked on skating, i pretty much just forgot about everything else
3:16pmTheo
I was a stoner/skater/jock, so I would get heckeld by the skaters for playin football and then get heckled by the jocks for skating!
You have to remember that this was way befor skating was even a remotley cool in the mainstream.
3:18pmChristian
When you chose to pursue photography how easy/hard was it to get published?
3:19pmTheo
Way easier than it should of been!
I got kinda lucky with that one!
You wanna hear the story?
3:19pmChristian
Break it on down.
3:20pmTheo
other photographers might get pissed!
hahaha
hear it is......
3:23pmTheo
in 1991 I graduated high school and bought a nikon fm2 from Tobin Yelland (best S.F. photographer ever) I really liked shooting photos but didn't know anything (technically) about it.
So for the next year I was shooting some friends and just trying to figure out how get a proper exposure!
3:26pmTheo
I would go over to Pat Duffys mini ramp (he lived down the street) and shoot stuff over there. One day he told me that there was a new magazine that just started up called Slap and they need a photographer!
He said I should go down there and show them some stuff.
3:28pmTheo
I got in touch with Lance Dawes and went down to there office (in S.F. where Thrasher is) with some random shots I had in a drawer.
3:30pmTheo
Lance was stoked on some of the stuff and told me to keep shooting and he would give me film to see what i could come up with! (No digital cameras yet!)
3:32pmTheo
So i figured i had a potential job if i showed him that i could get some good shots with the film he gave me!
3:33pmTheo
I went back to Slap in about a week or 2 to drop off the film and Lance showed me the advanced copy of the new mag. and it had my picture on the cover!
3:34pmTheo
I kind of thought he had made a fake cover to fuk with me but soon realized he actually gave me a cover shot with one of those shots that I brought in the week before!
3:36pmTheo
I was trippin! First published shot for me was the cover of Slap! It was the Nov. 93!
3:36pmChristian
That's a rad story.
ok next question...
I know you travel a bit does that stoke you?
3:37pmTheo
Love it!
I would not live in L.A. if I didn't get to travell!
There's really nothing better than getting to experience new spots!
It's the best way to learn!
3:39pmChristian
You are involved in a pretty sweet project right now...could you tell us a bit about it?
3:42pmTheo
I'm in the process of producing a t.v. show with 7 professional skateboarders
Were trying to show the world what it is that we really do in our world.
No corny scripted fantasy life
I don't think the public has much of an idea what this life is really like.
3:45pmTheo
Rob and Bam have shown a really fun and entertaining side of the life but it doesn't really show a more realistic view of what it takes to maintain a professional skateboarding career!
So that's what were trying to do as well as promote all the projects that were involved with.
I'm really excited about it actually
Go to www.skatelifeshow.com
3:48pmChristian
I’ll link that up for sure!!
3:48pmTheo
The 7 skater list is pretty amazing!
3:48pmChristian
Next...
3:48pmTheo
Go to the full length promo vid.
3:48pmChristian
Roger that.
3:49pmChristian
I have only met you once but I have to say you are super down to earth. Is that hard to maintain considering the big name skateboarders you hang with?
3:51pmTheo
The great thing about skateboarding is that no matter who you are (pro am) whatever...If you have a bad attitude you will get put in check!
3:53pmTheo
I think that everyone is the same as far as wanting to be treated well, (Treat people how you wanted to be treated) so that’s just a human thing
But skaters are raw and if your a dick we will let you know!
hahaha
3:54pmChristian
Your favorite format to shoot?
3:55pmTheo
I love my Nikon D3. It just works so fast and can do pretty much everything I want (35mm)
I still like the idea of having a tangible item (film/negatives but it just makes more sense for the work load and time to shoot digi).
3:57pmChristian
How heavy is your post process procedure?
3:57pmTheo
It's good not to get to comfortable with any format. keep it creative
I really don't do any post work
I come from the days of film where you have to get everything right before you even pull the trigger
Remember light meters!
I did a project on the Skatebook where Ballard did some minor adjustments that looked really cool.
I like that stuff but If a photo is to retouched it looks strange to me.
4:00pmChristian
If you played in a band...lead singer, lead guitar, bass, or drums?
4:00pmTheo
probably drums
My dad is a Drummer so i grew up with all kinds of drums all over the house
4:02pmChristian
Alright Theo that should do it, just want to say thanks a ton and do you have any shout outs as we wrap this up?
4:03pmTheo
Big shout out to everyone who is doing what they love! Peace to all!
Christian
2:56pmChristian
Welcome to the blog. Lets start with the basic background. Where are you from, where are you now, age, and what you do?
2:58pmTheo
I was born in Vancouver Canada but my parents moved to Marin county CA when I was 7 months old
I lived in the Bay area until about 25 years old
3:00pmTheo
After that I moved to costa mesa for a couple years. Thats when I was working with TSA which is now KREW
3:01pmTheo
After that I went to France for a year and lived with Tom Penny and Ali Boulala to help film the first Flip video
When that was done I decided to move to Los Angeles where I've lived for the last 10 years!
(thats the longest I've lived anywhere!)
Oh yeah, I also lived in Australia for a bit like in 98.
3:04pmTheo
I'm an old school skater now! 36 years old!
been skating and still skate for 25 years!
3:06pmTheo
what else you got?
3:07pmChristian
What do you do professionally?
3:07pmTheo
Photographer/Camera op.
I've always done both...Still photography as well as motion picture.
3:09pmChristian
When did you and skating find one another?
3:10pmTheo
Around 10 years old I had a friend with one of those little plastic boards and we would take turns sitting on it and bombing the hills by our house
i think by 12 we had some proper boards and we started to learn some tricks.
Street skating hadn’t really been invented yet so we would do bonlesses off curbs and bomb drops off roofs and shit like that
skating down hills was the main thing we did though
S.F. was our skatepark!
3:15pmTheo
I used to play every sport there was. Once I was hooked on skating, i pretty much just forgot about everything else
3:16pmTheo
I was a stoner/skater/jock, so I would get heckeld by the skaters for playin football and then get heckled by the jocks for skating!
You have to remember that this was way befor skating was even a remotley cool in the mainstream.
3:18pmChristian
When you chose to pursue photography how easy/hard was it to get published?
3:19pmTheo
Way easier than it should of been!
I got kinda lucky with that one!
You wanna hear the story?
3:19pmChristian
Break it on down.
3:20pmTheo
other photographers might get pissed!
hahaha
hear it is......
3:23pmTheo
in 1991 I graduated high school and bought a nikon fm2 from Tobin Yelland (best S.F. photographer ever) I really liked shooting photos but didn't know anything (technically) about it.
So for the next year I was shooting some friends and just trying to figure out how get a proper exposure!
3:26pmTheo
I would go over to Pat Duffys mini ramp (he lived down the street) and shoot stuff over there. One day he told me that there was a new magazine that just started up called Slap and they need a photographer!
He said I should go down there and show them some stuff.
3:28pmTheo
I got in touch with Lance Dawes and went down to there office (in S.F. where Thrasher is) with some random shots I had in a drawer.
3:30pmTheo
Lance was stoked on some of the stuff and told me to keep shooting and he would give me film to see what i could come up with! (No digital cameras yet!)
3:32pmTheo
So i figured i had a potential job if i showed him that i could get some good shots with the film he gave me!
3:33pmTheo
I went back to Slap in about a week or 2 to drop off the film and Lance showed me the advanced copy of the new mag. and it had my picture on the cover!
3:34pmTheo
I kind of thought he had made a fake cover to fuk with me but soon realized he actually gave me a cover shot with one of those shots that I brought in the week before!
3:36pmTheo
I was trippin! First published shot for me was the cover of Slap! It was the Nov. 93!
3:36pmChristian
That's a rad story.
ok next question...
I know you travel a bit does that stoke you?
3:37pmTheo
Love it!
I would not live in L.A. if I didn't get to travell!
There's really nothing better than getting to experience new spots!
It's the best way to learn!
3:39pmChristian
You are involved in a pretty sweet project right now...could you tell us a bit about it?
3:42pmTheo
I'm in the process of producing a t.v. show with 7 professional skateboarders
Were trying to show the world what it is that we really do in our world.
No corny scripted fantasy life
I don't think the public has much of an idea what this life is really like.
3:45pmTheo
Rob and Bam have shown a really fun and entertaining side of the life but it doesn't really show a more realistic view of what it takes to maintain a professional skateboarding career!
So that's what were trying to do as well as promote all the projects that were involved with.
I'm really excited about it actually
Go to www.skatelifeshow.com
3:48pmChristian
I’ll link that up for sure!!
3:48pmTheo
The 7 skater list is pretty amazing!
3:48pmChristian
Next...
3:48pmTheo
Go to the full length promo vid.
3:48pmChristian
Roger that.
3:49pmChristian
I have only met you once but I have to say you are super down to earth. Is that hard to maintain considering the big name skateboarders you hang with?
3:51pmTheo
The great thing about skateboarding is that no matter who you are (pro am) whatever...If you have a bad attitude you will get put in check!
3:53pmTheo
I think that everyone is the same as far as wanting to be treated well, (Treat people how you wanted to be treated) so that’s just a human thing
But skaters are raw and if your a dick we will let you know!
hahaha
3:54pmChristian
Your favorite format to shoot?
3:55pmTheo
I love my Nikon D3. It just works so fast and can do pretty much everything I want (35mm)
I still like the idea of having a tangible item (film/negatives but it just makes more sense for the work load and time to shoot digi).
3:57pmChristian
How heavy is your post process procedure?
3:57pmTheo
It's good not to get to comfortable with any format. keep it creative
I really don't do any post work
I come from the days of film where you have to get everything right before you even pull the trigger
Remember light meters!
I did a project on the Skatebook where Ballard did some minor adjustments that looked really cool.
I like that stuff but If a photo is to retouched it looks strange to me.
4:00pmChristian
If you played in a band...lead singer, lead guitar, bass, or drums?
4:00pmTheo
probably drums
My dad is a Drummer so i grew up with all kinds of drums all over the house
4:02pmChristian
Alright Theo that should do it, just want to say thanks a ton and do you have any shout outs as we wrap this up?
4:03pmTheo
Big shout out to everyone who is doing what they love! Peace to all!
Friday, March 5, 2010
More With Steven And Tone
Phew!! Just got done with a semi late night edit session and decided to just bring it all the way around. I had a chance to get out with new comers Steven and Antonio today. We had more time this round to get to a few spots and snag some bangers!! Antonio is still kind of on the mend, bruised heel, and Steven...well let's just say too much whiskey cant slow a bro down. Good times and a nice little collection of shots. Thanks to the homies, they know how to throw down.
Christian
Christian
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