Roughneck Does Phoenix Am

My phone rings about three weeks ago and I'm swamped so I let it go to voice mail. Things loosen up shortly there after and I check it. Chris Jatoft aka Ratface is calling about an "opportunity". Curious I call him back to hear that the Roughneck crew is looking for a photographer to come along on a road trip to Arizona to capture Phoenix am and the little details that come along with. Needless to say I'm hyped. Touch base with the family and get the green light.

Thursday the 8th I grab a few necessity's and my camera gear and get out to the city to rendezvous with folks and get on the road. Myself, Johnny Roughneck, his wife Paola, Jeremey Lavoi, Chris Jatoft, Josh Bozzuto, and Matty Pryor are all stuffed into a Caravan and on the road by about 9:30 p.m. An all niter ensues. A rest stop jam took place at about 10:00a.m. the following day and a change of the guard cuz Matty was seeing "the shadow man" and after driving all night who could blame him. We smashed the last couple of hours to arrive at Rio Vista park in lovely Peoria Az. at about noon.
Vendors galore were setting up and the park was open for the skaters to get familiar and figure out the terrain. Johnny got wind of a bar located in Tempe where some stuff was going down that night so the crew decided to drive about 20 or so mins and get a hotel for that eve. Once all the travel wary troopers got to the hotel few were up for a bar run but Johnny and I rallied ourselves and booked out. Tons of folks at this little spot...got to see a few acts, drink a few beers, and shot some stick. Good times.

The next day was heats and our rider Josh had an early time so up and at em'. As everyone started to get in the van Paola came out and told us Johnny had gotten sick and was in a bad way. We decided to smash out to get the riders to the jam and someone would come back and collect Paula and Johnny a bit later. Got to the park and Josh proceeded to have a killer run, just linking it up and landing everything. Ratface had a much later heat so we chilled and manned our booth and spread the good word about Roughneck and Everyday. A kind of f*#ked situation came about when while our backs were turned, our booth got raided and some personal effects got boosted! The most tragic loss was a blue shirt that really tore Paola up. Luckily there was a tattoo parlor close by and how better to get over a major loss than get a sweet tattoo! Both our riders did a great job at the contest but talk about stiff competition...there were some major rippers there. After a full day of drama, skating, and spreading the word everybody was ready to get back to the hotel and get ready to go to the after party. Yours truly was a total wreck and had to opt out on the party and catch up on some much needed sleep, but I heard it was a pretty dope time.

The next morn I got up kinda early and went down to the van to do a bit of clean up in what was fast becoming a sty. Johnny came out shortly after with kind of a look on his face like things were gonna be bad. Low and behold they were. The key to our rental had gotten jacked up and we were not supposed to cross state lines with the van. Johnny was stressing worst case scenario and started to lose it a bit. Things looked bleak but it all came together in the end and we got a way better and fresh van for the trip home....Booya! Over to the park to peep out best trick and just get a few loose ends wrapped up then off to Glendale park for a quick session and grab a clip or two. We are putting miles behind us by 8 p.m. I have to say I wondered if I could pull pilot the whole way home but I killed it. Take that 10 hour drive!
Thoughts on the trip go like this, don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone cuz these kind of experiences pay off in ways one could never imagine. Everyone out there go get some!!!

Christian

Tadashi Yamaoda Interview

As I stumbled blindly into the skate photo arena a name that I heard a lot was Tadashi's. I somewhat recently had the chance to meet the man behind the name at a build event and have seen him around quite a bit since that meeting. All I can say about him is super nice, great photographer, and hope to get to know him better along the way. With out further a due I bring you an interview with a multi talented Oakland based lens man named Tadashi.

Christian


C: Name, age, location, and profession.
T: Tadashi, 32, Oakland, Freelance Skateboard Photographer

C: How long have you been photographing skating in the bay area?
T: 4 and a half years

C: Do you have formal training or are you self taught?
T: I took a few of the intro classes to black and white photography but the rest was
self taught. I got a lot of tips from Ed Dominick and Mike Burnett in the early days. Thanks again guys.
There was also an issue of Slap "The How to Issue" where Dawes wrote an article about how to
be a skateboard photographer, it had a lot of technical stuff that helped me understand things. I
still have the issue somewhere.

C: Are there any folks out there that inspire you or have an influence on your work?
T: Any skate photographer that is constantly getting stuff published inspires me. Today I saw the TiltMode Army web zine which
was really dope also a while back The Manifest by Real that Gabe Morford shot was inspiring too. Also I'd have to say Dan Zaslavsky's
work ethic is inspiring, I'm pretty sure he gets more images than the average bear.

C: Do you shoot digital, film or both?
T: 100% digital since 2005. I don't ever want to go back into the dark room again.

C: Could you give me a bit of background on your mag?
T: I got really inspired from seeing a zine that Blair Alley did called "Later Life."
It was super basic and raw, it was just one b&w random image a page no captions zerox style.
I though it was so cool and easy that I basically wanted to copy his idea and throw together my own. So
I stared Kobrah. Also it kinda works out well because I'd have article ideas and solid images that for one reason or another aren't picked up by
a major magazine so I figure I'll just do it myself the way I like it. Currently we are printing hard copies and distributing them locally and
posting the entire issues online with interactive links (that are mainly relate to video) for everyone to check out. kobrahmagazine.com

C: Do you travel much to get material?
T: I definitely drive around the Bay Area a lot. Sometimes LA or if an event is happening I'll make
a journey. For instance, I just went out to Tampa pro with the Turf team. That was fun and worth the
trip.

C: What are some things you like most about going on a shoot?
T: I enjoy the comradery we'll have when we go skate, the excitement of being right up close to the action and mostly the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you capture a good image. Also I like the adventure and the interesting/random things that happen weather it be finding something unexpected or unexpected things finding you.

C: What are some things that bum you out about shoots?
T: Getting kicked out sucks and I also get frustrated when a stranger is telling us what to do and not letting us live our lives the way we see fit. Also watching grown men throw temper tantrums can be annoying too.

C: If you had to pick a favorite piece of photography equipment what would it be?
T: I recently got a Nikon D90 to shoot hd video with, it's fun. I'm starting to work on a Kobrah video too so keep an eye out.

C: Thanks a lot for your time and for fielding my questions, any shout outs as we bring this to a close?
T: Thanks for keeping on me about this interview Christian. I'd like to thank everyone who's supported my photography off the top of my head I'd like to thank my family, Michael Migdol, Matt Kriegel, Daryll Peirce, Dan Vigil, Greg Janesse, Justin Williams, Craig Nejedly, Lucian Moon, Shockus, Coung, Dave Coyne, Karl Watson, Tony Vitello, Justin Carlson, Grant, Ed Dominick, Mike Burnett, Mark Whiteley, Adam Salo, Pat Wells, Rob and Reija, Birdo and Leticia, Blair Alley, Joey Young, Steve Celentanie, Trevor Morgan, Ron Allen, FGO, all the editors at the skateboard magazines, all the filmers for moving back that one inch for me, and the riders who will give it just one more try for that perfect shot.....