Keep Em' At It

Well not a lot to report on this posting. Getting out has been a bit of a challenge but yesterday my homie Tone hit me up and was down for going out and snagging some pics. The later afternoon came about and I picked him up and got to work. Hydrant spot first then Tone was wanting to get his rail game on so we smashed over to a shortish but tall rail over in Oakland. It had been a bit since Tone had worked a rail but I was able to keep a homie motivated and the session yielded a killer stoke for Tone and some snaps for me. Oh and as a side note we ran into my friend James and it was his birthday so he vaulted the rail and I had my gear set up and I got a B-day photo for him. The title is hinting at the idea that Tone was ready to bounce on the rail spot but a bit of encouragement from yours truly and he kept at it...and in the end that was killer for both parties.

Christian

Expectations

Sigh* Yup, went out this weekend with the idea of getting some content for the blog. Had some high hopes for Saturday but you know how the saying goes..."the best laid plans..." Noah continues to come through. Different angles same trick. Stay flexible is the best advice. Dry spells will pass and it will rain content!

Christian

Fisheye Friday

Hell yea got to go shoot today!! Hooked up with some homies from Redwood City as well as Oakland guy Noah and went about. Josh Bozzuto and his friends who were both named Nick made the trip out to the east bay to sniff some fresh spots and I was glad to tour them about. You all may recognize these places but they are always good times and I have to say "out of towners " can put a different spin on stuff. Enjoy, cuz I know I did.

Christian

Roots

Recently I have been on a bit of a forced hiatus from shooting. The wife has taken on a boat load of new clients and that puts me on Mr. mom duty. Plus "una" my car is in the shop due to bad tranny. So this leads me to the current post. I have had a bit of creative time on my hands and what better to do but get back to my roots. I have a background in illustration and it has always been a passion of mine. During a trip to Phoenix Am I hooked up with Johnny Roughneck and he has asked me to get some graphics together for his companies. These are some of the ides I have cooked up plus some stuff I just got together cuz I got into doing the work. Photos will be coming down the pipe sooner than later so stay tuned.

Christian

Cowtown Skate Shop

As Phoenix am falls into the past and all the great times and chaos become faded, an experience still stands out in my mind. That experience is my visit to Cowtown...and I mean the shop not a weird farm spot or something like that. The shop was killer...definitely a place I could go broke and staff was welcoming. I decided "hey why not rep the folks who do a bunch for the local scene on the blog." And here we are. Photos don't do the shop justice, but I tried, and the interview scratches the surface of good folks. Hell yea for your local shop!!

Christian

C: How long ago did the shop open?
J: Trent and ED opened the first Cowtown in downtown phoenix in 1996. The first store used to be inhabited by a boot repair shop. the sign in the window was cool looking so they kept the name... "Cowtown" The local street skating scene was strong, and the first customer base was just a large tight circle of friends. It was the first skateboarder owned and operated shop in town.Glendale shop opened a year later and Laura became a partner. Ed, Trent and Laura were all main figureheads in the local skate scene for many years prior to the opening of the shops.


C: How deep is the team that runs the store?
J: Deep. All of Cowtown's employees and team are part of an extended local family of skateboarders. most have been raised in and around the shop and by the local independent skate scene most of their lives.


C: You guys have quite a bit of square footage. Has the store always been as big as it is?
J: The first shops were much smaller. We stayed in the same building, but eventually ended up leasing bigger spaces.

C: I have seen on your web site you guys do some collaborations with artists. Could you talk to us a bit about that?
J: Most of the artist collaborations come naturally, from just working with our friends. The local skate scene has always been intertwined with local art and music. We have been known to have periodic skate art and photography shows.


C: How do you guys help/work with the community?
J: Laura is one of three people credited with getting Arizonans first public free skate park. She, Damon Alire, and Dan Shircliff got the ball rolling with concert/contest fundraisers, and many city council meetings. After the first park was built, the others just fell in line. Those early contest fundraisers were called "The Worlds Greatest shows", and set the building blocks for what would later be Phx Am. We still work closely with our friends, and local communities to throw local contests, demos, video premieres, art shows etc.We also stay close to our locals, offering help, advice, or any spare parts we may have to help keep them rolling, and hopefully in the right direction.

C: Thoughts on how to keep business strong?
J: We just try to be nice to everybody, keep our stores stocked,stay inspired, and stay active! Good Karma helps:)

C: You have multiple locations all in AZ. Ever thought of getting out of state?
J: Az is our home. Well probably just keep holdin' it down locally for now. We do have our online store though for all our out of state homies Cowtownskateboards.com

C: Sweet! Thanks so much for your time and for fielding my questions. Any shout outs or things to look forward to from the folks at Cowtown?
J: Thanks to all of our friends in the skateboard world, past, present, and beyond, for all of their continual help and support through out the years:) We plan on ridin' this thing till the wheels fall off, and momentum keeps building. Keep an eye out for a lesson in progression! Maybe Phx Pro!? And that should do it.

C: I just wanted to inject that the competition was epic, had a great time, and meeting folks at the shop was definitely a high light!

Anthony Acosta Interview

So as I started to shoot skating one of the first photographers that caught my eye was Anthony. He was also one of the first photographers I went to with the idea of getting up on the blog. Never having done this before I was not sure what to expect, but Anthony came back with a real chill and positive vibe. I look forward to our paths crossing one day but until then...Thanks for all your feed back and willingness to help with this post. I know when and if I ever get posed the question, "who inspires you?" my answer will be first and foremost Mr. Acosta.

Christian

C: Name, age, location, occupation.
A: Anthony Acosta Jr, age 30, Norwalk, Ca, Photographer.

C: I saw your Mag minute on the skateboard mag site, you rip. How did photography find its way to you?
A: I've been skateboarding for a little over 20 years, I was sponsored for a while and was around a lot of skate photographers all the time. I always thought it was the raddest job one could have. I ended up assisting a good friend on photo shoots for a while, and he taught me the basics and gave me my first camera. That was the birth of my photo career.

C: Do you travel much and are you a fan of traveling?
A: I travel often and I love it! I've been blessed to have traveled the world through my job. My favorite spot traveled so far is Nicaragua

C: When you set out to get your work published was that difficult?
A: Fortunately I started out shooting my friends who happened to be top professional skateboarders like Danny Garcia and Daewon Song. Once I had decent photos of these guys, their sponsors always needed photos of them for ads, and that's how I got my first photos published.

C: Self taught, schooling, internships, or some blend?
A: My friend and photographer Joe Toreno taught me the basics, like how to work a camera and stuff like that. But everything else I kinda picked up on my own.

C: When you are not shooting skating what is your favorite thing to shoot?
A: When I'm not shooting skating, my favorite thing to shoot is my family. I have soo many photos of my wife and 17 month old mini me! I love taking their picture!

C: What is the worst, and the best thing about doing a shoot in your opinion?
A: The best thing is that every shoot is different, whether it be locations, subjects, or ideas, hardly any two shoots are the same. The worst part of a shoot could be getting kicked out by security, getting to a spot that's skate proofed, or someone getting injured trying to get a photo.

C: Film, digital or both?
A: Mostly digital, but I just got a Leica M6 that I've been super into for personal stuff!

C: Any photographers you look up to out there?
A: Seu Trinh, Mike O'Meally, Brian Gaberman, Jon Humphries, Atiba, Grant Brittain

C: Advice you might give to aspiring photographers?
A: Advice for someone trying to shoot skateboarding would be to know skateboarding first. You can tell by the photographs if someone really knows skateboarding or not, its very transparent. Same concept applies to a lot of photography.

C: If your not doing it now what would be a dream gig?
A: Working for a travel magazine of some sort. Or a gourmet food judge :)

C: Thanks a ton for your time and for fielding my questions. Any shout outs as the curtain falls on our little interview?
A: Thanks to all the people that have let me take their photo and to my family that puts up with my long hours in the streets. I Also thank Jesus for opening doors for me to be able to do what I love as a job, I am very very very very fortunate.

Art Attack

The kids over at 621 assembled some bands and some art then put em' together to create Art Attack. This event was a great opportunity for some local artists to get their work out and in front of the public. Another note worthy happening was the release of the newest Skidmark zine. Mike and his team are killing it and the mag is very worthy of some attention. The over all vibe was chill and the night was definitely fun. I managed to snag some snaps and network with some folks to help with fresh content on the blog. Check out the photos and stay tuned for artists and photographers who I met at the event. Art, tunes, skating , and good times...big thanks to all those who make it possible!


Christian