Rather then digging through the last year of blog posts I’ve decided to post photos that I took this last year but never posted.

That way this post becomes less of a “re-run episode” and more of a “special features” section.

Skate Sunday

Since no one had work and everyone was usually prettyboard on Sundays, Skate Sunday became an inevitable conclusion among the people I hang with.

These photos of a spot that turned into an bust came out nice, but I never posted them for whatever reason. I like all the greenery though. Lush.

This is what Trace thinks of my skateboarding skills. His criticism is harsh, until you actually see me ollie, then it becomes reasonable.

Apparently Greg doesn’t take kindly to younger skaters. Watch it, kid.

Trace switches something out on my Myrtle deck. I can’t remember what exactly he was changing, but I remember thinking later on that he’d made it worse.

Nelsen worked hard that day. I remember saying to him “Ok man, that was great, now just push it as HARD as possible. Ok, nice. Now higher.” He was literally dripping when he was done. Dude knows how to bring it to the Ditch of Doom.

These photos of Nelsen and the photos above of Trace both appeared in the first issue of my zine. I can’t remember why I didn’t ever post these to the blog.

I shot about 400 frames at the Volcom: Wild in the Parks Tour and came away with some stuff I’m really happy with. Most of it is more of the unorthodox kind of skate photos (butt shots, heads cut off, skaters in the way of other skaters) but I tend to lean that way anyway.

See more of my Volcom skate photos here.

Wedding Photography

One of my dearest friends, Charlotte was married this year.

Ashley Thalman makes an apperance in this photo.

I like this photo because it’s not perfect, but I think honest.

This is what weddings are like for young kid. A thing you dress up for and have to smile at. I especially like the little girl in the back pulling her eyes down. I have no idea what she’s doing. But it’s adorable.

Speaking of weddings, I’ve added a wedding portfolio to my site.

Da Guyz

Ballin’ with Da Guys.

If you take sports seriously enough to not let a guy with a camera on the court, you’re doing it wrong.

Cj thought that one of their frogs might have been eaten. By the other frog no less. Nature, right?

It turned out that it had only gotten stuck in the water filter, so you know happy ending.

This is what a lot of the past year has been like for me. Hanging out with friends. Rescuing frogs & solving mysteries.

Smashing a microwave at Satan’s Land.

(I hear Satan’s Land is now becoming defunct due to construction. If that’s the case, local hardcore bands will need a new place to get their dark, contrast riddled pics taken. I suggest train tracks or dark alleys.)

This half joke, half serious, all awesome band shoot was for Vic’s band Mexi Sexi.

Indeed.

Not everything has a satisfying answer.

Portraits

Dad showing me how to true a tire on my new road bike.

My father is the nicest, most honest guy I know. He is also the worst joke teller I know.

The house I live in now is near the home that I grew up in. Trace, Cj and I went to explore some of my old stomping grounds. As a kid I used to disobey my parents and ride bikes back there. The place is now completely overrun with brush.

I guess that just goes to show that things change, or something.

To see more from that shoot click here.

Last minute sumo wrestling.

Every time a friend leaves on a mission, we go power tumbling. Noah’s number was called this time.

I went to see Kimi run her half marathon. I have never seen anyone more excited then Kimi was after she finished. Kimi is already a lively person, but this was insane.

Somewhere in Utah, road trippin.

Guys and pizza.

Girls and cameras.

Nads, Kimi and Allison.

Life is better with them in it.

Ok, so.

How to take party photos like these.

A list.

Also called shooting form the hip, keep your camera low. The majority of photos are taken from eye level. After a while that gets boring. Mix your shots up by changing perspective. Keep your camera low.

Surprise your subject. I’m not saying to pull some creep stalker moves, but be discrete. Most people will freeze up in front of a camera. If your subject isn’t aware they’ll act natural.

Take a ton of photos. Statistically speaking, even if your photography is sub-par at best, if you take a lot of shoots, you’ll be more likely to get better photos. If you in a situation where you’d take one photo, take three. If you’d normally take three, take three more, but mix the angle up.

Let your subject know you’re there. I know I just said to surprise ‘em but having someone know you’re taking a picture of them can work too. If they’re not covering there face (and even if they are) it can make for a good photo.

Focus on one person. Taking a good photo of a group of people tends to be hard. Focus on one person.

Ok, that’s it. Tune in next time when I’ll tell you the same things again, worded slightly differently.

An annoying trend I’ve noticed in certain film shooters is an elitist attitude about their medium. It’s as if since film is “original” or “more real” then digital it’s better.

This is not true.

Photographers chose their medium because of style, ease of use, or personal preference. They chose what works for them.

This is the thing about shooting film or digital: it’s just another medium. Some painters prefer acrylic, some prefer oil. As artists, we work with the materials that we create best with. If it’s digital: fine. If it’s film: fine. But whatever works for you doesn’t make it the best. Or at least not the best for everyone else.

So if you’re an aforementioned elitist: shut up.

From time to time I got back through my catalog of work. I look for photos that I might have missed or ones that I might want to process again. I like doing this because it’s nice to see how my style has changed and how my skills have improved. This is especially relevant in my color work as I’ve become a much better color photographer in the last 6 months or so.

The first image in the set above is a picture that I didn’t quite know what to do with the first time around. I initially didn’t put any work into it, but the other day I looked through the photos I took of The Crylics and gave it another go. I’m glad I did, because I’m quite happy with it now.

In this set of Noya the black & white photos are the original processing with the color being the recent experiment.

As you can see in these photos of Haleigh, sometimes I process the color photos multiple times. It’s good practice to see what I like.

So why is this post tagged in the “Learning” category? Because you should be doing this too. If you’ve got a color photo that you really like, see what happens and turn it black & white. If it works: great. If it doesn’t: fine. Ether way you should be asking “Why does this look work/not work?” What you’ll learn will be invaluable.

The rule of thirds is a photography rule derived from the golden ratio. The idea is that if you trisect a photograph both horizontally and vertically, the points where the lines intersect are the most pleasing to the viewer.

For portraits, eyes are what attract the viewers attention. It’s a safe bet to place the eyes along one of the power points.

The beginning photographers instinct might be to center the model in the frame, or at least not cut off the top of his head. But when the image is viewed with the rule of thirds superimposed over, it can be seen that the focus of this image is the eyes.

In this photo the focus is on the head. With the rule of thirds over the image we can see that his head is squarely in the bottom right point.

So that’s the rule of thirds. It’s a simple idea, but when used appropriately it can produce powerful results. Next time you’re taking pictures take two shots of the same thing, one with the rule of thirds in mind, one without and compare the two.

Further reading:
The golden ratio and aesthetics
Rule of thirds at Digital Photography School