•The rain can bring people down, but not when you’re with Stefan Janoski. We just finished watching Nike’s Nothing But The Truth video at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom, so everyone was in great spirits. Everyone waited in the van before heading to the next premiere stop. Sometimes working fast has a calmness about it. 2007
•I got a great phone call one day in 2007: “Do you want to go on the Flip ‘Feast’ tour?” Of course! While taking some photos of Tom Penny on the trip, Arto Saari jumped in behind him. It was spontaneous, and luckily I caught him in the frame. Another scared moment driving to the photo lab to pick this roll up.
•Vancouver has a lot of beaches right in the city, and some are close to skate spots. What’s better than skating and having a drink by the sand while girls bike by? Before we hit the beach spot, I shot some portraits with Paul Machnau weeks before his Globe United By Fate Episode 1 part came out and shocked the world. – xpan 2007
•For many reasons – including style, creativity, and being really funny – Mark Gonzalez is high on the list as everyone’s favourite skater. Krooked Kronickles was premiering at Antisocial skateshop in Vancouver, and I heard that Mark would be there. I showed up, asked to take his photo, and we spoke for a while like we’ve been friends in the past. He’s a real entertainer. 2008
•I’ve worked a lot with Chris Haslam over the years, and we always seem to find new spots and come up with new tricks. What you can’t see in this photo is how fast the traffic is moving and how close you have to ride to the curb to skate this thin transition. After some close calls and a few grinds on the edge, Chris pops a high ollie to fakie. -2008
•I’ve been traveling to shoot skateboarding for almost 10 years now, and it never gets old. In 2004 one of my first trips was to beautiful Ecuador. These kids had never seen skateboards before and took the chance to roll down a bank. They had the biggest smiles on their faces, and I felt bad asking for my board back. Now when I leave a country to head back home, I give my board away to a kid who’d be happy with one.
•It rains a lot in Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada, sometimes for 30 days straight. Regardless, people here still want to skate and I still want to shoot photos. On this particular dark day I got the chance to meet up with Corey Sheppard and freeze-frame his powerslide through a puddle in an alley. - 2008
•When The DC Video first premiered in Vancouver back in 2003, it was a big deal. I met up with Danny Way and Stevie Williams at their hotel room, had a few beers with them, and took two photos of Danny as we walked out the door to go see the video. I was nervous whether or not the photos turned out because I knew I captured something amazing, and they were shot on film. Lucky for me, they came back from the lab just fine. This one still hangs on my wall today.
•It’s hard to believe that this was taken 10 years ago. This was the first time I met Sheldon Meleshinski, and he pulled his fake eye out right in front of me. It felt really weird taking this since portraits are usually focused on a person’s eyes as part of their face, not an eye in their hand. 2002
