They say a photo speaks 1,000 words... So if a morphed sequence is built using 13 frames & we assign a value of 250 words per frame… this photo is technically worth 4,250 words.
It’s late April, maybe May? We shoveled all day, and then I drove to Evanston, WY to pick up two kegs… Made it to the liquor store right before closing time. Woke up early the next morning, shot this photo, and then blasted down to the University of Utah to graduate and accept my BFA in Fine Art (w/ honors).
Lets just say the first beer out of that keg was one of the best I’ve ever had.
Gigi Ruf - Arguably the smoothest snowboarder on Earth. We shot this feature on his home turf, hitting it with him was another pro who’s nearly half his age. Gigi hit it four times, all switch tricks, and stomped all four. The younger guy… he battled it all day and never landed a trick. We all have those days, but Gigi is just different, every day is his day.
I knew Parker from Utah but bumped into him in Lake Tahoe. A crew had set this spot up as a quarter pipe, but Parker figured out this wallie-redirect-boardslide and laced it. When shooting morphs where the action is compressed into a small space, alternating frames with 100% and 20% opacity helps viewers read between the lines.
Jake Devine. What can I say… those in the know will list his style on a snowboard right up there with the best of them. He and I are also brothers in a sense, both of us have experienced a broken neck, cervical fusion, recovered, and continued to live life to the fullest.
Dylan Thompson is arguably one of the heaviest hitters to ever ride the streets on his snowboard, and is the most humble cat to ever do it. Today, Dylan owns a surf resort in Sumatra, and we heard he really likes it there.
First off, Reo is a G. The guy’s age is a mystery, but his skills are a sharp as a Samarui sword. He roams Japan in the custom van’s he builds especially for snowboard travel - FULLY KITTED. Quick to share a big smile or break out in loud and infrectious laughter, Reo is a gem of a human.
Half the allure of street snowboarding is seeing how much you can get away with when it comes to finding and building creative spots. This one - a true trophy. With bullet trains whipping out of the tunnel @ 200mph, security cameras, and a stout fence with spikes on top, this spot was obviously sketch. The FODT crew never messed around when it came to spot selection, the cops often showed up.
The Switch Backside 180 - Probably one of the best feelings in snowboarding.
Brandon Hammid was pure heart when he was strapped to a snowboard. I had never seen nor contemplated a trick like this until Hammid did it. Funny story though, Hammid, Sean Black, and the filmer in the this photo GOT ARRESTED for weed that was owned by Hammid and Sean Black. Somehow they convinced ME to take responsibility for it, and that THEY would pay for all my fines and therapy and whatever other financial burdens were incurred. Like an idiot, I agreed. Then guess what. Hammid kicked me about $100 and Sean Black never paid me. Thousands of dollars out of pocket, a year of probation, and 6 months of drug counseling. I really wonder how people who take advantage of other people like that can sleep at night.
This is why sequences rule. Some snowboard tricks are SO nuanced, that a single photo would miss the magic.
A boardslide on a tree - great, even I have done that trick. But notice how Gigi brings it to fake, rides the inside of the tree, and then re-directs into the landing. W.T.F.
I1878, CA Governor Leland Stanford was pretty busy being a railroad tycoon, and yup, gambler. He loved horses, and the popular debate those days was if all four of a horses hooves were off the ground simultaneously durning a full gallop. The ephemeral details of something moving that fast simply could’t be grasped with the naked eye.
Enter Edward Muybridge - wild-eyed genius. Stanford hired him because he had $25,000 riding on a bet about the flying horses. Cameras at the time took up to ONE MINUTE to expose a frame - that simply wouldn’t do - a horse can move 40 feet per second while running.
The technical advancements made by Muybridge and Stanford changed the world as we know it. Muybridge worked until he was able to achieve shutter speeds as low as 1/100th of a second (vs the previous speed of 1 minute) - then laid out 12 camera with trip-wires down a racetrack.
Stanford’s favorite horse, Occidenal, ran the track, tripped the cameras, and the debate was over. Horses fully left the ground when they ran. For a millennia, artists had been depicting horses WRONG in their art. Sounds silly today, but horses were life up until 100 years ago.
On top of that, the duo accidentally invented movies. Leland won the $25,000 bet, which was nice, because the little experiment cost him $50,000.
Another day with Absinthe Films. These guys have been leading the charge for so long that they might just be the last one of the great snowboard movie production companies left standing.
On this day, we wound up on Donner Pass, arguably the birthplace of backcountry freestyle snowboarding. We set this little butter pad up, and the boys destroyed it.
Note* - This photo was taken from the lip of a jump we would hit the next day, both features shared the same landing.
This hip is a staple in the snowboard world - just a quick hike from the road, it see’s pro riders from around the world visit it each season.
Felix was a part of the now-dormant WarpWave crew a bunch of Lake Tahoe locals and friends who became outright heavyweights.
Felix laced this hip, I almost didn’t show up, because I had been involved in a multi-vehicle car crash that claimed lives a few weeks before. I was in pain, physically and mentally. Eric Messier helped get me out of the house, it was painful, but it was the first day of actual healing for me… moving my sore body and just being back out with my friends in the sun. Ain’t no medicine like sunshine, art, exercise, and friendship.
Bode is the king of the impossible, and has been at the leading edge of snowboarding since he got his first sponsor.
Just out of the frame on the right - the sun is going down, this was the last sliver of light for the day.
Just out of the frame on the left - the police were pulling into the parking lot. If we were caught here again, handcuffs.
Good thing Bode was riding away from this insane trick before the cops even got out of the car. We were done, and ready for dinner.
Rodway - The guy just has the sleepiest style and it shows. This was shot on the legendary Canon 15mm Fisheye lens - only caveat is that you have to get REALLY close to whatever you’re shooting in a situation like this.
Dangerous at times, but also kinda fun, you can’t tell, but Alex whipped passed me so close that I could have reached out and given him a hi-5. I should have, he’s awesome.
We shot this at the abandoned Hamm’s Beer brewery on a trip for Volcom during the “True to This” years. The place was a mess - perfect for us.
You prolly don’t know that Johnny hold the World Championship Belt in S.N.O.W. Yup, just like a WWF title belt, but it basically states that he’s the greatest jibber in the Universe. He’s also the most positive and inspiring person I know.