I have an old friend that used to run BST, The Boulder Skate Team, and back in about 2002 he asked me to come out and photograph a youth skate competition at Scott Carpenter Park in Boulder, Colorado. I agreed to come and shoot the competition and I was immediately hooked on photographing the sport. For the next few years I would shoot most of the events BST put on.
I would even cruise by a skate park on any given day to photograph the guys flying through the air.
I think it was about 2005 when I stopped shooting those competitions. I didn't own digital camera yet and my friend wanted digital images, and scanners didn't do such a great job back then.
While digital cameras were starting to become popular around that time, image quality wasn't quite good enough for me and a lot of other photographers. During skate competitions, the skate park was starting to get a little overcrowded with fledgling skate-photographers and they weren't easy to be around. It didn't take long for me to tire of shooting those events.
With LBR only wanting digital files, and he had plenty of friends shooting on digital cameras, I didn't need to shoot them anymore. However recently I was going through my archives from those days and realized how much fun I was having back then.
I'll probably not go back to shooting skate competitions again, but I could see myself shooting some skateboarding again.
I've shot hundreds of rolls of film. This is just a few of my favorites.
Air born on deck
There really is nothing cooler than watching skaters fly through the air. I love when it looks like the board is glued to their feet.
Air born, off deck
Even when the board is not firmly planted, it still looks like they are flying. They don't always land it.
Cemented
If you've ever been on a skateboard you know how difficult it is to stand on a moving object. Especially if your not strapped down to it.
Sidelines
Although skateboarding is not just for kids, it's the kids that made the events so much fun to go to.
