This ran a couple weeks back on ESPN.com as part of a story on the new Mega Ramp at Woodward West. It was too good to not post again, though. One of my favorite shots in recent memory. Morgan Wade, massive superman double tailwhip. Yes, double tailwhip. That’s a 27-foot-tall ramp, and he’s who knows how high above that. 40 feet or so off the ground, and having fun. Morgan is amazing. It looks fake. Who goes that big (other than Hoffman of course)? But it’s very real. No post trickery here. Just Morgan’s reality.

Back in the spring, I needed some filming rigs for my DSLR cameras to use while shooting video. If you’ve used DSLR’s for video, you know stability is a bitch, and the options out there are outrageously expensive. Price aside, I couldn’t even find exactly what I needed. Fortunately, I’ve got a shop in the garage, so I whipped up my own rigs out of steel. I’m no master welder, but I made it work. After I figured out what I wanted out of them, they were relatively easy to make, so I put them up for sale in the store on the snowboard site, YoBeat. The people who need them are finding them, which is nice.  We’ve not marketed them as stabilizers, but sold them as Back Scratchers and Coat Racks that happen to work as camera stabilizers, in order to avoid any sort of patent related drama with manufacturers of the really expensive shit. “Hey, I don’t know. It’s a damn coat rack, but it holds my camera just fine.” They’re easy to make and we can sell them to the skate/snow/BMX market cheap ($30 vs. hundreds of dollars) to those who need something affordable, and not lose money on our end. While they’re not as flexible as some of the really expensive systems, I made what I needed for my work, and made them available. Unfortunately, selling them means somebody has to make them, and I’ve been super busy, so I haven’t really pushed them, posted about them, or advertised them. But some filmers have caught onto them anyway.  People keep asking me about them, so here they are. You can see how I use them, with cameras mounted after the jump. I’ve added simple bicycle grips to mine, which is easy and cheap should you choose to do the same. If you want to buy a coat rack (works for normal up to the eye shooting) or a back scratcher (works for low angle, fisheye follow-filming), head over to the YoBeat store. Both are steel construction.

Back Scratcher shown mounted to a camera, with bicycle grip added.

Coat Rack shown mounted on camera, with bicycle grips added.

I’ve been doing this “Ben Hucke of the Month” photo feature every month, since I end up with so many photos of him. I’m actually a bit early this time around, as technically September doesn’t happen for another 5 hours in these parts, but I’ve got to go out of town this weekend, so I’m getting this one done now.

This time around is a photo taken with the iPhone 4, with natural light and no in or out of camera post. Straight-outta camera if you will (or is it phone)? The iPhone 4 camera is even better than the 3Gs was, not just in resolution, but in “shutter” speed. It fires essentially instantly, with no lag, making it more effective at capturing action. I was able to get some decent action shots with my 3Gs last year, but this one is much more on it. iPhone or not, I liked this shot. I think we’re at the point now with phones that it doesn’t matter that the photo came from a phone. The original file for this photo is as large if not larger than the first digital magazine cover I shot (seriously). At this point, it’s as good a tool as any, and it’s always in your pocket. There was a moment many years ago where people stopped worrying about whether a shot was film or digital. We’re on the verge of that happening with cell phone images. Click on the photo to go larger.

Brian Hunt, one-footed invert, Oregon City, Oregon. Not much more to say about this one.

Chester Blacksmith has been out for a couple months with a separated shoulder, but we were able to get out today and shoot a photo at Pier Park for one of his sponsors. The photo above is a light test for the photo we were shooting (which I just sent off for their catalog). Simple, high, full-pipe carves like this are timeless, though, so I couldn’t let this one sit in a folder on the hard drive.

A couple weeks back I hit the Hillsboro, OR skatepark with a crew of guys including Tony Neyer, Johnny Devlin, Ben Hucke, Codie Larsen, and Caleb Quanbeck. This video is the result. I’ve placed it on my Vimeo page for my own HD archive purposes, so embedding is turned off, but you can get it on the ESPN site here.

Earlier this evening, a Texas BMX legend (Ed Koenning) posted a link to a digitized version of a BMX video I hadn’t seen in at least 15 years, Dave Parrick’s 1991 epic “Clowns Full of Hate.” At the time, a group of us must have watched that video a hundred times. At least. The riding in it is and was incredible. Looking back on that time, it’s one of my favorite periods in BMX Freestyle. There was no money in the “sport” at all. Bikes were crap. But it was awesome.

While watching the video it occurred to me that a number of today’s sponsored riders weren’t even born yet when that video came out. That’s mind-boggling really. Codie Larsen, pictured above, is one of those riders.

I’ve embedded the Vimeo version of “Clowns full of Hate” after the jump, mostly for my own records (this is one I need to rewatch over and over), but if you’re reading this and haven’t seen it, watch it. You can spare 45 minutes. Unless you are scared of clowns.

Okay, so it’s not actually a “Wilker-whip.” Technically a “Wilker-whip” was an old flatland trick created by the man above, Ron Wilkerson. I just like that title. This was one of my favorite photos from the recent 1985 Haro Team 25th Reunion Show, and it ran on the ESPN BMX site, but it only got used small in a montage. I thought it necessary to repost a larger version because a: Ron is awesome and b: I like it. You can click the above photo for a larger version.

After the jump you’ll find a few more shots from my trip to Woodward West last week. Above is Australian Andy Buckworth, putting the take off for the camper’s long jump competition to other use. It’s the opposite of the Mega Ramp. The Minor Ramp if you will. But either way, if you notice the height in relation to the curb, that’s a front flip off a 10-inch wedge. Grass or no grass, I’m not trying that.

Skyler, one-footed invert

Morgan Wade, lookback.

Anthony Napolitan, one-hander one-footer.

Skyler, vert wall invert.

I’m down at Woodward West this week, checking out the new MegaRamp and shooting some photos. Above is Anthony Napolitan who was in town the first couple days of my trip. Check out some more shots after the jump.

Morgan Wade, Superman Whip.

10 year-old Tom Schaar. That ramp is over 13 feet tall. Watch out Shaun White, he does 720s.

Jeremy McNamara, Front Crail on an oververt pocket.

Patrick, No-hander.

Evan Abernathy, Barspin off the Pole.

Jeremy McNamara, Pivot to fakie.