I’m a bit late to the trigger on my October Ben Hucke photo of the month. Travel/general busy time on both our parts coupled with the beginning of Portland’s rainy season has made it easy to slack on it, but, for two more days, it’s still October. And procrastinating got some fallen leaves into the photo of this wallride to 180. This spot is actually one of the first spots I saw when I first came to Portland several years ago (it’s in front of the apartments my friends used to live in), but I’ve never shot a photo at it. It’s the perfect jersey barrier to wall set up with some Quickcrete at the bottom. Despite me leaving several important pieces of equipment at the studio in my haste to make use of the nice day today, we still got a cool shot.

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.

Sometimes you get lucky, and this crow in Seattle made for a lucky moment. Suicide-no-hander. Crows wings. Happy accidents. Shot at Garfield High School in Seattle, a somewhat short drive from Portland, as the crow flies.

A few more shots from a filming day-trip we went on a bit ago to Seattle, and around this area a few weeks back. Caleb Quanbeck and Ben Hucke. Check the rest after the jump. The horizontal shots can be blown up by clicking to expand. Above is Caleb, no-hander down a big three-block set up into a high school track. 

While filming for a Shadow Conspiracy video a few weeks back, Ben hit me up to come out and shoot this rail a couple miles from my house. I’d seen a picture he posted of it on Twitter, but didn’t think he’d actually do it. Jump to rail to pegs, to jump over. You screw this one up and you’re done (and I would have been done as well). It didn’t make me feel real sure when he sat at the top of the stairs and said “You’re insured, right?” Yes, but no insurance needed. Pulled perfectly, a few times. Check out the photo after the jump for rail height reference. Not easy. Two story drop. This is one that would have been a video-ender a few years back, now it gets sessioned 10 or 15 times? Keep your eye out for the Shadow edit online soon to see the line.

Shot this photo of Caleb Quanbeck up in Seattle a few weeks for a print ad, but he was wearing the wrong t-shirt. Oops. Rookie move, Caleb. Supposed to shoot something else tonight down here in Oregon.

Yet another Ben Hucke photo. He’s always got stuff up his tattooed-sleeve to shoot, so it isn’t hard to end up with good photos to post. This one has been sitting unused for a bit, and it’s too good to not use. Giant peg stall, out of an almost non-existent bank in Portland. Not bad.

I shot some photos with Ben Hucke over the last month or two for an interview in an upcoming issue of Dig Magazine. The shot above, a tailwhip over an asphalt hip outside Portland, is one of the shots that didn’t get used. There’s also another shot from the Beaverton Skatepark after the jump. Click images to see a larger view.

Okay, so the second day’s post from hanging out with the Levi’s team in Portland actually doesn’t include any photos of the Levi’s team (except the shot above of Anthony and Ronnie), they’re all of Ben Hucke, but he admits to owning at least one pair of Levi’s. We met up with the filming crew at Burnside in the morning. Ben fired out some huge, high speed Ruben-style wallrides on the big wall, and then found a wild wallride to flat on the outskirts of the park, off a new transition they’re building. Anthony and Ronnie filmed some lines with Will Stroud and Fuel TV, then we moved on to a wild spot Ben had found down the road, which you’ll see after the jump.

Ben Hucke, Ruben-style wallride at Burnside.

Ben Hucke, huge wallride to flat.

Ben found this crazy roof, and actually started on the backside, went over it like a spine, and then rolled in, down, and off the shed roof... all at high speed and without brakes.

How do you get onto the roof? How else. You climb.

Shot a street spot with Ben Graham tonight near my house in SE Portland. Originally he just planned to 50/50 the horizontal support of this fence out of a small bank below, but after he got that done he figured he’d move on to try and nosepick it. When we were down to our last slivers of light he managed to land it clean. Upon finishing the shoot Ben said “You better blog this.”