Neil Blender, Grant Brittain and Dave Swift Show, June 5th

Art and Photography at Hensley's Flying Elephant Pub in Carlsbad on the 5th of June.

Anthony Acosta Skateboard Photography

Anthony Acosta is one of the best skate photographers out there and he also rips on a skateboard.
He's one of the young guns that I turn to when I have a photo question, he's got it down.

I save everything

Bails are hot! Lance Mountain at Buck Lasek's bowl, 2010. Click on photo to enlarge, Do It!
Photo: Brittain

I was invited to shoot the Chin Ramp in 1986 and I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones to go up in the helicopter.
When Stacy Peralta asked me if I wanted to go up I did not hesitate. We came in low over the river from the west with Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries playing in my head and rose up over a small berm and witnessed the Bones Brigade members running up to the expansive ramp. The rest is skate history.
Photo: Grant Brittain

Father like son

This shot cracks me up, Chris Miller is totally killing the Baldy Pipe and his son Zach could give a damn. 2004. Photo: Brittain

Skate Photogs

Click hereStecyk, Friedman, Yelland

Skating isn't just about the skating

Tony Hawk, In Studio, 2003. Action photography is just part of it. Photo: Grant Brittain

Haunted Bridge

The only accident I have ever had was on the Bonsall Bridge. It's a pedestrian bridge now. Matt Mumford in the mid 90s.

Happy 2010!

Shoot more photos, that's my resolution. Willy Santos, wallie, Rancho Bernardo, CA. Photo: Brittain

Photo of the Day

Chris Miller, fs ollie, Dead Frog Pool, 1990. Photo: Brittain

Sinisa Egelja RIP

Sin Egelja, a friend to many within and outside the Skateboarding world passed away this last weekend.
He was a unique individual, one of the funniest people I knew and had a giant heart.
Sin was a great skate photographer and was so creative in the many endeavors he took on.
My heart goes out to his friends and family and especially his daughter, Stella.
We will miss you Sin, rest Brother.

Remember street plants?

Rodney Mullen upside down in 1987.

Hosoi

He's really good.

The Tom Penny Photo I Missed

It was 1995. Went to Huntington Beach skatepark, the one next to the high school. Tom Penny rolled up and wanted to jump down the stairs across the street next to the police station.
It was kind of a bust, it would have to be a quick one.
I set up my lights and walked over to a good spot to shoot from, I was looking down at my camera, making some adjustments, f-stops and such when I heard the distinctive sound of rolling wheels. I raised my head and saw Tom rolling towards the set of stairs and was barely able to raise my camera and fire off a frame of film. He made the kick flip with ease and we got the boot and I knew I didn't have the shot. I had no time to focus my zoom lens. The photo was out of focus so I never used it. "If it's not in focus, it's out of focus.", Stacy Peralta. Photos of Tom Penny are rare and they rarely don't get used. A while later Swift went back and shot a frontside flip at the same spot, so I guess it wasn't in my cards all the way around.

How everything and everyone around us inspires us

Photographers are sponges, I know I am. I take inspiration from my surroundings and get a lot of inspiration from the creative people I meet. This is a portrait of Stacy Peralta I shot at a taco shop across from the Santa Monica skatepark in 2009. The digi file got corrupted and this is how it came out of the camera, I don't mind the cropping. Stacy produced the Bones Brigade videos back in the 80s and set the standard for skate videos that followed. I have always admired Stacy's creativity and passion over the years and watching his art has helped my own work.

Flip's Premiere Festivus

Just some walking around photos at Flip's Extremely Sorry Premiere.

Tommy Guerrero on his home turf.

Tommy Guerrero, China Banks, SF, 1986. GSD is in the background.

Perfect Timing or Just Lucky?

I shot this photo of Neil Blender at the park in North Van in 1986. The sun just peeked through behind him and gave the shot that little extra.
Photo: Brittain

Happy Mistakes

Before there were radio slaves to trip your flashes remotely, there were optical slaves. Lots of times they didn't go off, this is one time everything went wrong and I am glad it did. In today's era of Digital Perfection, the perfect image can become more of the same.It's fun to screw up.
Kanten Russell, late 90s, San Diego, CA.
Photo: Brittain

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