America, That Way -> (An Interview with Eric Staniford)

I don't remember the first time I met Eric, so I can't really go into a lengthy introduction about the first time I met him, but I can tell you this - If there is an important skateboarding event, he's probably there shooting photos. In addition to shooting photos for various skate related publications and ventures, he's done excellent work for local media outlets such as Entertaining U newspaper. (Here, he's pictured on the cover) I also hear he's great at drawing maps. But more importantly, he takes really great photos, and for this reason, I thought I would share them with you. For more info on Eric and his photos, don't forget to check out the link to his website on the right-hand side of the page.


America That Way

First off, how did you get started with photography? Was it an interest in skateboarding that made you decide to start taking photos?

Well, my Dad had and old camera he found one day when I was really little, and I really liked it even then. I’ve always been into Art. But it was after I started skateboarding, my friend Ilia handed me a little point and shoot so I could snap a photo of him doing an ollie over a trash can. That planted the photo seed. It was when I saw a documentary on Glen E. Friedman, and Gordan Parks that I really got hooked. I was like, "I want to do THAT".

As far as photography is concerned, what kind of work you are you doing now?

Still shooting skate Photos, but I have been shooting bands and some fashion work too. I’m still working on my art photos as well. My girl and I shoot weddings when ever we can to help pay some bills.


Matt Fink, Wallride Over a Flower


Joe Marrara, Back Tail


Name your favorite piece of photo equipment/gear you are using right now.

I hate to say it but My Digital. I got a Nikon D2h and it’s so much fun. Instant results and I can test stuff out before I shoot film, as well as Sequences. Digital helps a lot.

Tell me about the longest distance you have traveled for the sake of photography - are there any specific and noteworthy experiences here?

I’ve been up to ATL on a sketchy road trip and down to Miami on another one. Sleeping on hotel room floors with no blankets and my dreads as my pillow. I’ve gone to South Carolina to skate some back yard bowls. Not a lot of traveling as of yet but I’m hoping to go to Peru or Barcelona here soon.


Drew Doyle

How about your favorite photos of your own - Do you have any that you are particularly proud of, or happy to look at?

The Mike Murphy Inward heel from the Humidity box is still one of my favorites. The Alva Front air used in the Vans ad, Just because it’s of the legend and it got run all over the world. P-nut’s ball jam, too. My “America That Way” It was shown in The Salvador Dali Museum back in 2000.


Mike Murphy, Inward Heel as mentioned above.


Do you have any specific plans for the future, in regards to your website, or events you plan on attending or working on?

Right now I’m trying to figure out if I’m getting my masters degree or not. My girl is looking into some grassroots organizations, and relocation is possible. A lot is in the air.

As far as my site goes: I’m constantly trying to add to it. I’ve got SO much more I want to put up there. I’ve got a lot of art, and photos I need to update. And I’m going to have a Blog and links to other sites that I do work for.


Camron

Do you have any advice for those getting into photography right now? It seems like the hot thing right now among skateboarders, and I'm sure lots of kids would like to have a better idea on where to start.

Do it because you love it. You have to give to it a thousand times more than can get out of it. So it’s a hard labor of love. If you can’t do it for fun, you need to just skate. If you do love to shoot: Read as much as you can about photography and look at a lot of it. Not just skateboard photos but all kinds: Art, journalism, portraits, anything you can learn from.


Rob Aaron


"The Ally"

Lastly, are there any noteworthy people you would like to mention - as in, favorite photographers, publications, or general 'shout outs'?

Favorite photographers: Glen E. Friedman, Gordan Parks, Les Krims, Cartier Bresson, Shannon McCollum, Ryan Gee, Pete Thomson, Grant Brittan, Joe Brooke
Publications: Automatic Mag. Focus Mag, Slap Mag.
Shout outs: My folks, Amy, Ilia, Nicky Nicks, and Ryan Clements at SPoT. Marty at Kona, Duddy at Crown, Murphy, P-Nut, Graver, Peterson, Barnyard, Philip, James, Tony Alva for hooking it up, Fink, Sean Collins, Tommy Hurtz, Dom, Logan, Kiwi, David, and hundreds of others for helping me along the way. There’s no way I could name everyone here.

Volcom Wild In the Parks @ Kona

If you haven't heard yet, Volcom's Wild in the Parks is once again coming to Kona Skatepark, so be sure to check back for more details details at Kona's site here. You can also visit Volcom's website for more information on how to sign up here.

Also, as a reminder, this weekend coming up is the AST Free Flow Tour at Kona, as outlined here, so don't forget! That's THIS SATURDAY.

Are we there yet?

As you may have noticed, I haven't been out shooting photos and sharing my skate experiences as much in the past week, but not to worry - there is plenty of content on it's way. Though things are slow at this exact moment, I have some pretty big announcements coming soon, things I've been a little tied up with in regards to preparation. Don't worry, it'll all be worth it. In the meantime, I want to remind everyone to check out RedBullSkateboarding.com, and to be sure to keep an eye on the site for upcoming announcements in the next few days. Just remember, the summer isn't over yet! (but hopefully all this bullcrap rain is done ruining my skate schedule)

Amsterdamn Am Results: I don't know you people

The Amsterdamn Am contest went down over the weekend, and although Holland is a little far for me to travel to cover a skate contest, Rob Meronek and Ryan Clements were good enough to take photos and write about their experiences for people to read. You can check out their writeup and photo collection from last year on the Damn Am website, and as always, you can follow along on their adventures at the Skatepark of Tampa website, which is always a good read. Here are the results as posted:

Final Results
1. Rob Maatman (NLD)
2. Bulard Adrien (FRA)
3. Wood Hoogendyk (NLD)
4. David Loy (USA)
5. Ruben Rodriguez (PRT)
6. Madars Apse (LVA)
7. Tim Zom (NLD)
8. Reini Rietsch (AUT)
9. Chris Gregson (USA)
10. Dylan Perry (USA)
11. Robbin Oost (NLD)
12. Collin Provost (USA)

Best Trick
Lukas Danek (CZE) - Switch hardflip back lip to forward on the rainbow ledge

This is what I read about when I'm bored at work.

ESPN has a new interview with Ryan Sheckler up. I'm sure you guys will get a kick out of it. For some reason, I can't seem to stop reading about him. These skateboard superstars are like the new hot thing. I think I'm going to start reading about the life of that redheaded snowboard skate guy next. You know, the one guy who wears leather pants and drives a Ferrarri?

Maloof Money Cup Results, Posted on Socalskateparks.com's Forums

Just an update for those of you looking for results to the Maloof Money Cup Competition that took place over the weekend - I found this posted on socalskateparks.com's forums. If you don't know, SoCal Skateparks is responsible for the construction of the skatable objects in the contest, and they really did a hell of a job.

You can read the full post here on the official forums for the site.

I've Abbreviated the post, so be sure to check out the site linked for details about the event.

Men's Pro Street Finals

1st – Paul Rodriguez $100,000 and Nixon watch worth $10,000
2nd - Nyjah Huston $40,000
3rd – Chris Cole $25,000
4th – Ryan Sheckler $15,000
5th – Darrell Stanton $6,250
6th - Jereme Rogers $5,000
7th – Terry Kennedy $4,000
8th – Andrew Reynolds $3,000
9th – Greg Lutzka $2,500
10th – Dennis Busenitz $2,000
11th – Adam Dyet $1,500
12th – Tommy Sandoval $1,250
13th – Billy Marks $1,000
14th – Kurtis Colamonico $1,000
15th – Sean Malto $1,000
16th – Bryan Herman $750
17th – Eric Koston $750
18th – Mike Carroll $750
19th – Jake Duncombe $500
20th – Sierra Fellers $500

Skaters were paid up to 36th place, and the total purse for was
$215,750 in prize money!


Men's Pro Vert Finals

1st - Pierre-Luc Gagnon $75,000, a New Ford Flex SUV and Nixon watch worth $10,000
2nd - Shaun White $35,000
3rd - Bucky Lasek $20,000
4th - Danny Mayer $10,000
5th – Sandro Dias $6,000
6th – Andy MacDonald $5,000
7th - Bob Burnquist $4,000
8th – Lincoln Ueda $3,000
9th – Rodrigo Menenez $2,000
10th - Buster Halterman $1,000
11th – Rune Glifberg $250
12th – Rob Lorifice $250
13th – Neal Hendrix $250
14th – Alex Perelson $250
15th - Jake Brown $250
16th – Josh Stafford $250
17th – Darren Navarrette $250
18th – Jean Postec $250
19th – Max Dufour $250
20th – Adam Taylor $250

For a total of $163,500 in prize money!


Women's Pro Street Finals


1st – Lacey Baker $25,000 and a Nixon watch worth $10,000
2nd – Rachel Reinhard $8,000
3rd - Vanessa Torres $4,000
4th – Elissa Steamer $2,000
5th – Leticia Bufoni $1,500
6th – Amy Caron $250
7th – Lorena Lima $250
8th – Lauren Perkins $250
9th – Evelien Bouilliart $250
10th – Marissa Del Santo $250

For a total of $41,750 in prize money!

Zumiez Best Trick Contest

Lane 1 - Greg Lutzka f-siide flip back lipslide $2,000
Lane 2 - Jake Duncombe bluntslide to back noseblunt $2,000
Lane 3 - Greg Lutzka f-side 270 kickflip noseblunt $2,000
Lane 4 - Leo Romero f-side noseblunt up the ledge $2,000
Lane 5 - Nyjah Houston big spin flip to f-side boardslide $5,000

The Maloof Money Cup will air on CBS, Sunday, July 20, 2008 at noon PST.

Please be sure to check out the direct link above for a full writeup of the event!

Other People's News - July 10, 2008

Some new news from the outside skate world, since I have nothing of my own to report on as of this exact moment:

As reported by Skatedaily.com and Pool Snob from Fuel TV, legendary Z-Boy Jay Adams has been released from prison and is now back on the path to a cleaner life. As reported by Pool Snob at Fuel TV:

After more than two-and-a-half years behind bars, skate legend Jay Adams was released this morning, July 7, from the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon. Bussed to Portland and flown to LAX, Jay will be living at a halfway home in Southern California. He’s also been offered a job as facilities manager at Hurley headquarters in Costa Mesa. For the time being, Jay says he’s going to stay put in Southern California. Probably a wise choice, since the frontier of Hawaii’s North Shore can make things tough for people who often find themselves surrounded by their personal demons.

You can read the rest of this story here.

Attn: Nerds - Skate it for Nintendo Wii, Balance Board Compatable.

I just spent about 20 minutes following up on my previous story on Skate It for the Nintendo Wii. Well, my computer decided to eat the story I wrote, and since I'm impatient and short on time, I'll give you the general gist of what I wrote about this upcoming skateboarding game for the Nintendo Wii.

-Skate It will feature 2 ways to control the game. One way is to hold the Wii Remote in your hand, flipping it from side to side for flip tricks, quickly jabbing the nose of the remote up or down for ollies and nollies, etc. The other way, is to use a combination of the Wii Remote and the Wii Balance board, which is illustrated in the image on the right.

-Skate It for the Wii will feature the same general gameplay as EA Blackbox's breakthrough skateboarding game, Skate., but with simpler, more animated graphics, less pedestrian interaction, and a slightly altered city environment. Not really so much of a sequel, as much as it is a spin off.

-You can find more info about EA's Skate., Skate It, and the Upcoming Skate 2 at the following sites:

http://www.ea.com/skate/ - Official Webpage for Skate., with trailer clips for Skate 2.

www.joystiq.com - Awesome gaming blog site blogging about hands-on time with Skate It for Wii.

Featured Photog: Julio Gonzales

Here are some photos from Julio Gonzales. If you don't know Julio, you probably know about things he's done, such as his work on 904skate.com and with 904 Skate magazine. Julio definitely has a style of his own, and his photos more than speak for themselves.

If you have photos for submission, leave me a note or send me an email. Contact info is on the right-hand side of the blog entries.


Vince, Switch Crook


Mike Peterson, Frontside Tail


Matt Fink, Frontside Flip



David Morico, Crook

More of Julio's photos can be found on his flickr account, which is located here.

AST Free Flow Tour at Kona Skatepark, Saturday August 2nd

Last time I went to an AST event, it was being promoted by a couple of guys in a van, at a contest held at Vans skatepark in Orlando. Well, looks like things have come a long way, and I'm glad I'll be in town for this.

From the Press release on Kona's website:

Official Press Announcement

Kona will be hosting a stop of the 2008 Free Flow Tour on August 2nd. The Free Flow Tour is the Official Amateur Series of the AST Dew Tour. Free Flow will be throwing 24 Skate park and 5 Skate vert contests at parks all over the country this summer. These skate contests are open to skaters 18 and under. The winner from each of these regional contests will win an all expense paid trip to the AST Dew Tour Toyota Challenge in Salt Lake City, UT to compete in the Free Flow Finals. The winner of the Free Flow Finals will earn a wildcard spot to compete against the pros at the AST Dew Tour PlayStation Pro in Orlando, FL.

We hope to see everyone at a Free Flow contest this summer, good luck!

The street contest at Kona will begin promptly at 11am.
The entry fee will be $20
Registration will start on July 2nd

Find out more at www.freeflowtour.com

-Best of luck to everyone who enters!
Kona Skatepark
(904)725-8770
www.konaskatepark.com

How to Help BusStop, Become a Hero

Over the weekend, it was suggested to me that it seemed like maybe some tennis dad was in charge of BusStop, and maybe not so much a skateboarder. Maybe my kid was into it or something. Well, technically I AM a dad, and I have played tennis once or twice, but that really isn't an accurate description of me as a person, so I thought I would just make a comment on that for clarification. I pretty much fit the bill of a skateboarder, so I'll just use that label for myself. So there is the introduction, the 'About Me' section, if you will. I am a skateboarder that rides a skateboard.

An important update I would like to make would be regarding the addition of my contact info for the site. Along the right-hand side of the page, you'll see my email address, (busstopmag@gmail.com) so please feel free to use it if you would like to ask a question, submit content for the site, or send me any kind of press release or upcoming event info. I have plenty of content lined up for the near future, but that doesn't mean I don't have room for reader submitted content. Hope to hear from you soon!

Kona's 31st Anniversary Party, Saturday, July 5th

Last year, Kona had an insane party to celebrate 30 years of skateboarding. The party was great, and I had a lot of fun. Well, it's that time of year once again, and Kona is once again throwing a party. They've toned it down a bit due to the amount of construction going on around the park, but that doesn't mean that it won't be awesome. According to the site, Kona will be hosting a free cookout, along with live music, skate movies playing on the tombstone, and fireworks that start after it gets dark. Everything starts at 5 p.m. For more information, just check out Kona's website.

Raffle, not Rifle - Board City in Orange Park

Hopefully, this clarification will bring more elation to you readers than it will ill feelings. Board City is not, in fact offering a report card RIFLE, but rather a report card RAFFLE. My aim is not to disappoint, though I know that our given longitudinal locale, some might appreciate the former over the latter. But in all honesty, we are skateboarders, and most of us are generally smart people, so I will go ahead and give you the information that is most appropriate for what I perceive the BusStop audience to be. Here is what you need to know about this raffle:

On Saturday, July 12th, Board City in Orange Park will be holding the shop's annual 'Report Card Raffle' event. The event is free to enter, and tickets are given for each letter grade you have on your report card - 2 tickets for every "A", and 1 ticket for every "B". With these tickets, you have a chance to win roughly a metric ton's worth of prizes.

In addition to the raffle, there will be a sale going on at the shop lasting from the 5th of July (that would be THIS Saturday) till the 13th of July, so see the flyer for details.

So, lock that gun cabinet back up, round your little skate rats up into the back of the truck, and mud bog your way down to board city for the Report Card Raffle. Chances are, you'll be glad you did. And don't be mad, there's another gun show coming to the Jacksonville Fair Grounds in just a few weeks.