I had an idea to make a basic skateboard photography tutorial for our DIY section. Not that I’m the greatest photographer or anything, but a few simple tips can really go a long way for the beginner, especially in this day and age of relatively cheap digital SLR’s. Heck, the best photo advice I ever got was from Kevin Thatcher when he was at the helm of Thrasher. He sent me back an envelope full of negatives with a hand scrawled note that read simply “Use a faster shutter speed and your pictures won’t be so blurry. – KT.” In the spirit of that advice, I present this link to Heyday Skateboarding’s Shot Composition Basics tutorial that features a lot of solid tips. Of course all of these tips are hard to remember when you are trying to capture fleeting shots that aren’t set up or have some technical difficulties, but that’s what separates the guys who don’t get paid for skate photography from the guys that don’t get paid very much. Heyday also has some video editing tutorials and a lot of other content to boot. Some people will try to jealously guard supposed industry secrets while others aren’t…

Yesterday I was checking out Tim Kulas’ new bowl progress at Bowl Surgeon. I noticed Tim had a few computer renders of his work in progress. I was surprised by the high-tech at first, given his philosophy of dumpster diving for the majority of his wood. Then I learned it was done with some free 3D software called Google SketchUp. It inspired me to download it and work out a sketch for an idea I have for some home improvement on my garage. Originally I had dreams (delusions, really) of tearing down my small garage and re-pouring the foundation to make it wider, and adding a second story for a mini ramp. Besides money, the biggest drawback is the massive pine tree (bigger in scale than the picture above) about 5 feet away from the back corner. I couldn’t reliably dig up the sidewalk that separates the garage from the tree. I don’t want to damage the tree. It’s gigantic and I don’t want it falling on my house. It’s already causing the sidewalk to the back alley to buckle up a little. Tim’s approach and free software inspired me to have a look at tearing off the existing roof…

There’s a Bennett Skatepark DIY Skatepark BBQ & Show this Sunday, June 10th @ the Larimer Lounge in Denver. All proceeds from the door go to the park! Also, check out our eBay auction for a chance to bid on a super rare (one of 125!) Pushead Swampwoman skateboard from Conspiracy. Auction ends on the 19th. Support the Bennett project! What is the Bennett Project? It’s a skater-built project in Denver that is similar to Burnside in nature with a main difference being that they are trying to get approval in advance of building. Go to coloradoskateparks.org for more info. That bowl at the top? Why that’s a concept render for the “left nut” bowl. If you are in the area, go to the benefit. Just make sure you are on the lookout for any bad eggs.

I lifted this text from a Swedish (I think) blog that linked to Skate and Annoy. I suspect we have Stefan Hauser, who keeps threatening to be our resident Swede, to thank for that. I can’t read a damn thing on the blog, except for the word “plywood”: Vad har hänt idag. Inte mycket med bowlen, men renoveringen av streetytan med ny plywood har tagit fart, trots att Erik.. Come on, the country that gave us Ikea doesn’t have it’s own word for “plywood?” I’m having a hard time swallowing that. I’ll bet they have a word for “particle board” for damn sure. I don’t know what the Swedish equivalent of D.I.Y. is, but you can see it in action on Wavebridge Pioneers

Jake Feranti (No relation to Ferrante and Teicher) sent in some pictures of an no defunct ramp built in a condemned house, which may I say is an excellent idea, provided the house isn’t condemned for asbestos or black mold. Look closely and you’ll see duct tape on the ramp, which was originally garbage picked. It just goes to show that there are small scenes hiding out all over the place. Keep your eyes open and your thinking cap on.

Check out the new park piece here in the Columbia River Gorge, the little skatepark that could now has a very odd new part to skate/sit, at first I was like “Yuck” but then you skate it and your all “Wow”- its like freedom in a cup (coffee commercial reference for the slow folks). Anyone else have a unique, skate feature to share?

Dave Richardson on the cover of Morris Eaddy’s ‘zine Just Skate circa 1986. Before PhotoShop we had to do special effects by manipulating the Xerox. Lien Air at Chuck’s Ramp – Clearwater, FL. 10ft. transitions with 1 1/2ft vert. Yeah!

Tim Kulas is a man of few words. At least on the Interweb™ he is. He built a large wooden bowl (I’m sure he had help) in the back yard of a house he was renting in Orlando Florida, completely out of scrap wood. Renting, you say? Sure, why not. It’s the old fish pond argument we’ve seen before. A landlord would have to be very hands-off, absentee, or just plain naive to fall for that one. The bowl even has had some cement coping custom fitted (see pic above) and poured in long sections. Then there’s the save a tree ride. That’s Tim saving a tree in the shot above, left. There are a bunch of pictures and videos on the Bowl Surgeon blog. The only words you’ll find are the post titles, which are always to the point, as in “More Skateboarding in yard.” or “clicky dippy hippy fo viddy…” Don’t go looking for this spot because it’s already been torn down. Tim is moving to other parts of Florida and has already started documenting the next project. The tag line at the bottom of the page says it all: “Thanks for checkin’ it, now go find a…

Rich Burton mounted lights to a helmet and we took it for a spin the other night at Pier Park. It was an amazing experience. Here’s a shot I took of Shawn Reinert. FujiColor 800 film, 30 second exposure. Rich has more photos here.

A group called The Side Effects of Urethane working in conjunction with the U.K. skate rag Kingpin have designed and mostly built a skateplaza in some unused tunnels in London. These guys are the Dreamland of street parks, I’m declaring it. Make it so. They even followed the D.I.Y. ethic of funding and making it themselves on unused public property. Unlike London’s tradition of squatting however, they managed to get permission first. More London Skateplaza action after the jump. [Source: Sleestak]