First of all, thanks for all the tips, warnings and encouragement I’ve been getting via comments and email. I wasn’t sure how this would go over, so it was a nice surprise. Alright you sissies… Day two. I didn’t have time to go to a skatepark, and I don’t have a ramp in my yard, but I was able to spend about 20 minutes in the street. I figured if the only thing I did was work on the motion of grabbing and getting airborne a little it would still be time well spent, and I think I’m right. The act of reaching down, grabbing and planting still feels foreign to me, so the more I do it, the more it becomes second nature. I decided to work on de-stinkbugging it too, reaching around the front leg instead of between. If I learn them this way I won’t have to unlearn a bad habit.

New cameras aren’t usually something I’d feel compelled to cover unless it somehow impacts skateboarding photography, but there are some extenuating circumstances here. First of all, they are using skateboarding a little in the promo materials, which isn’t a big deal by itself. Nice free advertising for Independent Trucks though… The D90 is two steps forward in the evolution of the camera I’ve been using for skate shots for the past three years or so, the D70. At the time, it was the first consumer digital SLR that had the option to use equivalent of a 16mm fisheye, my go to lens for skate photography. The D90 that was just announced improves on the D70 and D80 before it incrementally as well as adding the ability to shoot HD resolution movie clips up to five minutes long. The skatespot they use in the demo footage looks like it is in the Pacific Northwest somewhere, dare I say Seattle or Vancouver? One of our readers should be able to identify the location. I’ve got some stills pulled out plus more camera talk after the jump. [Source: Gizmodo]

Here at Skate and Annoy, we recognize that many of our readers, particularly in the Midwest, are facing a difficult time in the life of a skater: the preparation for winter. Many are squeezing sessions in before the snow, ice, or rain sets in. The winter alienates many riders who recognize snowboarding and snow skating, as pictured above from The Snow Life, as insufficient substitutes for skateboards. Each year, skaters fall out of practice and even quit skateboarding after they recognize that their “summer legs” have atrophied into wonky and clumsy appendages by the end of the winter. Many tears are shed over the tremendous task of re-learning even simple maneuvers, such as ollies. For those who are considering measures to simulate a real skateboarding experience, check this out. The folks at wikiHow.com were kind enough to the skateboard community to post an instructional on how to create a diy pseudo-skatespot in your own backyard. Unfortunately for skaters, however, this idea is crap.

This week’s Shot of the Week is Chris Miller going over the mouse hole at Pier Park, making it look effortless, and it comes to us from Rich Burton who has more shots from the same session EPM. Just yesterday Miller was still being talked about at Pier Park. I’d like to see him enter the Trifecta just once. Do you concur? Even though I know it’s incorrect, I’m getting a strong Gull Wing magnesium truck vibe from his setup. Must be the color of the trucks. This is a close up of the image, you can catch the full frame version after the jump. Check out the Shot of the Week.

I am so lame. Every year, usually sometime during the winter, I think about all the moves I want to learn and make a mental note to work on them. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as I get. Sure, I learn some new tricks here and there, but not the basic ones I feel I should have in my “compulsory routine” such as backside airs and inverts. Well, I finally decided to make a concerted effort after shooting my mouth off about it. I started yesterday on September 1st, and by coincidence, September has 30 days in it. Originally I had planned “Inverts in 30 sessions,” but there was some incredulous heckling when I unveiled that plan. Something to the effect of it shouldn’t take me two years to learn inverts. Ha ha. So 30 days it is. I’ve been asking people for advice, sometimes on camera, and I’m going put together a little video documentation. I’m not sure if I’ll do it in installments or wait ’til the end. Common wisdom says to learn them low first. This picture (Thanks Rich) is misleading because it almost makes it look like I might land it. You can see the whole…

Day three of the Trifecta and I may actually be getting worse as a photographer instead of better. Half of these pictures look like they were taken underwater. I remember having some sort of technical issue with my camera acting up, but it’s been two weeks since I’ve looked at the pictures, and it’s all a blur, sometimes literally. I think I caught the equivalent of Gulf War Syndrome from the Trifecta. Trifecta Syndrome manifests itself in laziness, general malaise and increased frequency of excuses. You may wonder why I chose such a mediocre action shot for this post. It’s true it’s not a great skate shot or particularly well exposed for that matter, but I do like the way you get a sense of all the eyes focusing on the skating, from the spectators to the photographers to the video camera boom. Check out page one of Oregon Trifecta 2008: Battle Ground.

I’m never sure how to take the Exit skate shops. We met one of the owners several years back and had a very positive experience, but every time we’ve dealt with the staff from a business standpoint, we’ve had some negative interactions with a snotty, hipper-than-thou staff. We finally just gave up trying to deal with them. Admittedly, this was more than a couple of years ago, so maybe there have been changes. Every skateshop in Portland seems to have it’s own scene. There is some mixing, but some are quite insular. The Exit shops have been one we just haven’t interacted with much. I’ve always associated them with a particular type of skater, but this contest they are throwing in Salem makes me want to check out the scene. It’s the Skate Classic 5, and it looks like some loose semi dork session and 70’s inspired events that sound like a lot of fun. Saturday August 30th in Salem, Oregon at at Bush Park on the soap box derby track. – Thanks to Estes and Colin for the tip.

I’m continuing the recent trend of having visitors from other states sending in photos of skate spots in my own geographical proximity that I am apparently too lazy to shoot on my own. This time it’s Hidehiko Fujiwara who went to Marginal Way and did some surveillance.

The ISM gallery hosted an opening for a skateboard-as-canvas art show called SK8OLOGY. The show featured the work of over 150 (!) artists, and now the boards are being auctioned off to benefit “Now That You Know, a non-profit organization that helps to provide ambitious girls from developing countries a secure environment for learning and growth. Proceeds will also contribute to benefiting the youth of our society through the artistic enrichment of our community.” There are 156 different boards up for auction in a variety of styles and mediums sure to appeal to different tastes. Prices start at $100, so check out the ISM SK8OLOGY auction.

Wy don’t we cover (fill in your favorite geographic locale) because we aren’t there. But if you are, we’d love to hear from you, as in the case with Davie Freeman who is in Okinawa, Japan. Mr Freeman sent some pics and a short write up. Enjoy.