Here's a solid event for a good cause. Terren Gomez, Ryan Hughes and myself along with several other artists are donating photos and artwork for charity to help the boarding for breast cancer cause. Come check out the movies, drink some booze, get a free day pass to Northstar or Sierra, drink some booze, vibe out to the Mother hips and South Lake's own Saturn Rising, drink some booze and have a ripping time holmes. Be smart, don't drink and drive. Take a cab. Walk. Designate a Driver. Blue Go.
Many of you don't know that I used to be in the music biz, playing shows on the East Coast. Once our group dissolved, I gave up on that dream and and chose to refocus and now I do what I do. When I moved out to California from New Hampshire, my best friend rolled with me. His name is Scott Coslett, and he did the snowboard thing with me for many years and operated a Cat for Northstar-at-Tahoe. Also, we went to Lake Tahoe Community College and graduated in 2004 with AA degrees.
He got the music itch again and decided to pursue it here in South Lake Tahoe in the form of Seraphim Records. Although a talented bunch, their interrelationship was full of drama and diffidence so he packed up and moved to Los Angeles and put himself into the Los Angeles Recording School. Since he finished the program, he's gone on to work for Threshold Sound & Vision Recording Studios in Santa Monica, CA and has worked with talent such as Black Sabbath, The Cure, Weezer, Herbie Hancock, etc. Funny thing is, as I was pursuing photography, I would always be working at Ian Ruhter's place in Santa Monica, concurrently, he was working on this album with James Jr., and Threshold Sound & Vision was two streets over from Ruht's. Funny how life is.
Now he's working on a new project with Jackson Rathbone, of Twilight fame, and the band 100 Monkeys. Scotty is the hardest working and most committed person I have ever met in my life, and if he hadn't come out west with me, my life would be very different right now. If your into Hip Hop, cop this album. Just trust me, it's good.
The industry is tough right now. Many people I know are not finding the ins to secure a position to work in Snowboarding this year due to the economy and the general consolidation of the industry. This isn't new by any means but, really, it's hard out here for a pimp. Shit, I don't even know if I have a job, that's the way it is. I've been noting that the middle class snowboarder/filmer/photographer is really being cut out of the mix. By middle class, I'm not referring to income, but rather, the person who's been trying to get into the industry for a while but hasn't quite made it. It's not due to a lack of talent, it's like a connection was missed or something. So now, you have the heavy hitters, big budget, long term companies and on the other hand, you have the fresh out the gate rookies, willing to give it everything. The problem for the people in the middle is that they have been giving it everything and are finding it harder and harder to pay out of pocket for another year of filming snowboarding. At this point, it starts to make sense to try something a little more realistic.
I'd like to introduce you all to a good friend of mine that goes by the name of Leland McNamara. I've known him since I started shooting photos of snowboarding and we've always been right there with each other. Leland, Sam Hiltner (people filmer) and Kevin Winkel (K2 TM) made NC Productions what it was, a solid in between market, underground Snowboard video company. Practically a snowboard farming company. If you've heard of Austin Smith, well, that's the kind of talent that NC was raising. He's got skills with the camera, and he's got the whole travel thing on lock, so what's stopping him? Lack of jobs, I guess. If there's a company looking for a full time, talented and fully dedicated filmer, hit Leland up @ ncpleland@yahoo.com or hit me up and I'll introduce you.
Anyways, check out the film they dropped the previous winter in full: ALMOST DEAD
Well, the 2nd annual Lord of the Ringers is over and it was another good time had by all. This year, 16 teams showed up in the new single elimination format.
Below is a list of each team:
- The PIN SEEKERS (Garret F. & Aaron H.)
- SANDY BALLS (Jason T. & Hank K.)
- The HORIZONTAL 40 FOOTERS (Doug F. & Pat H.)
- The NEIGHBORS (Cliff R. & Randy H.)
- JD RING AROUND YOUR ROSIE (Joe P & Dan L.)
- BLOOD, GUTS & PUSSY (John M. & Fawne)
- The WOODFORD WOLVERINES (Bethany H. & Zach W.)
- DANGEROUS PERSONS (Winkler & Nick A.)
- TAHOE KILLERS (Jason L. & Bill H.)
- BACON SHAKE (Jenn M. & Tim P.)
- ZUUL (aka) TICKLE-O-BONE (Adrianne P. & Rob H.)
- TEAM TEAMNAME (Hank K. & Joe C.)
- WTF (Dawn H. & Greg H.)
- the BLECK RIDERS (Cat B. & Jorik B.)
- STRANGER DANGER (Sierra K. & Melissa B.)
- PENETRATERS (Kyle S. & Danny R.)
All photos courtesy of Hank Ketelsen, Jason Tackitt & Kyle Schwartz. Thanks guys!
So here's the skinny, it was a great time. If you weren't there, you blew it. Every team played well and most importantly everybody drank well, especially me. I'm happy to say that we ripped through 2 kegs no problem, 50 Hamburgers, 20 plus hot dogs, veggie burgers and a grip of special chocolates. Some of the highlights include watching Nick Alger in indecision about what to do with his horseshoe after throwing a leaner in the first game, I told him to throw it and he got a ringer, it was epic. It was especially awesome to see Danny Rein come out and partake in the event after his unfortunate accident. We were also blessed to have so many talented photographers taking photos. Kyle's mom came by with some amazing tomatoes from Lake County...they were amazing, so thanks for that. Also, the two winning teams from last year didn't show up. I think they got scared and knew that they would get their asses kicked.
The final two teams left at the end of the tournament were the Horizontal 40 Footers aka Pat Hannon & Doug Falkanger and Team Bacon Shake aka Jenn Mescher & Myself. The finals are not for the weak of heart and the pressure can most certainly get to you. These finals were also not without controversy, something about me switching horseshoes during the middle of the game. Well, I'm claiming intoxication, we were considerably ahead anyways. The game was heated and saw it's fair share of ringers. Doug was laying down heat, but was definitely getting robbed by several drunk strippers, that's when the horseshoe spins around the pin several times real pretty but falls off, otherwise the Horizontal 40 footers would have had a chance. Jenn was consistent as usual and definitely held the team together. So this years Lord of the Ringers team winners are team Bacon Shake. haha, Come and take it from us next year!
In the actual Lord of the Ringer tournament, this is where you get 12 horseshoes to throw as many ringers as you can, Joe Pronsolino, beat out the rest of the field and is the 2009 Lord of the Ringer Champion. Joe was on fire during tournament play and was the obvious favorite. He was said to have thrown a couple back to back ringers. Congratulations to all the winners and a big fat thank you to everyone who came out. Thanks Melissa for being such a help with the registration process and thanks also to Jorik who came through big time with the Kegs. Appreciate it!
We threw out a donation jar this year called the Fellowship of the Ringer and collected some money to recoup a bit. We took a percentage of the total and donated it to the Local Farmer's Market here in Meyers. We stopped by and gave the modest amount of cash to event organizer, Alex Mellon, and he said that it turned his day upside down. So, if having fun isn't enough, the Lord of the Ringers made somebody happy as well and supports a good local cause. Maybe we can do a little better next year. Speaking of next year, it will definitely be in August around the same time. We hope to see you then.
My brother Patrick and his 'lil baby Fiona Rose came by the house for a minute today and as the responsible photographer Uncle, I grabbed a portrait of the two in the backyard. Here you go parents, your granddaughter is beautiful.
This is another one of those pinhole flash photos I take sometimes, this time on polaroid. Brandon Rein is kind of a legend here in South Lake, Hella good skater and film maker. This photo was taken at about 5pm in the old Bijou Skate park in Broad Daylight. I used an Elinchrom Ranger at full power with a High performance reflector about 12 inches away from his face. He told me that it messed up his eyes for a long time. Sorry BE!
This photo was taken at the Ozone motel in Quebec City. Jonas and friend Nick Dirks with the brilliant idea of self piercing their noses while we sat at the downstairs bar. Fully inebriated, and with the help of Transworld Filmer, Gary Milton, we decided it would be a good idea to try and document it. This is the result and one of the most successful photos I have ever taken. Hope you like it, Jonas was in a lot of pain.
p.s., check out both Jonas and Nick in the new Videograss movie coming this fall
p.p.s check out the Nick Dirks Cheesedicks SUPER edit here.
We are proud to present the 2nd annual Lord of the Ringers Horseshoe Tournament August 15, 2009 and to start things off on the right foot, we have made a trailer to get you in the right mind set. For more information, check out the Official Facebook page. This event is all about fun so come hang with us in Tahoe.
I had the great privilege to be the assistant photographer for Ian Ruhter's photo shoot at Sierra-at-Tahoe this year for Transworld's Team Shoot Out. Team Shoot Out is a new type of contest where four teams get to work with one resort, one Photographer & Filmer and do their best to bring alive a creative concept within a week's time. Ian's production was gnarly, 12-14 hour days, 50 plus production crew, really, a huge amount of effort was poured into making the best feature possible. We hope you like it.
Check out what the ams got to say about being involved with the new Forum film project "Forever". I got to work with both these dudes, they tight on the shred stick!