rangefinder scans

All of a sudden i felt an odd compulsion to start shooting much more film. I bike downtown and back just about everyday always roll with a camera. Living in a huge city like toronto there's just soo much you can miss if you aren't observant and fast enough. I guess I'm quite a people watcher cause just about everyday i see people at their worst/best and cant help my from shooting it.









Devon and Mariella


whatever's going on here, they're enjoying it


Graffiti or a despondent message


FLOCKA SWITCH BACK TAIL


38mm f/1.8


Regent

TANNER GRISBROOK BLUNT FAKIE


Filming for Erick Vallentic's video was momentarily disrupted


DON VALLEY


BEN PATTERSON FRONT LIP


BURGER KINGS
i realllly like this

morgan smith goes pro

This is obviously old news, most of the people reading this probably even knew when it was going down long before it had been made official. Certainly anyone who has had the pleasure of actually sharing a session with Morgan knew years ago. Morgan's ability is simply uncanny, there is just no way to describe his skateboarding with words, it's something you just have to experience. It's not just the skateboarding either but rather- his attitude towards it. Morgan skates because its fun. In fact he had so much fun they turned him pro. Im sure you will see more than a few people around here riding his board in the near future.


ollie quick kickflip



front tail bigspin heel

Built To Grind

One of the best things about skating street in a city like Toronto is having such a great diversity of skate mediums available to us. A metal ledge in the streets is always a great find- but the most of the time you're trying to skate old chunky ledges blown out by years of smith grinds and bike pegs, or any obscure material with an edge- occasionally with dire consequences to the surface. Everyone gets bored of skating parks with nothing but metal ledges, but often granite ledges at parks get destroyed due to bike pegs and contractors cheaping out on poor quality granite. Although thats not to say all granite is bad- of course there are many granite ledge spots like mustard and sunlife that have stood the test of time and even bikers. This is where the genius of Everett MacLean kicks in, Evey did his research and sourced the Skate Loft's new granite ledge from a granite that is known to skate properly- the same ledges that were skated for years at BMO plaza. The new ledge has been in for quite a few weeks and though it has rounded slightly as any ledge should, no big chunks are missing.

Obviously anything as awesome as this deserves a proper christening- so come out March 3rd for a three hour skate jam with prizes by indy, DC, and HAMMER skate shop!

HAMMER skate shop

For years HAMMER skate shop has been the only proper place to go to for skate goods in the east end of the city. Since the Shop's creation in 2004 the teams has slowly grown from dudes I looked up to as a gerb, to some of my best friends. I couldn't be more stoked that Dave found a spot for me on the eclectic team. Im really looking forward to filming a video with these homies this year, I can allready tell you- it's gonna be a good one.


Rob Carley- sw fs crook


Promo featuring HAMMER riders Joel Scullard, Andre Besner, Nolan Waller, Zack Ferguson, Rob Carley and Will Baigent


HAMMER team welcome video featuring yours truly


Nicky Young- fs crook to fakie


Will Baigent- fs Smith as seen in the SBC 2011 photo annual.


Joel Scullard- nollie


Andre Besner- fs tailslide


Nolan Waller-bs smith pop out HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDAY!!

A No Damn Good Montreal Winter

Something about the skateboarding thats going on in Montreal is really sick right now. I think it has something to do with how skaters there are a product of their environment. The Big 0 (pretty much the best natural mini ramp you could ask for) has been skated for decades in Montreal- so it's no wonder transition skating is seemingly allot more developed there in contrast to the tech ledge skaters that toronto seems to produce. Perhaps it also has something to do with the mass availability of cheap booze the place has- after a few wobbly pops the homies might feel a little more like just cruising some transition rather than freaking out on some flip-in flip-out trick for hours. Whatever it is it Montreal definitely has a more diverse skate vibe than Toronto, and the newly revamped NO DAMN GOOD skate shop and park is an excellent example of something really sick thats coming up fast. NDG as one of the youngest teams in montreal right now- but thats not to say they can't hold their own against MTL big 0 legends such as Barry Walsh and Marc Tison, two dudes who are now regulars at the best indoor bowl the city has to offer- NDG SON


Vince Baldo fs air to the roof


Joey Marcogliese bean plant


Devante Crudup and Rasta editing the NDG SCVM promo video with max and chad lurking


MTL would be nothing without late night downtown sessions with Rasta- regardless of temperature.


Saw some dilapidated shit along the Canal


Yum flour!

No Damn Good

Quick Draw McGraw

It's a seasonably warm Sunday in early December and the first session on my winter trip to Montreal- a sunny school yard very reminiscent of southern California, except that it's 5 degrees out. It's about 3 O'clock as our session wraps up, Rasta, Max and I have been skating and filming for hours. The spot is just a plastic picnic table bench, with a bank and some good flat. Just before we depart who casually rolls through for a warm up? Zoo York's only international pro Andrew McGraw. In a period of about 30 minutes Andrew puts our three hour session to shame, just warming up. You could tell in his skating that he's a really humble dude, and considering the condition ( it's fucking freezing out- and his only companion is a homie filming on an iphone) he's definitely got some passion. Here's a few photos I was fortunate enough to poach.


bs tailslide



nollie half cab switch crooks to reg


fs crooked
this trick took me like half an hour, he did it in three tries.