I’m proud to say that I think the full-feature turned out even better than the cover image! From a file-structure standpoint I really forged new terrain, and went crazy using adjustment layers on layer-groups choc-full of nested & masked layer-groups. I wanted to maintain maximum editability at all times. Basically a bunch of techniques nobody will ever see (that I should have been doing years ago), but I feel like I opened up some new workflows, and tapped a li’l further into Photoshop’s abilities as a compositing tool.
I totally got lost in my work while wrenching on this cover piece for S3 Magazine. Before I knew it, I had clocked over 13 hours and several revisions – specifically to the type in the main heading. I tried a few new things that really worked out well. I’m definitely excited to see this in-print!Stay tuned for the entire 6-page feature on Ameen’s car!
My new deck finally arrived. I’m pretty stoked how it turned out! I got’r all gripped up, and all the hardware bolted on… so she’s ready to thrash!I pulled all the decks off of the Slide Style™ Store… but if you’re interested in snagging on, I have a BoardPusher storefront set up. If you’re needing a wider-sized deck, let me know and I can arrange that for you!
Sometimes you have to set things you love free, in hopes that they return to you in that textbook ‘it was meant to be’ fashion. Fly free, sweet beard… fly free.
Made a super-last-minute decision to make a pilgrimage to Englishtown for East Coast Bash.
The last time I was there was 4 years ago to shoot Slide America, and I didn’t have time to pull my car off the trailer to drive. With Will and Josh in attendance to shoot for Keep Drifting Fun… it seemed all-the-more fitting to get back there for some driving. I’ve been telling Petty I was coming back for 4 years… so it was time to make due on that.
We showed up around noon on Sunday. This track is so amazingly awesome that I was instantly bummed I wasn’t able to get there on Saturday. So many configurations… none-of-which are bad. I instantly felt at home on this track. The more I drove it, the better things felt. I had such a blast… and cannot thank Petty enough for having us up! Towards the end of the day I felt a weird vibration in the car, and decided to call it a day before I blew something up.
The next day we took the car to Roots Factory in Coatesville, PA to give it a once-over. I didn’t feel like cracking open the diff-carrier… but it seemed like something wasn’t quite working with the diff. It had more play than usual, and you could turn the wheels against themselves if you pulled hard enough. Byron noted that my car looked right at home at this shop.
My buddy Brad Hettinger had already basically stripped his down to a shell in less than a day’s time. We decided to take a funny picture for his build-thread..
The next day we saddled up, and drove about an hour and a half from Hater Dan’s house in Pennsylvania to a top-secret locale for an OG underground hoodrat sesh. What went down inside this warehouse was UN. REAL. Rob Fleming met us, as well as a few local rippers, for a crazy closed-door session that lasted several hours. UN. REAL. Will and Josh piloted the KDF van to the location to document things. They wound up with some of the craziest shots I have ever seen in drifting. MASSIVE thanks to Dan for hooking this insanity up. Keep an eye out for the Keep Drifting Fun DVD to peep what went down!
After that madness settled down, we headed back to Pennsylvania, only to re-pack and head back to Jersey for Gardella Racing’s ‘Throttle Thursday’… which brought out a bunch of FD pro-drivers… many of which (including myself for a li’l while) kicked around skateboards and braved the park on BMX bikes. This was my first time inside a skatepark since 1998… and I was REALLY scared! (more on that in a minute…) We all had a good time, including our jump-session in the foam pit (01:35 in).
The advent of the foam pit was definitely after ‘my time’ in skating. I had never been in one, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I will say this much – they aren’t exactly as soft as you think. Whatever you do… DO NOT open your mouth, or else you get tiny bits of gross sweaty foam in it. UGH. Once I got up on that railing to jump… it was a good bit higher than I originally thought. Either way, I had to get in on a front-flip to complete the night.
Next up was Formula Drift New Jersey. The folks at NOS Energy were awesome enough to let us spring an impromptu booth-space in front of their bunker so we could help sell Will and Josh’s tees. Josh looks asleep in this picture.
Tony brought by some of the new DA American Steel Tees that I designed. They turned out SICKKKKK. These are available in the Slide Style™ store now!.
Alex caught me red-handed in this photo. After my shattered collar-bone in September of 2007… I swore I would never step foot on a skateboard ever again. I was actually banned by friends and family. After nearly three years, I finally caved. I totally understand how people who try to quit smoking feel. For three years I’ve been getting the ‘urge’ to skate like a smoker’s spiral into a nicotine-fit. I have to say… it feels good to ride again – even if I am riding like an old man scared for his life..
A couple funny jump-shots that my buddy Larry Chen snapped while I was wearing Lihnberg’s wig. If you haven’t been to Larry’s site, DriftFotos – CHECK. IT. OUT. Dude is a madman behind the lens – an amazing photographer for SURE. Plus he likes jump shots, which is RAD.
After FD, we headed south to Baltimore to meet up with the Drift Alliance crew to go see Hall and Oates in concert.
I never thought I would go see Hall and Oates… but we had a blast. It’s so smooth! SO SMOOTH.
After Baltimore, we made a quick stop in Philadelphia to get some proper cheesesteaks & pretzels with Will, Josh, and Andy Laputka. On the way back to Atlanta we made a minor detour to Manhattan. After an all-night drive back down the East Coast, we made it back home. What an astounding trip, and an incredible few weeks up North.
SUPER HUGE THANKS to my buddy Dan Bailey for letting us crash at his place for so long, and for the amazing hospitality.
I had the pleasure of designing some t-shirts for Gardella Racing. The first tee was a ‘signature’ tee for Ryan Tuerck.
The second tee was specific to Gardella Racing utilizing the logo that I created for them. I think both of these turned out awesome! I’m definitely stoked to be working with Gary and his team! Keep an eye out for more rad stuff from the Gardella camp in the near future!
I ripped apart an old Nintendo Power Glove and mated it to my SFI-rated driving glove. Now I can enter cheat codes before tandem battles, making me virtually INVINCIBLE to defeat.
