Standerd Slides

Subject: Ben Greenwood
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Critique, Page 85

We went out to ride this evening with a completely different shot in mind. I borrowed a battery pack and strobe set-up going for a banger shot of Chad Sharpe. Before arriving to Clermont, Chad said he spoke to Benny Greenwood and Kevin Henshaw to come ride with us as well. Watching the sunset slowly drop, we got out there a bit too early for what I was looking for. I told Chad to ride first partly because anything can happen with Chad. Either he’ll kill it right out of hole, or he’ll have difficulty warming up. Knowing this, I wanted him to go and “get the bugs out” first before the really good light was approaching where he would need to be “on”.

After a goose chase looking for calm water and Chad’s first set was out of the way, it was Benny G’s turn to ride. We decided to scrub the double up plan, and to just chase along side of the tow boat. That way I could pop off more shots with the limited time we had, AND it allowed me to line up the sun where I wanted it in the background.

One pass up, and one pass back, Benny and I were yelling back and forth to line up the trick. I had him do it a few times but this one was hard to “one-up”. In hind sight, if Chad had rode when Benny did, this shot could have been his. Oh well, that’s just how the cards fall sometimes. Even though the sun was a bit low and Benny stole the show, Chad rode again just before dark and we managed to get a keeper for the Malibu back cover.

-Meddock

Subject: Ryan Lemons
Photo: Roman Rusinov
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Critique, Page 95

It just gets me, when I see sunset through the water. The first
thing I want to do—push the shutter button. It just turns water to a quicksilver-looking liquid, with all kinds of gradients and color dialogs. Even the water drops on the lens create a complete composition; giving you feeling of first, second and back plan. Maybe giving you that feeling of when water gets in the eyes.

-Roman

Subject: Brandon Thomas
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Critique, Page 96

Lately, I’ve been going for a particular look off the end of Grubb’s dock. Still haven’t really gotten what I’m looking for (yet) but this shot of BT was close. Grubb rode first that evening, then BT. He obviously got the later, darker light…not really what I had planned but still stoked on the outcome of this shot. I had my flash’s buried and out of the wet zone when I caught BT doing this inside out trick off the lip behind the Sea Doo.

For me, wakeskating photos are tough to capture correctly because of the boards rotation or the displacement of the riders legs/feet. I can’t stand a wakeskate photo where you can’t comprehend how the board is rotating or the riders legs/feet are too close together, etc. May sound dumb, but that’s just how picky I am when looking at wakeskate photographs. It’s got to make visual sense to the average idiot.

-Meddock

Subject: CC Roberts
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Profile, Page 62

I love this shot. I think it’ll go down as one of my all time favorites. It’s just one of those that you tend to remember forever. I met CC out at Cocoa Beach one early morning a few months ago. He had a few of his friends coming out to surf with him as well. The waves were perfect size for CC that day. It was a bit coudy and overcast and a bit chilly. We both had to wear full suits. I shot black and white film due to the conditions. I first went out in the water and shot out a roll or two. We got some great shots. I had a blast dodging CC and the waves. When I was coming back in, I saw CC’s chair sitting at the water’s edge. I started to jog toward my car to dry off and change so I could get another camera loaded up. They stayed out in the water forever it seemed like. Once I got situated, I grabbed my 35mm Thrifty Cam and started walking toward the water to frame up the shot. There was a car just to the edge of the frame so I had to keep looking through the view finder as I walked closer. I knelt down, put the chair in the bottom left corner of the frame, and pointed upward toward the sky…CLICK.

-Meddock

Subject: CC Roberts
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Profile, Page 52

For this studio shot of CC, I wanted to capture something really honest. I didn’t want to do anything tricky or distracting with the lighting. I told him ahead of time the idea and said look, “just stare straight into the camera, no smile, nothing.” It definitely helped knowing how the image was going to be used on the spread and what text was going to accompany the photo. The Crash paragraph is a vivid first-hand re-telling of what happened that night in the car.

-Meddock

Subject: Shawn Watson, Liquid Force Ad
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Inside Front Cover

Once again, I was called on entirely late notice to get a shot for the LF ad. They had a shot in mind with Watson, but didn’t really know how it was going to look. All I was told was that they wanted to do something with all ten of his pro-model boards as a dedication to the past 10 years of him being with Liquid Force. I didn’t really know what I was going to do with the boards because I’ve shot some “quivers” before and it’s much more difficult than it looks. It’s tough to get all the boards in one shot (depending on how many there are) and to also show the featured athlete without it looking too staged.

So, for this photoshoot’s challenge, Watson and I had the wind to deal with. As you can see looking at the photo, all of these boards are set up perfect for a Domino falling-over effect. And oh yes, they did fall over, time and time again. It’s kind of funny after the fact because you can tell how frustrated Watson was looking at his face in this photo. We dug a hole with a shovel about 4 inches deep to support the tip of each board but it wasn’t enough to keep them steady. Then, once one board was set, the second and so forth had to be in just the right spot so the symmetry matched based off the angle I was shooting from.

We ended up having to put three cement bricks behind each board to help them stay vertical…after digging several holes to line up the angle properly. We were also blessed that day with 95 degree FL heat and the 100% humidity factor. Fun. All in all, I think the boards were set up a total of ten times. Between drying off the sweat, adjusting the lighting setup, aligning the boards, and dealing with last minute deadline stress, we finally made some progress. When all the elements were finally in place, I fired off a ton of photos in about two minutes. Total shoot time took nearly three hours. Not the ideal situation for a last minute request, but I was pretty stoked on the outcome of the shot.

-Meddock

Subject: CC Roberts
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Profile, Page 54

CC killed it this day. I can’t even imagine how hard this is. Wes Brisco and Nick V helped us out by driving the boat, and James K held down rope duty. It takes a lot of patience and confidence to pull it off but we made it happen. I held the my rope with one hand, the camera in the other, then reached over to help CC. He starts right next to me balancing in the water with his life vest on. I’d help hold the tip of the board in the right direction until the ropes came tight. He can stick the sliding beach start everytime, but out in the deep water it’s a balancing act in the water…especially with rollers. Once we were all good and pointing in the right direction, Wes would tighten up the rope and pull us up. It’s cool to watch from my angle because he gets up on the water plane so fast…compared to somebody who naturally stands while riding.

Once we’re up and riding, I’d cut out with CC to the side and snap off some shots. We got a few lucky glassy patches of water until the clouds rolled in that morning. I think we were in the water for an hour straight. It was awesome. Thanks to Wes and the boys for helping out that morning.

-Meddock

Subject: CC Roberts
Photo: Joey Meddock
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Profile, Page 44

For each Profile we do in The Standerd, we purposely try to shoot an opener and closer horizontal image that best represents the personality or characteristic of that particular individual. We kicked around some other ideas, but this one just kept coming back to me. I ran the idea by CC and he was into it as well. He liked what it represented. It’s a bit of symbolism in CC’s case because of the nature of his history. His car, or any car for that matter, brings back many mixed emotions for him I’m sure. The night of his accident, the car acted as a tomb for close friend Todd Brendel. The car was also the last time he would walk on his own two feet and climb into the back seat of a car like any other human being would.

Post paralysis, that car is looked upon as a vehicle to freedom. Until you get too old to drive, people lose sight of the fact that driving is a privilege. Unless you know somebody personally who is in a similar situation, it’s hard to explain the challenges that individuals with spinal cord injuries have. CC has been stripped of many things in life that most people can’t appreciate, but his keys to freedom haven’t. That’s why we went with this idea for his opener. To me its says, “I got my wheels and my board, I’m going surfing.”

-Meddock

Subject: Limo
Photo: Reed Hansen
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Chronicle, Page 35

Welcome to my life in Groveland, Florida. This was a drive by photo, I bet this guy was on his way to have some fun!!! Either that, or somebody was fixin to get married. You see this kind of stuff all the time out by where I live. That is pretty much the main reason that I love living out here. WWC rules!

-Reed

Subject: Ryan Lemons
Photo: Roman Rusinov
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Chronicle, Page 33

This was my first day of testing new water housing. I had just gotten back
from work and we went to the lake. I wasn’t even expecting the testing to produce so many great shots.

Time was perfect; almost twilight. The water was freezing cold, but that doesn’t really stop me. When I was reviewing the shots I kinda put that one away since I was trying hard to get the “trick shot,” but then once I got back I realized that I had caught a pretty good moment up there. I think Brett’s B&W shot from a past Standerd inspired me and I decided to keep it. I ended up printing in large format and putting it on the wall in my room. Sometimes a photo is not all about quality, proper composition, right focus and aperture. It’s about the feeling it conveys. An accidental shot can give much more of this. Guess that was it.

-Roman