Standerd Slides

Subject: Blackout Premiere 

Photo: Nick Shrunk

TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Chronicle, Page 22

At the time I’m taking this photo I think half of a tall Grey Goose and Red Bull was being spilled down the back of my shirt. Every time I shoot in a bar I always promise myself that I wont bring my rig in here again. For this occasion it wasnt an option, because this was the premiere for the Ronn Seidenglanz produced film Blackout, and everybody involved was out for a wild night of mayhem. In one photo is the crew of students from the University of Northern Iowa that came out for the four day shoot and edited their own cuts of the event that is included on the DVD. Props to editors Zach Everman, Chris Cook, Nate Tuenge and Calvin Johannsen who spent time in front of Final Cut Pro instead of  chasing women and studying for finals.

What unfortunately isnt shown in this photo is the mayhem that ensued the rest of the night. Rail builder with a sword-cain, police calls to hotel rooms and my finger being completely smashed and nearly ripped off in a taxi door on the way home (it still hurts to type).

It was a great end to a fun project, and the celebration was an awesome reflection of it!

-Nick

Subject: Matt Manzari
Photo: Reed Hansen
TSQ Location: Book 2.2, Critique, Page 99

I took this shot when I was out riding with Matt Manzari and James Balzer. We were riding in Eustis, Florida on Lake Dalhousie. The funny thing was, I did not even mean to double expose this one. I was just super stoked that it happened when I got them developed.

I started shooting film not too long before I took this photo. I was just thinking about it the other day, and it is kinda funny how I started out (or how most new guys do). It seems back only a few years ago, you would learn with a film camera. Then if you got serious into it and were considered a “professional photographer” you bought a nice digital. Considering the impatient teenager that I am, I went out and went nuts on a new digital body and new lenses when really, I didn’t know what I was doing. I am glad that I took a step back, looked at where I was, where I needed to be, and went out and bought a film body.

-Reed

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