Literally a few hours after I send the email to pitch the idea for a shoot to the guys over at SOMIC, my computer died. They really liked the idea though, so I decided to go through with it anyway. The turnout wasn’t great, but Willem, Hannes and Michael, who I used to ride and shoot with back home, came out. As did some pretty talented locals. It was a fun session to shoot and I’m pretty happy with the results.

After getting lost riding my bike from the train-station to the skatepark in the pouring rain, I met up with my friends Willem, Hannes and Micheal at SOMIC. I used to ride with ‘em all the time when I was in high-school and still living with my parents. When I started taking pictures they were also the ones in front of the lens most of the time. They are all really talented bike riders and shooting with these guys is always a blast. Every time we meet at least one of them has a new trick to show off.

Willem just got hooked up by Grounded that week and needed a couple pictures for a bike check for their website so that’s what we shot first. After that we moved on to the action. Bear in mind though, that he put that bright green Amity frame, and some other new parts, on only the night before. Fresh from the shop. If you like to know what his normal level of riding is check out his welcome-to-the-team-edit filmed in the park only a week later, when he got a little more used to his new ride. Bangers all the way through.

Because of the small turnout and the fact I’m really comfortable shooting with my friends makes the pictures are mainly of them, but I managed to get some lucky shots from a couple of other riders as well. Let’s just hope they read this and next time are a little less scared of approaching me and ask for a specific shot. I haven’t bitten anybody since kindergarten, I swear! And that was even only in self-defence. But seriously, It’s important. Every trick has it’s ‘best’ side and it’s own timing. Knowing what the trick is going to be and where the rider is headed gets you the best results. So please, if you see me shooting again some time, just come talk to me if you got something you want shot and we can work on it together.

I had some bad luck with my computer and I can think of a few things I’ll have to do differently next time. Like announcing way earlier and maybe do it on a Saturday in stead of a Wednesday. All in all though, I really enjoyed my little shoot, so expect more to come once my shoulder is healed enough to hold up my DSLR again.