I’ve had this idea in my sketchbook for quite some time now. It just took awhile to find the perfect person and the perfect place to tell the story. There’s something fascinating about the dying breed of shabby motels. The decor, the odor, the polyester sheets, the transient guests, the odd management, the broken signs, the filled-in swimming pools and perhaps most evident…the peculiar vibe that attaches itself to these places and just won’t let go.

LIke many, I am inspired by David Lynch and his ability to evoke a deep, uneasy feeling, way beyond what you are seeing in the scene. I think a good photograph makes you ask more questions. Sometimes its not about what it shows, but what it doesn’t. So this was a personal project to push those boundaries and leave a few blanks to be filled in.

“….as if something is about to happen.” I have that written on my Note board. I think those are words to live by when making images.

A big thanks to my main man, Ian Reid (first assistant) for all the help on this one. And, of course, thank you Veronika. You brought the whole idea to life.

The Slumberland Motel

Veronika Sznajder

Trevor Graves is a legendary snowboard photographer that captured a good chunk of the sport’s history and help pave the way for other action sport photographers to carry on that tradition. He has always been a inspiration to me, long before i knew him. I’m proud to say that he’s a good friend of mine now. Most of his time now is spent managing Nemo, an agency based out in Portland that I’ve had the privilege to work with quite a bit for all of the NIke 6.0 shoots.

Trevor and his crew have also managed to find time to organize a photo camp that runs parallel with the HIgh Cascade Snowboard Camp up in Mt. Hood every summer. Its been running strong for quite some time now and this year I was honored to have been invited to come out as an instructor, share my experiences with the students and learn a whole lot for myself. It was an amazing few days up there. There was an all-star cast of photographers on hand to teach as well. Tim Zimmerman, Andy Wright, Christie Chaloux, Kari Rowe and even a special appearance from Mr. Trevor Graves himself. It was an honor to be among that crew and pretty much geek out on photography for a week.

Incredible things happen when creative, open minds get together and break down the walls of competition and secrets. THere’s power in sharing. Everyone walks away a little something that can go a long way. I know that I learned so much about myself as shooter, came home refreshed and even have a whole new bag of tricks to apply to my workflow. (The Lightroom immersion from Tim was intense and insightful for sure. )

I set my own intention to start sharing more of my own “process”….to be more transparent with my workflow and humble in regards to the workflow of others. My experience at the Photo Camp was just that. My topic of discussion for teaching was “Transitioning from Action to Lifestyle” and how I made my way through the ranks. I was amazed at how good it felt to tell my story, relive it and then watch it inspire others. Thats the full circle….

So, thanks to all the campers, instructors, counselors, riders and everyone else that somehow made our time up in Mt. Hood a great experience. I”ll be back for sure.

Here’s some images from the weekend. Just a few fun ones of the campers and instructors up on the mountain. Enjoy. Get out there and shoot….and share.

peace.

You can write it down, plan it out, talk about it in focus groups, edit it, rehash it, set a date….

But in the end…you just gotta DO THE WORK.

Here’s a few shots from around these parts recently. Evidence of all the above.

I’ve been reading this REWORK book lately and discussing it with some great friends. its says that we should be more like Chefs. Share our recipes. There are no secrets that someone is going to take from you, open a shop and put you out of business. There’s still that magic ingredient that only you possess.

I’m gonna start sharing more. Be transparent, be vulnerable, unveil the process. Its ultimately up to each one of us to DO THE WORK.

I’m all about fairness…and its only fair that I do a pretty little post of all the REMOTE flicks from our efforts in the recent Transworld Devise and Conquer competition. Nobody likes runner up, but we’re all winners in my heart.

This rounded out a solid 6 days out at the Projects with a sunburn and ant bites to prove it. Again, it was well worth the suffering.

These dudes ripped a new hole in the book of Wakeskating. Unreal to watch.

Remote….thank you and I love you.

So…it happened. Ruby’s creative voice became louder than our will to tame it. Ruby is our incredibly eclectic, 7-year old daughter. We gladly and honorably caved to her idea to start a blog about her funky little outlook on life. She has more style than most teenagers and seems to match up the most blog-worthiest of outfits. So, follow along or stop in once in awhile. You just might be inspired.

Ladies, Gents, enthusiasts and aficionados…

We give you…

FOUR EYES FANCY
fashion through the four eyes of Ruby Letchworth

http://foureyesfancy.tumblr.com/

On behalf of Miss Rub Ray Letchworth…

Dad (her official photographer)

I recently posted last year’s 2011 Oakley Catalog shoot and now here’s this years. We had the opportunity to go back down to Australia this past February to shoot with some of the team for a few days for the 2012 catalog. It was just days before the first ASP tour stop at Snappers, so the whole circus was in town and excitement and tensions were running high.

Thanks to whole crew involved. Despite my horrible stomach flu on our only travel day between locations, the shoot was amazing.

Art Director: Justin Kuttler
Oakley Production: Jessica Tier
First Assistant: Ian Reid

We circled the globe and spent nearly all of last year shooting print ads for NIke 6.0 to match the new NIke JUST DO IT campaign that just launched. It was an incredible set of shoots to be a part of. I typically work with a pretty tight crew, so this was quite the experience to be on a set that was 30 people deep at times.

We ended right here in my backyard with the Wake shoot where I was able to shoot both apparel and the action images. We used a mixture of strobes and a healthy grip of hot lights (several 20K’s and a 9 light Maxi-brut).

It was an all-nighter. But despite the long day and large production…everyone killed it. Thanks to all the riders and the whole crew involved. It was a shoot for the history books.

Transworld Wake hosted the first annual Devise and Conquer wakeskate creative contest. I had to use “contest” for lack of better description, but it was much more than that. Each team was given 4 days and limited budget to conceptualize, build and shoot an idea that was to be shown in photos and a 5 minute edited video. It was modeled after the highly acclaimed “Skate and Create” that is hosted by Transworld Skateboarding every year. The winners are awarded the cover of the magazine and bragging rights for the next year.

We had one hell of a good time working on this project together. Anything that can push you to use the right side of your brain is a good exercise in my book. I’m really proud of the Obscura guys….they had an idea, presented it, and saw it through to the end.

Spoiler Alert: Obscura won.

Hats off dudes. I am honored to have been part of the team.

Thanks to whole crew:

Riders:
Aaron Reed
Danny Hampson
Grant Roberts
Travis Doran

Filmers:
Tad Matthews
Ian Reid

Photographer:
Josh Letchworth

Photo Assist:
Jessica Gruneisen

Builders / Support / Friends
Stefan Schriewer
Bo
Ben Weiland
Kyle Bohannon

The mag just dropped last week and you can check out the article in there. But here’s a bonus gallery to see little bit more of what went down…

This is Mandee Marie. She’s a singer / songwriter. She’s good. We had fun. It was hot outside.

the clean up. This is the only day that yields far fewer smiles than the days previous. But, as Dr. Suess always said…

“Don’t cry that it’s over, SMILE because it happened.”

10 photos a day for 10 days. Thanks for taking that trip with us.