I know it’s been a while since I produced anything really worth while, or at least I feel it has… most of the good skaters here are hurt or busy finishing school, and I have been busy with other things too. Anyway, here is a Photo Journal and photo I shot in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend, which was a waste of a weekend… but this kid Brian Bina is really sick and really young from Chicago. Check him out…

After spending one of the worst days in the history of rollerblading in Madison, Wisconsin at a so-called event, I was ready to break away with my band of young hopefuls to shoot all the amazing spots we didn’t get to enjoy during the competition. One such young skater that had caught my attention was Chicagoan Brian Bina. I thought I knew all the who’s who of the Windy City, but this kid skated fast and confidently and was a total secret weapon. I later learned that he was only sixteen which made it even better because I love the opportunity to photograph jail bait and put it on the web. The spot that our unlikely crew wound up at was this thing called the crease on the UW campus. I had skated it and shot it over 5 years ago, and been back a few times since, usually with little luck. It is a challenging spot to photograph because when shot straight on (the only real angle option because of surrounding buildings) it’s easy to make the spot look flat. As is the case with any 3-D object that is portrayed in 2-D, the best way to show depth is through shadows and highlights. I lit the ledge from the side I knew the skater would be facing, and let the opposing side go relatively dark except for some ambient light and light bouncing around from my strobes. I then added another light to the bottom on the shadow side where the light from my key strobe was beginning to fall off. This added more definition and shape to the spot. Finally, I hit Brian with a highlight from 3/4 back but largely missed the obstacle that I had spent so much effort sexing up. Brian is sick; this spot is challenging as a skater and a photographer, but pretty unique.─Haynes