During my blasts on the big wheels around both the city of Bristol and its estates during the Covid lockdowns, I came across many places and things that were new to me. This 1970’s brutalist church in Patchway was one of those finds. I knew it would make a great shot, but the biggest issue was matching the right person to what in essence is a terrible spot that is framed by a very cool building. Fast-forward to less insular times where socializing was now not criminalized, and I had my body for the spot. Niko Salaman and I rolled the dice on a nice summer evening in the hope that our skating wouldn’t anger any of the more religious leaning residents of the estate that St. Chads church calls home.

Our luck was in, which meant poor Niko had to deal with a short, awkwardly angled run-up to a crusty cornered rail that I doubt had ever seen a trick go down it. Not ideal, but I knew Niko was the man for the job and he proved that with this slow and controlled backslide that came with his usual buckets of style. I sat back on my Nikkor 50mm to get everything in frame, including the seagull above while my Pocket Wizards triggered two Canon 540EZ’s to light up the scene. Both strobes were at full power and zoomed in 60mm with one positioned off to the right and the other to left of Niko. — Sam Cooper