Back in October 2012 at The Blading Cup I shot a lot of photos along with my homies Wes Driver and Ryan Schude. We swapped lenses and ran around the course picking off targets and trying to catch the great skating that was going on all around. A good challenge made more fun by working with friends (and hoping that someone else got anything you may have missed).
Not long after snapping this clip I ran into PJ and told him I thought I’d “got it.” He was glad to hear it, and maybe even right then asked me “What are you gonna do with it?” Well, that’s easy I thought. “I’ll hold it for the print story.” That met PJ’s approval, and we both went back to whatever each of us was doing. Good stuff.
Flash forward a few months and we’re laying out Issue #20… and there’s not a ton of room for the Blading Cup story. So decisions needed to be made, and this pic ended up on the sidelines. “Sorry boutcha pic” our friends from Texas might say.
But that wasn’t the end. Last week Paul John emailed asking about the picture. His persistence urged me to dig it up, dust it off, and even pair it with this other angle to give the full perspective.
This one’s for you, Paul John. Enjoy.