All the latest BMX videos, photos, BMX bikes, frames, parts, interviews, news & more!

Through The Lens: The Road to Getting Published

March 14, 2012

The goal of almost any serious photographer out there is to someday become published and see their name in print. It’s sort of a pinnacle for those behind the lens and the feeling you get from it is actually quite addicting. That might sound weird but it’s true. It’s starts a vicious cycle when it happens and you get so pumped on the idea of your work being forever ingrained on paper that you will do whatever it takes to make it happen again…and again. Getting published is not an easy feat by any means and in no way is it for the faint of heart. It takes a certain level of dedication to photography to make it happen and a sort of persistence that can’t be taught. If you are on the path to becoming a serious photographer and really need that little bit of insider information to break down some walls and make your dreams a reality, then this just might be the feature for you. Let’s get started.
[Read more…]

Through The Lens: Contest #1

March 13, 2012

**Click HERE to see flyer in full size!

We’re stoked to announce the first Through The Lens photo contest! We have teamed up with FIT BIKE CO. to hook up THREE photographers for their best photos! We’re looking for photographers from any level to submit their natural light BMX photos to our Facebook. Check out last weeks Through The Lens for examples and some tips on how to get the best results if you are wondering how to get it done.

Please submit any photos to our Facebook wall by March 30th at the latest! Also, all photos should be related to BMX.

Once you have your photos, head over to our FACEBOOK PAGE and “Like” us if you haven’t already (Almost 5,500 others have, why haven’t you yet?). Then upload your photo or photos to our wall for everyone to check out. On March 31st we will announce the TOP 3 photos! We will also drop a photogallery with the winners photos along with a number of the honorable mentions right here on the site.

First place will win Tom Dugan’s new signature Clubman Bars and a DL stem.
Second place will win a Crossfit Sprocket and some PC Pedals.
Third place will win the Blorry tee and the Block Insignia t-shirt.

So what are you waiting for? Get to work on uploading YOUR photos to the Facebook Page! These goodies from FIT are good as yours!

*Note: Please do NOT submit photos that you did not personally take. Stealing hard working peoples work is wrong and you know it.

For Sale: Deluxe X The Union Collaboration T-Shirt

March 11, 2012

A lot of cool things have happened to all come together in the last two or three weeks. First that photogallery setup, then Jeremy and Dave came on board, followed by launching the new video player yesterday. Now I’m stoked to announce our new collaboration series and ONLINE STORE. I’ve been working on this idea for a few months now with a couple different people to figure out the best way to go about it, and I think this is the best route.

We’ll be teaming up with our Supporters to do some limited edition t-shirts. The way it works is the brand comes up with the design, I take it to the homies at GGSB and have 50 of them made. One and done, once they are gone, they are gone. Super simple and 100% created by BMX riders for BMX riders.

For the first one, we decided to team up with Deluxe for a tribute to The Wildman, Todd Lyons. The shirt reads “I can tell from your grin that you are a wildman. You and me will go out tonight and you will show me your wild American side.” “I don’t know what he meant, but I can reassure everyone that I am no Todd Lyons.” You can also find a Deluxe and Union logo on the back.

The small, medium and extra large shirts are made on Gildan Soft style blanks and the large ones are on Anvil 100% cotton blanks.

You can pick one of these up for $20 (Shipping included in that cost for U.S / Canada orders. Additional postage may be required for other countries) through our new ONLINE STORE! Each order will come with some random stickers I have laying around as well. So if you are looking to pick one of these up, act fast since these will be gone quick.

Check out more photos after the jump!
[Read more…]

Through The Lens: Shooting with Available Light

March 7, 2012

Kelly Bolton BMX

Photographing your subject using only available light is actually one of my favorite ways to shoot and can make for some amazing images. Sure the situation has to be just right for everything to work out and it may not always provide you with stellar results but that’s just how it is. A big part of being a professional photographer is knowing when to shoot with or without flash and also being able to determine when the natural light is at it’s best. Another reason why shooting with available light is rad is simply because you don’t need anything but your camera and lens to do it. No expensive lighting set-ups, no weird shadows from your flashes, no light stands to work around and avoid getting in your shot, no extra gear to lug around, and to put it bluntly; no bullshit. Let’s move on.
[Read more…]

Through the Lens: Gear Check

February 29, 2012

Jeremy Pavia Photography

For this weeks edition of Through the Lens I really wanted to give everyone out there a full breakdown of my gear and what I use to shoot with on a regular basis. Anyone from the average photo enthusiast to a pro shooter knows that photo gear isn’t cheap by any means. Luckily there are plenty of options out there when the budget just doesn’t seem to match up with the wish list. Trust me that happens to me on a regular basis. It takes some creativity and a little bit of an eye for a deal but you can really benefit from spending the time to do some research and find out what’s mandatory and what you can live without. For me, I have spent countless years stacking up my gear and honestly, whenever I have some extra money, one of the first things I want to buy is camera related which is a never ending cycle for the serious photographer. So, I suppose the point of all of this is to not get too frustrated if you feel like your gear is not up to par. Remember that photography isn’t all about expensive shit, it’s about the image you create. Whether or not an image was taken with a pinhole camera or $25,000 digital medium format camera if it’s a memorable image, the cost of the gear becomes irrelevant. Let’s move forward.
[Read more…]

Photogallery: Colorado By Ted Van Orman

February 28, 2012

Through The Lens – Why BMX Photography?

February 22, 2012

This is the kind of photograph that motivates me to shoot. It’s rare for me to be completely satisfied with a photo without having a few things to pick out that I would have done differently or wished to have changed but in this case, I would say I am pretty happy with the results which is exactly why I chose this photo of Mykel Larrin to go along with
the first installment of TTL.

When it came time to sit down and write my first piece for this ongoing project I really wanted to talk about such a variety of things that the hardest part about getting started was narrowing down my intro topic. After a while I actually had a list of about five or so ideas consistently running through my head and that wasn’t bad considering the onslaught of ideas that I have had since this whole project started to come to fruition. I not only was reminded once again that you can’t rush when it comes to writing and to be patient because ideas will come to you on their own. With that said, welcome to the first edition of Through the Lens. –Why BMX Photography?
[Read more…]

Strike Against SOPA & PIPA

January 18, 2012

Some of you might be seeing a number of your favorite websites either “going black” with this page or you might get a link to Google asking you to sign the petition.

But what the hell is it exactly and how could it affect BMX?

Well, simply put… The U.S law makers decided that they were sick of hearing the music industry and computer program industry cry about piracy, or people stealing their work and putting it online for people to get for free. Which, I can understand since how many times have you downloaded a song or tried to get a copy of a program like Photoshop or Final Cut for you to edit your photos and videos without paying for it? It happens… A lot.

However, after doing some research, if these two bills pass it will give the government and corporations the right to go on a head hunting mission to eliminate any form of piracy online. Ultimately leaving them in control of creativity and originality online.

I suggest that you read about the SOPA bill here or the PIPA bill here.

So it eliminates piracy? That’s a good thing, right? Yeah, ending piracy is a good thing, but what the government wants to do is make it so that any body who uses a song (like the song you want to use in your edit) or a photo without paying for it and gaining clearance could lead you to being sued. That also means sites like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook could all be shut down because how many times have you seen song posted up? How about a photo the person didn’t take or get permission to share? When was the last time you looked up your favorite video part that was uploaded by “BMX Kid 69” or something? What about a clip from an episode of Family Guy that Seth MacFarlane didn’t upload? Hell, that means if you do your own cover of a song and put it up on Youtube, you are violating these laws because you most likely didn’t get permission from the record label that owns the song!

This also would force search engines like Google to block any website that could share content that was pirated. It would also make it so the government or a corporation could literally look at a website and decide they are promoting piracy through their videos and have the entire website deleted like it never existed.

That means The Union, The Come Up, Vital BMX, Ride BMX, Ride UK, DIG and pretty much every single one of your favorite BMX sites would get shut down because they all share edits that pop up on Youtube and Vimeo that I’m willing to bet 99% of the music isn’t cleared with. They could shut us all down because we are “promoting piracy and using content that is stolen”.

So what can you do to stop this from happening? Well, it’s pretty easy. You can call your local law makers and tell them they won’t be getting your vote if they vote for this and that you don’t want to see it happen. Even easier than that?SIGN THIS PETITION THAT GOOGLE PUT TOGETHER!. Then SIGN THIS ONE by the SOPA STRIKE GROUP.

Letting this happen would give the government and corporations even more control over what we can and can’t do. All I know is I’m saying fuck that! (Gotta take advantage of that freedom of speech before they try and take that away too…)