Out of Order

As you may have noticed, with so many different things I have going on, I don't really update this blog much anymore. I really need to remake my entire site. But anyway, if you want to stay updated on things I have going on check out the links below.

SNOWBOARDERmag.com
I recently started my job as Online Editor over at SNOWBOARDER Magazine. Check up on this site for any snowboard related content.

Rad Collector
I still have my Rad Collector column going. I treat this more as my personal blog for the random stuff that I get a kick out of and what not.

Shot and Shared
This is a summer photo project I have going on with about 35 different photographers.... a majority of them snowboard related. Keep your eye on this for photos from our summer experiences.

Buoloco: Web vs Print

A few weeks ago I did another interview with Ed over at Buoloco about how the shift in focus from print to web is affecting people. This was a 3 part interview and in this first chapter I specifically talked about how it is affecting photography. I’m not sure how many of you want to listen to me ramble for 9 minutes, but if this is of interest to you then check it out haha.

LA Night: Corey Smith

A few weeks ago I made a stop at Corey Smith's house up in LA. His living room is a photographer's dream come true, a built in seamless. So we spent the night messing around shooting photos. To see more shots go to my Rad Collector column.

Check out some of Corey's photos from the night on his photo blog.

How To: Origami Hat

When I was up in Portland not too long ago I swung through a Japanese Garden. It happened to be "kids day" or something like that there, and one of the activities was to make an origami hat out of newspaper. I had to get in on it. A friend happened to document the entire process so now I am sharing it with you.

Whoever can successfully make one of these newspaper hats and send me a picture of you wearing it to, laura@laustindesign.com. I will make a post using your pictures, and send you a surprise in the mail.

Check out the steps on my column.

cityLife: Interview

Canada based fashion/lifestyle blog cityLife recently asked me to do a quick interview with them for their site. They asked me about things like Crocs... projects I'm currently working on.. and some California based brands that I am into. I told them they could pull whatever picture of me that they wanted off my Facebook page.... of course they choose the most unflattering shot that I have. Awesome.

Check out the interview here.

Photo Shoot: Col d’ Lizard

So my mom has this company, Col d' Lizard (pronounced in some fancy French way... but I just call it Cold Lizard). It's an outdoor apparel company...things for biking, hiking, and all that other outdoorsy stuff. Instead of "Made in China" it is made in my garage, well barn rather..... she makes all the stuff herself back home in Vermont. If you click on the link above... her site obviously needs some work. So I agreed to come out to Vermont and do a shoot for her and help redesign her whole website.

Check out some more of the shots on my Rad Collector Column.

You Have Got to be Kidding: Bikini Jeans

Tired of trying to find the pant with the perfect sag so you can show off your g-string and lower back tattoo?! Well the search is OVER! The high class folks over at Sanna's Brazil Fashion, have built the thong right into the jean! Making a perfect accessory to your belly shirt and high heels.

Check out more shots of these amazing jeans on my Rad Collector Column.

Utah Mission

Mikey and Andy....happy to be riding powder.

Some of the worst choices I've made in life have been impulsive...ordering a philly cheese steak sandwich at a sushi joint, dying my hair pink before a family gathering, getting behind the wheel when I knew I was too tired... the list goes on. But buying a ticket to Salt Lake City, Utah the day before I flew out was one of the better decisions I have made. Mikey LeBlanc hit me up the day before he was leaving for Utah telling me that it just dumped out there and that I should definitely come out. Seeing as I've never ridden Utah, hadn't been able to ride powder yet this season, and well...it was an opportunity to ride with Mikey, Andy Wright, and friends....I couldn't pass it up.

Last run of the day we took a hike to the top to take some untracked turns. Best powder I think I have ever ridden,

Brighton was the mountain of choice... less crowds, more fun.

Mikey at the top

Awesome to see Andy Wright on the mountain.

MolcaSalsa... if you have been, then you know. If you have not, you're missing out.

Random trip to the thrift store

Mikey found these glasses

Flattering?... not so much. Amazing?.... definitely.

Gertrude, a little old lady I found shopping around

Bowling with some of the Videograss crew

Louif and Bilocq

Mikey and his dog Ruby

Andy has one big cat.

More on my Rad Collector Column.

Drive to Mammoth

A week or two ago I made my way up through the hills, deserts, and mountains to catch the Roxy Chicken Jam and Quiksilver Cluck off up in Mammoth. Everyone I talked to said the six hour drive from Southern California to Mammoth Lakes sucked, but the wide open landscapes made it pretty interesting, for me at least. When I finally made it up to Mammoth, I was greeted by my friends decked out in sombreros, ran to the mountain, grabbed my credentials for the weekend, found the biggest hot dogs I have ever seen, cooked them, and went with some friends to skate the Volcom Brother’s Skatepark that was mostly covered in snow.

Go to my Rad Collector Column for the rest of to shots.
All the landscapes were shot while driving 80mph....

decent exposure: AARON BLATT

The latest installment of my photographer interview series, Decent Exposure, was with up-and-comer Aaron Blatt. Check out what Blatt has to say on my Rad Collector column.

If you missed the previous interviews you can find them here-
Mike Basher
Brendan McInerney
Oli Gagnon
Ben Birk

Flying Hotdogs: Mascot Superpipe Comp

Personally, I think costumes can make any situation more interesting…. even halfpipe competitions where most of the riders can barely get above the lip. And on Saturday in Mammoth at the Roxy Chicken Jam, that is exactly what went down. For the past three years, as part of the Chicken Jam, Roxy has had this open competition where anyone, and I mean anyone can compete for a first place prize of $3k. It was entertaining to say the least. Since a lot of the riders were barely even airing out of the pipe I decided to take a different approach to how I shot it. Without boring you with too much detail,  I shot most of them so the snow is very over exposed, creating almost a completely white background for the costume wearing creatures to stand out against.  I wanted to do a series of shots that all looked pretty similar just showing the riders costumes… and then there are also some action shots at the end. To see the whole series check out the post on my Rad Collector Column.


I will be doing more posts from my weekend in Mammoth soon. But to check out general coverage/photo galleries. Check out the Quiksilver Blog.

US Open 2010 Photos

Last week I made my way back to Vermont for the 28th Burton US Open. Temperatures reaching the 60s, good friends, and great riding made for an incredible week. It wasn't all fun and games for me though, I spent a majority of my time there hiking through the wet snow shooting photos... which I definitely can't complain about. I picked out some of my favorite shots for the post I did on my Rad Collector column... check it out here.

Shoot With Shem: Jake Burton

Last fall photographer Shem Roose got ahold of me about assisting him in a shoot with Jake Burton... the creator of this company. Canadian action sports magazine, SBC, was doing an interview with Jake at his house in Vermont so they asked Shem to get some shots of Jake around his property. I was honored that Shem asked me to come along to help out, Shem is an OG in the game, and it is always cool to see how other people work. He definitely came away with some great shots that day. For more details on the shoot check out Shem's blog. More of his photos from the day below.

decent exposure: MIKE BASHER

The latest installment of my photographer interview series, "decent exposure", was with ex editor of Snowboard Mag, Mike Basher. This was a pretty in depth interview where we talked about everything from why he left his position at the magazine, to why he thinks Colorado sucks, the dilemma with photo pricing, and what his plans are for the future. You don't have to be a photographer to enjoy this interview. Check it out here on my Rad Collector Column.

In case you missed the previous interviews here they are:
Brendan McInerney
Oli Gagnon
Ben Birk

Blotto Photto

Back in 2008 my friend Blotto asked me to shoot this photo of him for an interview with European based Snowboard Magazine, Onboard. I'm not going to lie, being asked to shoot a photo of a photographer as established and someone I look up to as much as Blotto was a bit intimidating. I'm pretty sure that leading up to shooting this I was worried something would go terribly wrong... Did I double check my battery was charged? What if I left my memory card at home? But things went smooth, rolled up to Burlington airport (BTV), set up, shot a few photos, and that was that. Anyway, I bring it up now because he used it again in an interview with PetaPixel. Make sure you check the interview out here. And if you aren't already following Blotto's blog, you should. He keeps it updated constantly with high quality/interesting content.

The photo as it was used in the spread in Onboard Magazine