steve nesser-big brother interview

chris nieratko just updated his website and posted a bunch of old big brother articles, some of which i shot the photos for. i'll pull some off and post them up here from time to time. i'll start off with steve nesser's. here are a few notes/observations when looking back.

-nesser rode for iota skateboards at the time. he had recently quit consolidated to start a company with some friends from minnesota.
-the opening portrait was shot behind the original rise on the eastside of indianapolis. the orange pro-tech helmet is the only helmet I've ever owned. I've had it since 8th grade.
-notice anything weird about the pop-shove photo? yeah, they scanned it backwards.
-right after landed the 50-50 boardslide someone 3 stories above us threw a can of red bull at steve. in the footage you can hear it explode.
-the 50-50 was shot in fort wayne. it was pretty gnarly, steve eyed it up for about 15 minutes. the first one he jumped on and grinded was the one he landed.

riding in a URAL

we got an early spring snowstorm here in indiana. this morning, my buddy Aaron posted a photo on facebook of him getting ready to ride his Ural to work. i figured this would be the last chance to get some photos of him riding in the snow, something i've wanted to do all winter. he skipped out of work and took me for a quick 45 minute ride around town.
 

never hurts to ask: how i got 69 chevy van

my parent's neighbor a few doors down had an old van out by their barn that i'd been eying for a few years. it never seemed to move but always looked rad from a distance. i was out there a couple weeks ago and noticed it was parked in front of their house. my dad said that he thought they had moved out. i walked over, knocked on the door and no one was around. poked around the van for a bit and ended up leaving a note on it, asking if it was for sale. i came home and was still thinking about about it. i knew the guys last name from the mailbox and that he repaired guitars. after a little searching, i tracked him down and semi-nervously gave him a call. i introduced my self and asked if they van was for sale. he said that he hadn't really thought about it, but he did take my name and number ( you never know if they are actually writing it down). 5 days later i got a call from him, saying he was fine with selling it. i went back out, met him, and drove it around. he offered it to me $750, what he paid for it. $750 is an amazing deal, it's easily worth 2 or 3 times that. the van originally came from logansport indiana, where it was used as an escort vehicle for wide load semis. it's a 69 chevy g20 108. it has a 307 V8 motor with a 3 speed manual transmission. it starts up and drives great. i took it for a 15 mile drive yesterday. it reminds me alot of my dads old 77 chevy van that i used to drive. it defiantly needs some body work, seats are worn, floor boards are rusted, and fluids need gone though. we got to talking, i told him i was into old motorcycles. he said there was an old honda cb500 in a shed that i could have for free. i really couldn't believe my ears. after a bit of hustling and selling my plunger frame, i went out yesterday and sealed the deal. i had to pull the motorcycle out of a half collapsed shed. he still has to find the title and another tank. overall i'm stoked. deals like this don't happen all the time, but this is an example of why it never hurts to ask. it might just be for sale.

maple syruping

this was the third year i've made maple syrup. this season, my friend corey and i decided to join forces on sap gathering and production. overall, we probably cooked down close to 175 gallons of sap. the first big cook at my house got shut down because someone called the fire department. i did the next batch on a propane stove, which made really clean syrup, but i spent to much money on propane and took to long. by the final cook, we had our system down. we also took a trip down to Leane N Michael's Sugarbush down in salem indiana for a maple syrup festival. i got to see how the big timers do it. i checked the buckets today and they were cloudy. which means the season is over (or someone pissed in them).

juxtapose mag/nat russell

check out the new issue of Juxtapose Magazine with a feature on my buddy Nat Russell. i'm grateful he asked me to shoot the portrait. hutch photos is back in 2013!

lee bender

my close friend lee got in a bad motorcycle wreck yesterday. he suffered a broken wrist, elbow, and knee. he has a huge gash in his head too. fortunately there was no head trauma. he's going to laid up in the hospital for a while and an even longer recovery road. please keep him in your thoughts and/or prayers.