Tylor O's Ramp Destruction Party

After the Hometown Heroes finals at the X-Games in LA and shooting photos at Maloof in Orange County another summer on the road has come to an end. I have a few free weeks before my big trip West so I'm doing my best to catch up on editing some photos, and some of those should make it here to the blog. Here's the first of those



Back in April I got a message from Tylor O'Connor that he was moving out of his apartment and the affectionately titled Slum Dog Mini-ramp needed to get torn down. Tylor's not one to do anything quietly (ask his neighbors), so he threw a little Sunday night party to let everyone get their last tricks in on the mini-mini-ramp. The session ended with Tylor getting a Blunt-Fakie on a TV, and then smashing it.



Sorry for the wait for the photos, Tylor! Keep your eyes here for more catch-up photos coming soon...

Another Friday at The Beerics

It's winter in Chicago. Still. And there is plenty of snow on the ground to prove it.
With tediously long winters and the nearest indoor park being a 45-minute drive (and $12) away, skateboarders in Chicago have to take things into their own hands to avoid hibernation. One example of this DIY effort is The Beerics. Basically a bunch of dudes moved to Chicago from Michigan, got a house in unassuming Roscoe Village, and built the best ramp their 15'x15'x8' garage would allow.



In addition to building this ramp, they started a website lightheartedly spoofing Steve Berra's Berrics, and putting a Chicago spin on it. www.TheBeerics.com is the result. Every Friday skaters and onlookers cram into the standing-room-only garage with beers in hand to skate or watch their buddy attempt a trick for Fifth Try Friday, who has to shotgun a beer after each failed attempt.



I could go on about how much fun it is and how psyched I am to get to ride my skateboard in the dead of winter with a bunch of good dudes, but instead just go to the site and watch a couple videos and I think you'll understand for yourself.

Productive Fall Day

Almost halfway into November here in Chicago the days are getting shorter and the air is getting a lot cooler, so any chance to get out and shoot some skating is great, but a weekend of warmth is even better. Last Sunday I got out with Andy Patterson, Eric Thomas, Nick Merisko, Thomas Hawver, plus a few more, and wound up with almost more photos in that one day than the sum of what I've shot since getting back from tour. I shot 4 or 5 rolls of Velvia, but here are a couple of digi shots from the day..

Nick Merisko tossed a crooked down this previously untouched metal rail/hubba in Chicago. Andy and Eric also both threw some crazy tricks here, the film of which is at the lab. This spot is going to blow up, but these three laid down an admirable foundation of tricks for kids to step up to.

At the last spot of the day, Bank One, I had pretty much packed up for the day, satisfied with my pocket full of 120 film, when I saw Thomas trying this Pop Shuv off the bench and into a slightly banked wall. I threw up some flashes and Thomas rolled away in a few tries.

Also, if you haven't checked out http://PhilBlairPhoto.com since its redesign last spring, check it out, because I am tried of the layout again and am working an all new redesign. The new site will most likely include a blog page so further content will be over there, but I'll post here when that is ready to go. Enjoy the autumn air, everyone!

Back Smith Before I Left

Shot this snap of Pat Devine back smithing across the gap a few weeks before leaving Chicago.

Red Bull: Get It On Record, 1st Place Winners

So this is the promised update on the first of the two exciting contests I have recently won. In short, this contest, put on by Red Bull, in its third year overall and first year in Chicago, was a design competition for college students. I applied with three images and a short statement about why I thought I would be good for the contest. I was accepted as a photographer and put on a team with a filmmaker, Jordan Gzesh, a designer, Katie Swanson, and we, group 10, were assigned a client. Our client was a breakdancer named Torsion. Our assignment was to create a marketing package for our client, however we interpreted that, utilizing all four of our respective talents.
In the 30 days we had to complete the project we met many times, bounced ideas off eachother, always building on what everyone else came up with, and just collaborating in every sense of the word. While almost every tangible part of the final project materialized in the last 10 days, the prior 20 were what made the project what it would become.
I was super lucky to be grouped with 3 talented individuals, and without further description, here is the finished product (click for larger):

Photography: Phil Blair
Video (Shot and edited): Jordan Gzesh
Design (Graphic work as well as book construction): Katie Swanson
Dancer: Tori "Torsion" Howard









Those are the shots of the finished product. The book, handmade by Katie Swanson was held shut magnetically, and when opened contained a tri-fold pullout featuring large images, a DVD with Jordan's video, and a digital picture frame that cycled through a slideshow of Torsion.
Also contained are Torsion's business cards, which feature his logo and contact info on the front and back, and in between is a flipbook of Torsion breaking. The flipbook sequence is featured at the end of Jordan's video, which is here (I recommend going HD and full screen!):



Also, Click here to be taken to the Flickr set of all the images featured in the project:



Thanks so much to Red Bull for sponsoring this contest, and Katie, Jordan and Tori for being so awesome to work with! The experience was worth it, but having the win on my resume and the gift card for an Apple Macbook are nice perks!
1st Place!

Wednesday is PHOTO Day

I've been slacking on updating, and the posts have admittedly been rather unphotographic, particularly considering the subtitle to this blog is "A photographic supplement". Therefore, I am instituting PhotoDayWednesday, because while they may not be the best, my photos are inarguably more interesting than my life as of late. SO HERE GOES:



ELY PHILLIPS comin through with the crailslide at Wilson
This is the photo that was run with his little interview last month in FTK Mag, so in case you already saw that, to be fair I'll throw in another one



THOMAS CHRPA threw down for this photo to help me finish my studio final. The ollie wasNOT a land, but as far as my final goes, he really came through in a pinch for me.

so there you have it, I'll do my best to keep up with PhotoDayWednesday, and maybe even get some photos in in between as well. So, what do you say, DO YOU LIKE IT?