More Tearsheets: Editorial Work for Newport Beach and Laguna Beach Magazines

I promise there are some skateboard photos coming here soon, but in the meantime here are a few tearsheets of my work featured in the most recent issues of Newport Beach Magazine and Laguna Beach Magazine.

 These images, along with more that I shot, can be seen in the January-February 2011 issues of Newport Beach Magazine and Laguna Beach Magazine, which are on Southern California newsstands now, or online at http://www.OCInSite.com

Starting in on the Summer's Photos - Mike Davis, Drop In

This ditch spot in California was the first real street skating we did this summer on the Hometown Heroes tour, and while most people wouldn't see a nearly vertical wall with a drainage hole in it as a spot, Mike Davis from Portland had no trouble dropping in on it. In fact he had so little trouble that he didn't mind doing it multiple times so the filmer and I could both get multiple angles. I could pick which one I like better, but it's the internet, so why not put up both.

So, everyone waiting to see their photos from this summer, you can see I am working on them and I promise they are coming. This is the first of 3-months' worth of rad skating. Lots more to come...

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!

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!