I began shooting photos at the Del Mar Skate Ranch in February of 1979 while employed there as a Worker Bee. I shot this slide photo of skateboarding legend Brad Bowman in November of 1979, and by the looks of the photo and its lack of quality, I hadn't made much progress in the 9 or so months that had gone by. I apparently had bought my first flash—I remember it was a budget Kmart flash unit—and my lighting skills were next to nil. Brad Bowman was one of the best and the most stylish skaters that came to the skatepark, and I wish I had been a better photographer so that I could've done his skill level the justice it deserved.
I think it was more difficult back in the 1970s to learn skate photography; there was obviously no internet or social media, no skate photo classes, and no mentors. The established skate photographers at the time were rather guarded and secretive about their techniques, or then again, maybe it was just me, too intimidated to ask them for advice. Practice makes perfect, and back in the Film Days, that meant buying and shooting lots of film, sending it off to get processed, getting it back, and hopefully figuring out where I blew it and learning from my mistakes.
The Learning Curve took a lot longer back in the Analog Days before the Digital Age—we couldn't have imagined our present age of instant photography and YouTube How-To videos—Science Fiction, really. Technology has sped the learning process up so much that now a beginning skate photographer could actually become a sufficient skate photographer in a matter of months if they studied the correct videos, sites, and photographers. Of course they would also have to have a great crew of skateboarders to shoot. Sure, it was difficult Back in the Day, sure it was more expensive, sure it took longer, but it means a lot more to work at something and struggle through it and succeed at it than for it all to come too easily. Nothing comes easy.
I can say one good thing about this Brad Bowman photo, at least his board is in focus.
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