Skate Free Or Die

The Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark nestles up to the Houston skyline over near Sabine and Memorial Drive. A state-of-the-art 30,000 square foot in-ground public facility, it’s pretty spectacular to see and, being free, a great entertainment opportunity for skaters and observers on any given day. It’s also well lit and open till 10pm so you come late and beat the heat.

My friend Groovehouse had been posting some pics to his Flickr site and I thought I might go try my hand.

Fortunately when I arrived at the park Groovehouse happened to be there. You can see him working his craft in these two photos:

I really like this place. The lighting, the people, the layout of the park. It’s fun to just watch and it’s really fun to shoot.

Groove helped me out with some tips and was especially helpful in pointing out who the particularly good skaters were so I could be ready to shoot when they “dropped in.”

This is Ben Raybourn

And this is Charlie Urquhart:

Obviously, I’ve got a lot to learn about shooting this kind of stuff.

I have some additional photos here.