There’s nothing like grabbing a shovel and building a jump. For most of my life this meant snow and ice, rock salt, water, and lots of chopping. Turns out building dirt jumps on a BMX trail isn’t much different (minus the snow, ice, and cold).
The Red Bull Illume photography contest has helped open a lot of doors for me over the past few months, helping grow Driftwood Photography Studios the exposure of driftwoodfoto.com. One of them was meeting some incredible BMX athletes who have invited me off the snow where I grew up, and the beaches where I’ve now made my home, into their world of dirt tracks and jumps.
Knowing someone is always a surefire way of entering a little or completely unknown scene, but grabbing a shovel and helping move some dirt can help open it’s own doors too. The other day I did just that: helped move some dirt in reshaping a jump/landing at Sheep Hills, then sat back and pushed a button while a group of hard core locals charged a few lines and tested out their new jump. As it got dark I setup a light with a remote trigger, half buried in the dirt. Next time I’ll remember to bring a stand or two!
