Hallowe'en

Derek as Two Face

Sorry for the late post on this one. Thanks to everyone who came and dressed up. Some really, really good costumes! The theme was film characters. Unfortunately some people don't even make an appearance on here because I was shooting some pretty out of focus shots that night.

An afternoon at the Brose Farm

Jay was trying to perfect his no footed cans all afternoon. It's a good shot when you can see the waffle in the sole

I was unable to ride the last Brose Farm jam, but got lucky enough to have Josh have myself and a few others out for a session before it got too cold. Here are a bunch of photos and video edit of the shredding. People went pretty hard for the camera. The video below captures MOST of the best things that went down. On a roll here recently, let's keep it up. Somehow motivated to ride and film while the weather runs out on us. Hey, make sure to watch that video in HD from the vimeo page too! Click for more pics and video link!

2012 end of summer mix edit

2012 end of summer mix from Dirty Lens Productions on Vimeo.

I had a fun summer doing all sorts of things. Here is a video simply smashed together since I had too many random clips and not enough to do proper individual edits. Cherish the warm sunny days, they won't last long now!

Make sure you click the vimeo link and go my page and watch in HD. It won't be amazing quality because I don't have vimeo plus, so I had to squish a big vid to fit a small margin...

Enjoy!

2012 Tdot Embassy Spring Trip

I finally got my edit up on my own vimeo player. Enjoy this quickly in HD when you click on the vimeo link. I feel like I haven't ridden all year, then I watch this and realize I didn't too badly for my schedule. Although, I neeed to ride more. New end of summer edit coming as we speak. Enjoy.

more photos from Quebec + Roland bonus shot

Roland with a pocket table transfer in North Carolina. Photo by Stacey Peralta of Peralta Grind 

Just some more photos from our QC trip. Also a great shot I have been meaning to put of Roland shot by his friend. Roland was down this summer, so hopefully you got to shred a bit with him. He hasn't slowed down a bit! Way to go Roland. Awesome sequence!

end of summer doesn't mean end of fun

Who?

No. No it doesn't. Here some more recent things I have been up to as well. Most notably my and Brenna's 10 year anniversary, celebrated in Quebec city. What an awesome place. Highly recommended if you haven't been yet. Just a really beautiful place to get away with a loved one. Brenna scored us a sweet hotel right in old Quebec and it was perfect being in the thick of everything every moment. There was lots to do and the city was very lively. Here are a whack of photos in no particular order. Hope everyone is getting in those final outdoor plans. Like Josh's Dirt Jam!

Zoo and Quebec photos are with the T3i and Tamron 18-270 walk around lens (lifesaver for those attainable zoom shots without carrying a second lens) and the rest are junky iphone pics.

over cooked and over due

Kyle Lafleur generously got me Iron Maiden tickets in Toronto for my bday. In all my years of listening to metal, I never really liked Maiden. They were awesome live. As good or better than any show I have seen. Great sound and superior stage presence. Here the stage is lit with flames. Next bunch of photos are randoms of my iPhone.

 Holy hell. One word to describe summer; BUSY. A second word? Fun.

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's just been so insane that finding half an hour to do this has been tough. But that is good, that means I haven't been on a computer all summer. Great news. Enjoy the pics. More to come in the next few weeks, as well as summer mashup video edit. Another great summer in the books!

Dirty Lens blog is 1 year old!

I love shooting this trick as much as I love watching him do it

July 9th is here and my desktop is overflowing with June photos. I decided to check to see when I first posted on here. Turns out it's a full year to the day. A few weeks back I went to Toronto with Brenna and we had a great time wandering and relaxing. We started down by the brewery district and then got some of those whacky bixi bikes and cruised around downtown. I finally stopped at the "Big Apple" on the way back off the 401. You haste surely seen it; it's a giant apple. Stop sometime. While at the Mill Street Bew Pub we ran into Dave McCaig who was shooting photo for some nerdy bicycle enthusiast event. Then we randomly saw Mike Heaton fly by downtown on his bmx. There is no doubt in my mind where that guy's passion lies. He was just full speed cranking down the street. Check out Brenna's photos of a hail storm in June. Crazy! Got out for a small bmx session today with Crazy Steve. He shredded as expected. Always more pics in the works. 4800+ visits in the last 365 days. Lots of random people checking the motocross pics it would seem. Anyway, check back soon. Enjoy

a Blast from the Past

dubbed the poor man's porsche

Plenty going on in life between bmx life. I recently just picked up a 1988 Honda CRX Si. I paid a bit more than I wanted, but it's relatively untouched and only had 110k on the original engine. It drives really great to back that claim. I always wanted one of these cars and hopefully I can appreciate it enough to keep it for a while before moving on to something else. Power steering, pwr sunroof, AC, and pwr windows! Sweet little ride. Red too! I can't lose money on this car because of how rare it is to find them in such shape. Most dorks have changed the body to look like a transformer or something stupid. Drastic changes that really can't go back to normal ever.

I also recently went on a camping trip with my youth leadership program that I partake in. It's youth from Lowertown who really don't get the opportunities that you and I may have had growing up. We went to Christie Lake near Pertch and it was an absolute blast seeing these real city kids waaaaay out of the element. Showing them a more positive side to life. That is a change for some of them.

Ray came down and we did a mini photoshoot of him on his motorcycle. He recently dropped his camera in a lack and the kit lens shoots a bit foggy still. I was able to touch it up a bit, but check out the crisp fisheye shots. I took his bike for a spine and wow. It just keeps revving and revving without redlining. I was doing 130kmph before I knew it and I wasn't uncomfortable. Scary fun.

Canada day weekend is upon and it's the best weekend in Ottawa all year without a doubt.

ENJOY

Brose Farm Dirt Jam 2012

CFS was in top form

Brose Farm Dirt Jam 2012 went down successfully. What a great weekend. Perfect setup and vibes with equally good weather to boot. Josh's (and his many helpers) hard work was put to good use as approximately 30 riders hit the course throughout the day. There isn't a whole hell of a lot to say about it. It was the area's best bmx event of the year, easily. I only look forward to the next one. Thanks to the Brose family and the gracious sponsors who kicked in plenty of goodies for the rider's efforts. Brenna and Ray shot a few of the more random photos shown here. Enjoy.

hold your fire

Jorden sets his sights with the Henry .22

 Jorden and I were recently lucky enough to be taken out for a day of shooting by a couple of friends. Our experts really were just that; experts. Hospitable and generous, they provided and excellent lesson in shooting and all the science that goes with it. And even some history on top of that. I was a really fun day and we got to shoot some unique guns. One being especially unique for various reasons that I won't get into (all legal, yes. Just not for you!). Guns never bothered me before, but I definitely feel more comfortable around them. I could easily see myself taking the license test this season just to have. I highly recommend taking advantage of a shooting opportunity if ever presented to you. It's a fun skill most Canadians should be familiar with. Who knows when the zombie apocalypse is coming?

Hey, if you weren't swimming last Monday then your were probably already dead. Hit the water park and it was a blast. Some really fun new additions and school is still in so the place wasn't packed. Make sure to get out to Calypso. Not cheap, but well worth the fun. They even heat the water there... crazy.

REMINDER: If you are not going to Josh's dirt jam this weekend, you might be dumb. Try and fix that would you?

Alive and Kickin'

Jay with his most consistent trick

Took a quick day trip to the Aylmer trails. They are alive and well thanks to a few dedicated diggers. Big ups to those guys. They have been putting in some work and the trails are a lot bigger and more fun than they used to be. Lots of MTB influence, but I ain't digging', so I can't complain now can I? A decent session went down and all was well until some Gatineau puke decided to gank my 50mm lens from my open bag. Who would leave an open bag full of camera gear near a pack of people? I would. It's a small scene and if it's dog eat dog, you'd better hide in your dog house. Karma is coming for you buddy. I opted to not point fingers at the group of people around the area. 30 years old and yelling at young folk, just makes you look crazy. But don't think you are ever too young to be slapped. Anyways, Benny Kaufmann and Emile Otis showed up and proceeded to shred the place, but my batteries died. I did manage to score a couple of video  clips of ben though. Here are some photos of the afternoon.

photo overload

Craig insisted on seeing this photo right after to check for "proper knee placement". I'd say it was good

Took a trip to Mtl and rode some secret trails. Well, I watched. They were a crazy creation that I wasn't gonna give a go. Instead I sat back and watched the locals do their thing. We also rode through the school protest at a time of night where it wasn't violent yet, and also saw "zombie boy", google image him. It has been a very random week. Here are some photos, unfortunately none of zombie boy or the protest.

Toronto Embassy Edit + some pics

Here is the edit I did as posted on the www.northernembassy.com

You can watch it embedded here in HD as they have a plus account. Check some more recent Orleans photos too. For some reason my flash will work remotely, but not on the camera body. Whatever. I had fun. Enjoy.

road trip: Toronto

Chris Silva walltaps a really neat DIY mini near some train tracks

I packed up and went solo all the way to Toronto to see Prashant, Leland, and Pat at their new place together. I hadn't seen the guys in far too long, and Pat/Lelo were about to embark on a cycling trip across Canada. I rode Gananoque, Napanee, and Trenton parks on the way up and had a great time by myself, which is rare. My Civic passed 375k on the body and then I parked it for thew weekend which was a nice change. Luckily I didn't get ticketed, towed, or robbed since my car no longer locks. These guys live in a super interesting industrialized building that is basically a bunch of studios rented out for living situations to all sorts of weirdos that you come to expect. Mostly hipsters. Prashant did not like how I threw that word around, but it's true. The guys live in an ex-dominatrix porn studio. The place is really neat, the history of it makes sense with some of the styling. You would just have to be there to understand. Toronto was alive and the weather was good. We were able to bike everywhere. I rode a bunch of spots I have never even seen before and really enjoyed myself riding street and cruising around. I actually slept ok and ate relatively well. That is a big change because bmx trips for me are normally less sleep than I want and snacks all day, then lots of pain and more drinking. It helped out because I don't normally ride 3 days in a row anymore, but my body help up ok. Kyle came down solo as well from Sudbury and stayed at his sister's. He made several appearances and shredded as usual. I got a lot of filming done over the course of the weekend and it turns out I am doing a web edit for Embassy of the trip. It's almost done and much, much longer than I anticipated. But it if wasn't drawn out, then it wouldn't be my edit. Come back soon for more.

Best of luck on the trip guys and thanks for the hospitality!

T3i is back!

guy in the sky

Got the T3i back finally. Here is a quick selection of photos from a recent Orleans session. Speaking of back, Jay is back from his broken thumb. He says it's weak but you would hardly know. And there is the comeback kid, Tommy. Shredding as usual. This quick update will have to do. I just got back from a Toronto trip and I am working on an edit for the Embassy site. I will get cracking on that, there will be plenty of photos and a nice video from that trip.

CHAMPS!

Meet the CAHL Div 5 League Champions; the House League Heroes

This is a big post full of photos to celebrate the year. Most photos were taken by Chris Chitaroni, Brenna, and Jorden Guth, and a few from me off the bench.

This year was the best so far, and possibly ever for this team. We assembled a team in a league as strangers, essentially an expansion team with no structure. Several frustrating seasons passed and we got hammered and finished bottom of the barrel for 3 or 4 seasons straight. We had a team full of skilled players, but we couldn't match the chemistry and experience of the other teams. It goes to show you how important it is for everyone on a team to on the same page at every moment. 

We finished the 2011-12 winter season in first place with a record of 13w-3L-6t, ahead of second place by 11 points. We were the least penalized and finished second in goals for and goals against. We tied the very first game of the season, then preceded to lose the next three. We made a small change to lineup and all of a sudden people started to read each other. We went undefeated for the next 18 games. Mind you, there were some very close calls (hence the 6 ties, double the amount of ties of every other team), ands yours truly tied the final game of the season up with 40 seconds left on the clock to keep the streak going.

my 30th bday and more

Rich's 30th b-day weekend edit from Rich Red on Vimeo.

First off, don't dare watch the above video on here in shit definition. Use it to go into my page or click the top right link to get to my vimeo page. So many things have happened and I am still stuck without the T3i. iPhone photos will have to suffice. Not the nicest, but it is handy on the go. I did buy a new camcorder, the Panasonic AG-HMC40. I couldn't resist any longer. The restrictions of a DSLR for filming were driving me nuts. It even came with a good fisheye so I am back in business. You will see how Kyle just about smashes together a full edit in no time at all. We rode for one single afternoon. That's it. Crazy. Ben Kaufmann and the Craz-E-Crew also made it to the Canada's Got Talent semi finals. They did a show live on television and it was awesome. They didn't end up going any further because Canadians somehow how prefer dudes doing opera covers and guys in spandex looking a fool. The judges made it obvious they were the best though. Good job! Just a reminder that I have the best girlfriend and friends. Everyone came to together and made my 30th birthday a real special one I won't forget. Thanks to everyone for everything! Here's to many more good years!!!

almost pool season?

I won't say no to a good pool session. But facts are facts, and pretty much nobody is going pool hunting without Jeff. Jeff ain't here. That means I ain't riding pools this year. Here is a quick look of some of the guys "shralping pools" as it was commonly referred to a few years back. That was a great year. Thanks to everyone's kean eye and Jeff's motivation. I realize that last part is an oxymoron.

Jeff shreds, excuse me, shralps the meadowlands pool. When full of water this was a frequent illegal swim hole as well with a really fun diving board and safely deep section

Dirty Lens spring edit

First Day of Spring 2012 from Rich Red on Vimeo.


I have sent the T3i in for warranty for the dead pixel. Luckil;y it has happened just short of the manufacturer's one year warranty. In the meantime I have figured out how to embed video. MAKE SURE TO WATCH IT FULL SCREEN IN HD ON THE VIMEO SITE PLEASE. Or straight up visit the Dirty Lens Productions vimeo page link in the top right corner of this blog. This is a video from the last of the good weather a few weeks ago. I will have to get a new proper filming camera as this DSLR style just won't cut it for everything I want to do filming wise. You will see the dead pixel in the video. You will also notice I forgot my light I purchased specifically for night like in this video. Fuck. Enjoy!

Oh yah. Obviously I won't have a camera for the next few weeks, but do come back. I will upload some hard drive goodies next week.

spring arrived, Ben shredded, spring left

 The weather was record breaking last week and riders everywhere got their sessions in. Good thing, cuz it's damn cold again. I made my way to Orleans to pretty much watch everyone else ride. I haven't ridden in months and with a new bike, I was extra terrible. But this gives me a good excuse to break out the camera. And Ben didn't disappoint. I also got a new iMac that has been working very well. Jorden hooked me up with the new Final Cut too, so my edits should have a slight improvement in quality and looks overall. I really want to up the quality this year and focus on looks as opposed to quantity. I really need to get a traditional filming camera, because this DSLR filming feels beaten to death already, AND I have a dead pixel already. Balls. Idiocy never fails. I am speaking of higher quality edits, but you'll notice I forgot my filming light for the new edit. It was kinda key considering it was night and... well, dark. Good times. Check back really soon for the edit!

Norco's Ben Kaufmann cranks a turndown on the hip

it's over

It's is truly over isn't it? Let's celebrate and get riding. See you at the park!

I made this on my last Cuba vacation

metro jam !!!

I am missing my first metro jam since 2002 or so, maybe even earlier. In light of the epic weekend that is metro, here a bunch of photos from 2010 event. Enjoy.

guys will get gay and light blue angels

motocross; part 2

Here are a bunch of riding shots. Still some cool old shots are lost somewhere in photo albums, but this will have to do. If you ever get the chance, take it up as a sport or hobby. You won't regret it. It's like a mix of bmx and skiing. I hope you enjoy these archives! Big thanks to everyone who took the time to shoot photos of me!!!

Derek shot this and some more great shots of yours truly

motocross: part one

Just had a deep thought about my motocross bikes and how I miss them. So I tried to dig up some photos to give me something to do here.  Here is some of my history. Some bikes I couldn't find pics of currently. But enjoy what I have posted for now. I have a ton picked out for part 2 already.

I used Derek's Nikon to shoot this one at a spot called Galetta. Chevy commercial? Geeze, I miss my S-10 too. Derek's bike sits beside mine. His was just a few years older.

Camp Fortune

Myself and Chris went up to Camp Fortune for a Sunday's worth of boarding. They let me pay as a student which was nice. Still expensive as hell though (and I didn't know it closed at 4pm). After checking out the hill and being intimidated by the other park goers, I decided to start playing on this giant hip at the base of the mountain. Nobody else was riding. A few jumps and I had some confidence back. Then I went through the park and had a good time since I wasn't too terrible. I am no snowboard guru but have seen a handful of parks and Fortune's turned out to be the best laid out and probably most enjoyable and expensive that my limited self has seen. Why do they always put the parks near the chairlifts? To embarrass the weaker riders? Or to entertain the crowd with better riders? I don't get it. It's not like a skatepark where grandma and her the whole wealthy family won't be there to watch you fail. Skateparks are perfect in that the only people there are people who can help or motivate you. Not some douche bag in a one piece that drives a leased Denali. Either way, I amped myself and started to go a lot bigger than I have in a long time. It was the perfect hip in my opinion. So much fun I stopped taking the chairlift and walked up the hill in exchange for quicker hits of the hips. Seriously, nobody was riding it. So I could have enjoyed that thing all day to myself, for free? Damn. Speaking of damn. I saw this kid loop out trying to up this barrel obstacle in the background. He looped out as his board hit the barrel, he was leaning so far back, and then as he accidentally was backflipping over it, his face came around and smashed the barrel while he was upside down. He then landed dead flat with blood pouring out of his nose. He was dazed and started to yell for help. Of course I was the only one there, and I was right at his feet. I calmed him down and took his board off. I stayed with him until ski patrol got there. Funniest thing I have seen in a while. When I realized he might have only had a broken nose, I laughed hysterically in his face. He was a good sport about. He was Asian after he hit the barrel. I am unsure if he was Asian before though.

                                                    excuse the video placement here. no idea what I am doing

myself on my favourite obstacle I have ever snowboarded (I am pretty sure I am doing a method grab?) this to me is the equivalent of a good bmx table

Tremblant weekend getaway

It was a blast. A bit of snowboarding was done, a bit of hockey was played, lots of drinks were drank, and not lots of sleeping was had. We hit the hill late but had fun none the less. Most of our time was spent drinking honestly. People relaxed and got wrinkled in our own personal hot tub. The chalet was awesome and the setup was great. Deer just wander in the back yard. Crazy. Ray took the ditch on the way up, but got lucky when a plough drove by and pulled him out. I put Chris' car off the driveway, leaving it stuck. Pure man power lifted his car back onto the driveway. Way to go team. We then shredded over to the other chalet at one point and did some crazy carpeting. None of us were prepared but went down gloveless and in jeans anyway. Team ESCAPE then proceeded to make a miraculous comeback in an epic game of flip cup. We out partied the other chalets and pretty much had to go back to our chalet because the other teams were "tired" and everyone was going to sleep and mope around as if life was hard on them. Next year, it has to be a day longer though, because I need more than 3 hours of sleep a night. FML. Wait, success! 

Thanks to everyone for being a part of the weekend.

Angry Bird

first ride; snowboarding

I am sure glad I was able to get back into snowboarding years after having stopped. Just weekend warrior type stuff. But still, something fun and different during the harsh winter. Something that at times feels like riding bmx, motocross, or pretend surfing. I got my first ride in the with the crippled Chitaroni and his frugal setup. Also my first time at Edelweiss. Not all the runs were open, but the conditions were great and the hill itself was enjoyable and well priced after 3pm on Sunday ($18 to ride until 9pm, not bad). That was my freshen-up ride for Tremblant this coming weekend. Should be a doozy. After having tried to film Jay on his skis with my gopro, I got motivated to find a DIY youtube video to enhance my gopro film-ability. I made a cheap and shotty monopod that should do the job. I don't want to miss Jay's tricks. He's got a deep stylish bag that I want to capture. Meanwhile life in Casselman has been feeling like Saskatoon recently. Cold. Windy. Icy. See you at Tremblant!

Captain cheap-o's GT Boutique pant belt let go. Packing tape did the job.

Old man winter has his day

Winter is passing quickly and I all I seem to do is work and wish I was doing other things. I managed to squeeze in another Habs game with Brenna this time. Last minute deal on faxchange.com . Use this site the day before a game you want to go to, it's secure and you can't get screwed on tickets. The day before the game, people lower their prices pretty good. I got 118 level seats at the Bell Centre for $150 a peice. Not bad at all! AND, the Habs won 7-3. Lars eller got 4 goals, his fourth being a spin-o-ramo penatly shot. I couldn't have choosen a better game to see! The guy sitting behind me and a girl sitting down lower had their SLR's confiscated (until the game was over), so I got lucky to even get a few shots. Trade rumours of PK Subban are floating around now. They have stunted his growth and in return he hasn't been himself, coughing the puck up regularly. Too bad, he'll be great somewhere else. I Pretty much bought a new bmx and hopefully can have it painted and built up soon. My old one (minus the wheels) will be for sale, for cheap. Tremblant is soon. Get ready. We'll have lots of photos to share after that. I am praying to snowboard soon, if it would only stop raining on my days off. I'll get some real photos up soon. Stay tuned.

so much potential

first post of 2012

Christmas was perfect. Lots of family and fun activites with some needed time off. Even Jeff and Kyle came down and we even rode a bit, but I didn't snap a single photo. We stayed up until 7am drinking and working on convincing Jeff to move back to Ontario. Come back Jeff!!! What a great year 2011 was. Here are some photos of how it wrapped up for me. Hey Boudreau. Come back too. Mass migration back here!!! Best of luck to everyone for 2012.

this photo couldn't have turned out much better, pure luck. Travis Moen