I'm open

Hey I am open!

 I am lucky enough to be part of a new team with long time friend Chris Riopelle. Ben Kaufmann and Jay Leroux are also on the team (Benny didn't play this night). Chitters shot these photos for me. We have a new logo and jerseys and all. The Dekes of Hazzard! I think it was Rio that came up with that, while Derek helped me make the logo. Damn don't we look good? Just need to fix our track record now…

Taz session Jan 2013

Tommy with a trick rarely seen these days. The fufanu. Not all is lost with the younger generation after all?

Check out some recent Taz photos from this month. People shredded and we logged some great footage as well. Shot with the T3i - canon 35mm and Opteka 6.5mm fisheye. 

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!!!

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

hard drive randomness

Here is an assortment of random photos from the 'ol hard drive. I have to mention Papanack zoo. It's located near Plantaganet on highway 17. It's seriously the best zoo I have been to. They pride themselves on donations and animal rescues. The place is really inexpensive, never crowded and has the best animal lineup. At one point they had the only wolverine in captivity as far as I know. They had to put titanium fencing like 8ft underground, otherwise he could potentially escape. They seriously have it all. And they have a great daily itinerary for the animal feeding. DO go to this place. Don't be stupid. Get off your stupid phone or facebook for a few hours and go there next spring. Right after the snow melts, the animals are very lively as it is not too hot. The animals here are visible and well looked after. This place makes the Toronto Metropolitan zoo look like a war camp from WW2. PLUS, you don't have to walk 8km's to see all the great stuff. BEST ZOO around by far. Anyways, lots more on the hard drive to come. These were all shot with Canon 40D. Speaking World Wars, wear a poppy at least today. It's the least you can do for the freedom you have. Thanks vets; I wouldn't exist without you!

How close have you even been to a lion? Did you even see one at the Metropolitan zoo? Doubt it

Don't fuck with Chuck

Hallowe'en has come and gone. It was an awesome week as you can see from this first pic. I played a bunch of hockey that week. I organized a huge group for paintball. It turned out to be a lot more fun than imagined. Highly recommended. Check Chitaroni's facebook for some great photos of the action. Then we all got dressed up for the special occassion. Ben said it best "Hallowe'en should be twice a year." Then he fell asleep. Can't wait for next year. I'll probably find myself on kijiji this winter looking at paintball guns. One more toy to own eh?

Derek as Chuck Norris, with one serious fucking kick. Sweet chin music 

Craz-E-Crew Cheo spring show

Every year the Craz-E-Crew puts on shows at the Cheo Tour de Nortel or something rather. It's a really good cause for children's heath. Every year I seem to get invited to the local show and enjoy myself more and more. My brother in law raises a wad of cash and does a 40km ride every year or something cool like that. It means a lot to him as his daughter (my niece) had some serious cancer issues at a very, very young age and Cheo is a large part of her successful recovery. This year was the best one yet and I got to play with some of Little Ray's Reptiles. If you have never been to Ray's, it's very south on Bank street, just out of the city. It's not expensive and very worth your time as the place is full of awesome reptiles big and small, and even birds of prey. Take the afternoon and head out there before it gets too cold. You are pretty much an idiot if you choose to not go.

this american alligator lost part of her left front foot

Ben Kaufmann (i)

The usage of the letter "i" is optional at the end of Ben last name. Other optional variations are Kauffman, Coughman, or how our hockey league has it spelled; Kawf. Ben didn't even want to do this walltap because "I am shit footed and I am not good at them." No big deal it's only like 5ft back or so.

Friendly reminder to have your shit in order for the dirt jam. Don't forget your helmet and pads. Let's huck away! See you there!!!

Ben walltapping the best spot in Hull, QC, on his new Norco bike

Craz-E-Crew show in Gatineau

I was able to catch up with the guys for the final show of the day at the Gatineau Balloon Festival. Everyone was shredding the ramps pre-show, but my bottom bracket shit the bed. A perfect time to pull the camera out. Shooting with a flash is sort of new for me and it's a fun challenge to get the photos the way you want, especially as the sun goes down quickly. You have to react and work with the camera's limitations (flash sync at a 1/200, etc). I was fairly happy with these and you can see from the first few photos when the sun really dropped. These were shot with the Opteka 6.5 fisheye and Canon 50mm. The Craz-E-Crew is always a good time and if you bring your bucket and capable of jumping there is a fair chance they'll let you session in between shows. I have been fortunate enough to travel with them in the past and really enjoy seeing the new and different up and comers join the team. Jumping is the shit.

Craz-E-Crew is just that. Never one to disapoint, Ben flips over Will. He isn't huge, but the flip certainly is

2010 Canon 40D photo offload

The 40D is long gone now. It made it's way to the mysterious Chris Campbell somewhere in Alberta. It's either collecting dust or being used for creepy photos of girls. Here are a bunch of my favs from 2010 I found while poking around on my hard drive. More photos after the jump. Did I get that right? "after the jump..." Bloggin'!

Norco's Ben Kaufmann, one footed pancake in Montreal's Le Taz