First photo you ever had published:

 

It was a lifestyle photo of Brandon Thomas on the dock which Tony Smith called and asked me to shoot…It was for an interview with BT in Alliance. I was pretty psyched on that!

 

First time you were mistaken for a homeless person:

 

I was at the gas station in Lousiana for that Fox winch trip that just ran in the mag. I was using the windshield scrubber / squeegee to wash my feet and was right in the middle of a serious beard growth. No one actually acknowledged me as a homeless man, but I could feel the tension in the air.

 

First rider you ever took a picture of:

 

Probably Scott Byerly or Aaron Reed. It was definitely on lake Georgia in Orlando, which is where I lived next door to Scott and started getting into shooting wakeskating and wakeboarding.

 

First nude photo shoot:

 

Unfortunately it was a man; It was Danny Hampson holding his Alliance cover over his crotch which actually ran in that Dustpan interview you guys did with him post ROTY. Haha!

Not his first choice for a nude model, but Hampson gets the job done…

 

So you’ve never shot a girl nude?

 

Well maybe a few with the cell phone…but I wouldn’t call those “jobs.”

 

 

First camera lost to the drink:

 

I can’t remember a specific moment but eventually the film bodies get wet enough and a few major things end up going wrong. The good thing is there’s no major electronics involved so they can hold up to WAY more moisture than digi’s.

 

First travel experience for wakeskating / wakeboarding?

 

That’s a good one cause it was horrible a horrible experience: Well, I take that back, the trip was amazing but the outcome was less than desirable. I was hired by Reef to go to Mexico and shoot their team, which I did, but all the film was lost in the mail after sending it off to get developed. I can’t say I’ve had too many calls to shoot for Reef since the incident…ha.

 

First photo injury shooting wake:

 

I wasn’t paying attention, hit some rollers and the camera bounced back to cut me right above my eye. Amateur style.

 

First sequence:

Danny Hampson doing something wake to wake. I shot it on 35 mm. The only other sequence I have ever had print was a digital one of Ben Horan.

 

First thing you say to a hottie you’ve never met when the camera is in hand:

 

“Hey Girl the light’s perfect right now…”

 

Is that it?

 

Yeah that’s it (laughs)!

 

First time you saved a life:

 

I was in Costa Rica on the beach and saw the rip tide taking a little girl and her dog out past the break so I had to make the save while my buddy saved the dog! It was pretty crazy.

 

First time you faked it (taking pictures of someone).

 

I’ve never done that…LOL ; )