Chad Norman » Skateboarding http://www.echohive.com/blog Welcome to the life portfolio of designer Chad Norman :: Original photographs, images, and words :: Enjoy! Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:16:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Skaters are Everywhere http://www.echohive.com/blog/2008/01/29/skaters-are-everywhere/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2008/01/29/skaters-are-everywhere/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:12:19 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2008/01/29/skaters-are-everywhere/ As a skater, I never stop analyzing every curb, planter, ditch, gap, and set of stairs for potential skatability – even if most of these tempting street obstacles would send me back to the hospital for sure (I’ll stick to the parks, thank you).

Anyway, because I can’t stop gawking at these urban artifacts, they really stand out over time. Waxed curbs, scuffed walls, chipped paint on hand rails – it’s like Luminol on carnage to me.

So when Coop and I walked up the East side of the Ravenel a few weeks ago, I noticed that almost every skateable feature had been hit. The benches have been ground, and the cable anchors have been carved. Definitely an interesting setting for a session, and I imagine the photos were even better.

And seriously, I swear I’m not obsessed with this bridge or anything…really. I’ll post about other stuff soon, I promise!

]]> http://www.echohive.com/blog/2008/01/29/skaters-are-everywhere/feed/ 6 Chris Thul http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/07/17/chris-thul-2/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/07/17/chris-thul-2/#comments Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:56:43 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/07/17/chris-thul-2/ I meant to post these shots of Chris a couple weeks ago. We skated the rec center by ourselves for a while, and he even got a shot of me for a change.

Flip

Ollie

]]> http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/07/17/chris-thul-2/feed/ 3 50-50 Thumbsup http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/29/50-50-thumbsup/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/29/50-50-thumbsup/#comments Tue, 29 May 2007 12:30:54 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/29/50-50-thumbsup/ Austen Heard, 2007.
Just a nice 50-50 down the rail.

Austen

]]> http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/29/50-50-thumbsup/feed/ 2 Cone Ollie http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/cone-ollie/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/cone-ollie/#comments Mon, 21 May 2007 06:29:40 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/cone-ollie/ Jay Meyer, 2007.
20 years ago, being able to ollie a cone meant the same thing it does today…you’ve got mad chops. This shot gets deeper when you find out Jay broke his arm clean through just a couple months ago, and had two surgeries and 8 pins put in. Now that’s hardcore.

jay

]]> http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/cone-ollie/feed/ 0 Lipslide on the Rail http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/lipslide-on-the-rail/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/lipslide-on-the-rail/#comments Mon, 21 May 2007 06:26:10 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/05/21/lipslide-on-the-rail/ Austen Heard, 2007.
Caught just before wood hits meta at the Mount Pleasant Skatepark.

Austen Heard

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How high is this ollie? You’ll never really know, will you? (pssst…it’s huge!)

Big Ollie

]]> http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/24/ollie-in-the-sky/feed/ 3 The 1990 Video http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/24/the-1990-video/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/24/the-1990-video/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:53:01 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/24/the-1990-video/ You know, I got out of the habit of actually writing here despite that being one of the objectives for this project. My main focus was to create a repository for 100% original work. Because of this, I’ve been leaning on my photos…which is fine. But I totally forgot to post the 1990 video!

Huh?

Like all passionate skaters, we practiced self-documentation in ritualistic fashion. We filmed and we shot. We developed, edited, and screened. Guys were forever making sponsorship videos, and we analyzed contest films like fiendish hoops coaches. It was all part of the life.

Every year, my friend Todd and I would boil down a years worth of footage into “The Video.” We had two VCRs, one of which miraculously had an audio overdub feature, and we would spend hours getting our dub-on. After the segments were compiled and the hand drawn/written graphics were added, we slapped some tunes over the top.

I’ve been digitizing and posting these on YouTube for the crew…you can see the 1988 video here (Almost 20 years ago…gulp.) I had some flexibility when I worked on the 1990 video, because we hadn’t yet added the audio. I was able to mix the sounds of the skating with a the music, and this gave it a production quality that was unavailable back in the day.

So in writing this painfully long intro and posting a twenty-year-old video testament to skateboarding’s timelessness, I have pushed myself a little farther along. You poor soul. Here’s the video.

And for the record, the slams video gets watched the most on YouTube.

]]> http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/24/the-1990-video/feed/ 1 Six Months Can Make a Difference http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/23/six-months-can-make-a-difference/ http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/23/six-months-can-make-a-difference/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:49:33 +0000 Chad Norman http://www.echohive.com/blog/2007/04/23/six-months-can-make-a-difference/ Check out these two shots of Austen Heard at the Mount Pleasant Skatepark. The first was taken two days ago, while the second was taken six months ago. This kid’s been eating his Wheaties for sure.

Melon
– April 2007

Melon
– October 2006

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Homeboy’s got style like a pair of Prada shoes.

Frontside

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Grabbing backside out of the big very bowl.

Bowl

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