As a skateboarder, the summer months tend to produce a love/hate relationship with the weather.  Longer days allow us to skate past 9 p.m., but the heat makes it unbearable to skate BEFORE 6 p.m.  You see the love/hate relationship forming already…  Here in the Willamette Valley, the only months averaging less than one inch of precipitation are July and August, so if we don’t handle our business in the summer, forget about trying to skate in the winter.

As a photographer, shooting photos at dusk can be fun, but it also requires a lot of gear to light a spot and the skater and still get a good photo; multiple flashes are needed to light up even the smallest spot in a way that makes it look interesting.  During the day, though, when the sun is blazing, you don’t need to light the spot; you just need to light the skater, which makes shooting photos just a little bit easier.  Case in point is the switch varial heelflip below.

Jake Gascoyne is the newest addition to the Tactics skate team and I don’t know if it’s his youth or what, but the heat doesn’t seem to affect him.  We skated yesterday afternoon for a couple hours and came home with the flicks below.

Jake, welcome to the team!

[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157621638179455"]