‘Once you meet those local heroes and your friends start getting good enough, everything changes.’
Tyler Moore
April 2025
What is the skate scene like in the ‘dead center’?
Compared to the coasts, the skate scene in Nebraska feels less corporate. I always heard about people in California finding new spots and trying to keep them secret so they wouldn’t blow up. Here, everyone skated the same spots. There were a few rails that were the first handrail for 90% of the local skaters. There aren’t a lot of secrets. We weren’t trying to put out ads to sell some product, we were our own audience. I can’t speak for everyone, but I think we are okay with that. You can go back and watch some of the local skate videos on YouTube—Bud Rigoni’s “Flaired Out!” from 2004, followed by Eric Eckert’s “Havoc”, and Jordan Johnson’s “Go Big Shred.” These videos are really well done, with as good of skating as you’d see anywhere at the time. But they were always meant to be seen by local skaters who skated the same spots. I still watch them decades later. Part of the strength of the skate scene in Lincoln, in particular, comes from there being one skate shop (Precision Skateboards) that has been around with the same owner since the ‘80s. When you have the same guy sponsoring generations of contests and video premiers, it feels so much more collaborative rather than competitive. Phil Burcher is the man.
Assuming you started off skateboarding at what point did you move to photography and why?
In the early 2000s, skateboard magazines still had massive circulation. It is different from scrolling through photos on the internet. You had a magazine or two worth of skate photos, and you stared at them in your downtime until the next issue came. If you do that long enough, you start to see every skate trick as the photo it could be. At the same time, my friends were getting pretty good and we were meeting more skateboarders at the local skatepark—in those days, finding other local skaters was more serendipitous. When you start meeting skateboarders outside your small group, it really opens your eyes. We didn’t know there were other people in the city doing switch tricks down stairs, or doing handrails. There was no way of seeing any of that stuff. At some point, I remember hearing rumors about some skaters I had never met. Their names would get mentioned when we would go past a spot that looked like one, we would see in the professional skate videos. “Have you heard of Kyle Font? I heard he boardslides that double kink rail.” Once you meet those local heroes and your friends start getting good enough, everything changes. You stop seeing a spot and thinking how you could skate it. Instead, you think about what trick one of your buddies could do on it, and how you would take the photo or film it.
‘In the end though, skateboard photography is still a form of journalism.’
Is there one skate shot you wish you had taken?
I can think of so many iconic photos from magazines or from skateboardphotography.com in its peak (~2004-2008). However, if we are granting wishes, I would go back and get some photos of some of the more iconic tricks from Nebraska in the early 2000s. In those days, we spent too much time filming videos. We have the clips, but photos seem to have more staying power. The videos look grainy and low res and dated. Back then, I only really took photos of warm up tricks or things that weren’t film worthy. But the photos look so much better than the video twenty years later. Photos age like fine wine.
Proudest moment as a photographer?
Any time I got a roll of 120 Velvia back and there was at least one photo in focus, with correctly exposed flashes, and timed correctly. It didn’t happen very often.
Who is your favorite skate photographer?
I have so many, but my favorite style of skateboard photography tends to be the highly technical photos of someone like Oliver Barton. I’m a scientist for my day job, and I really appreciate the technique and precision required to pull off that lighting.
If you can pick a session with any skater, who would it be?
Cory Foster, without a doubt. We grew up skating together, but he got better at skating faster than I got better at shooting. I got busy with other things for a while and missed the chance to take photos of some of his craziest tricks. He’s also a good guy outside of skateboarding, which makes it even more fun. We’ll consider this interview an open invitation.
What is your take on skate shots that have not been landed?
Back when print magazines ruled the world, the skate photo was the main way of documenting a trick. You’d see a photo of a trick down Hollywood High, and then you’d say “wow, now that has been done.” The videos might not come out for months later. There was an implied ethic that the photo meant the trick was landed (even if it wasn’t landed in that exact photo). Now, every photo is accompanied by a cell phone video clip if nothing else, so it isn’t as big of a deal. I still think the rule applies, though. If the trick wasn’t landed, the photo shouldn’t get shared. I have so many old photos it is sometimes hard for me to even remember if something was landed. For some, we have an accompanying video. Others, no. I actually had to ask a friend of mine about a photo recently. I really like the photo, but he didn’t think he landed the trick. The spot has been demolished, so the photo is forever locked up in the hard drives.
‘We have the clips, but photos seem to have more staying power.’
Is there any post-production you do? If so, how far do you go?
I mostly just do basic post-processing. Maybe because I’m not very good at it compared to some people. I’m not sure I really have an ethical problem with it. I see some great photographers who photoshop out light stands and flashes. I guess if I were selling photos for big money print ads I might do that. It seems like a lot of work to just post it to Instagram. If you have a beautiful rim light around the skater and no flash to be seen, it isn’t really a mystery what happened. In the end though, skateboard photography is still a form of journalism. You just have to be honest if you clone objects or swap out shadows or something. The things that cross the line are post-processing that impact the trick—you can’t move someone higher into the air or change the board position or something.
Last question. If you could interview one person, who would it be and why?
In the context of this piece, Bastian Ehl. He started skateboardphotography.com when I was just starting to learn. That site was everything for a group of us who were starting to take skate photos. Every skate photographer you could think of was active there, critiquing photos and answering questions. It was brutal, but it was beautiful. Bastian was a bit of a deity to us kids. I never really got his story.