Justin Kosman Photography

Incus Artist Metalworks collaboration photo shoot

The last two weekends I spent up in the mountains near Reno, NV and Murray, Utah directing a couple commercials for Incus, a jewelry company launching a series of athlete artist collaborations.  Since action sports are my specialty, I was right at home with the motocross and BMX riders were were working with.  We had one-on-one access to the rider’s trails, studios and garage’s to shoot a video piece that told the story of each artist in the context of their sports and day to day lives.  Shot on all HD, these gritty and graded artist vignettes are really something special.  More to come on this on-going artist series. Still photos were part of the project for their new online store and point of purchase kiosks.

Vans OTW Shoot in Paris

Flew out to Paris last month for a lifestyle shoot for the Vans OTW Advocate series.  We met up with NYC street artist Eric Elms for his first international show and spent sometime with French local OTW Artist Advocate Dimitri Coste at his brother’s private showroom for Ruby Helmets.  Dimitri was being fitted with a custom leather jacket made to match the motorcycle he built to use at the Pike’s Peak hill climb this summer.  Coste is an amazing photographer in his own right, and has an extensive collection of old school Vans at his flat outside the city. 

New Verde & Cinema Print Ads in Ride UK

Here are a couple of my new print ads that appeared in the new issue of Ride UK BMX Magazine. 
Drew York (Verde Bikes) and Dakota Roche (Cinema Wheels) aren’t scared to step it up for a photo shoot and they are certainly two of my favorite riders to shoot with.  Drew nearly lost is left arm a couple years ago and Dakota lives in the future so between these two riders, literally anything can happen.

Rebel Ink Magazine with VH1’s Cory Nastazio

I’ve had been shooting out at Cory Nastazio’s VH1 trails in Temecula last month and came back with some great images for Rebel Ink Magazine and a behind the scenes feature for Espn about the 2-acre avocado grove and super-cabin they leased him for the duration of the show.  Pool, lake, avocado grove, lemon trees and random taxidermy busts throughout the ranch.  Six months will go quick in a place like that.  Let’s hope season two keeps him in the neighborhood.  Look for the issue to hit the stands in March. 

December with ESPN, Odyssey, Vans and Red Bull

December with ESPN, Odyssey, Vans and Red Bull.

December came and went with a fury of last-minute shoots for a handful of my favorite clients.  December started out by preparing a selection of stock photos from Malaga, Spain for an Espn interview with BMX legend Ruben Alcantara who I had shot with in Torremolinos near the Western Mediterranean earlier this year.  Ruben is an icon in the sport and it was a pleasure shooting a rider whose influence has spanned generations. And you can’t beat tapas!

Then is was off to San Francisco for a week to direct part of a team commercial Odyssey BMX was putting together for a January 2011 release.  I was working with Metal Bikes rider Jimmy Levan and S&M’s Matt Beringer for a week in the heart of downtown. With the help of some local scouts, we found some very unique locations to film for Odyssey’s biggest project since their 2008 release of Electronical for which I shot several print ads.

The whirlwind didn’t stop there. Landing back in San Diego, I went immediately into a 4-day shoot with the Vans BMX and Shadow Conspiracy teams to promote a one-off shoe the two companies had designed for an endemic release to follow up on the interest that sparked a15,000 unit pre-order.  Vans provided their decked out RV for us to travel in style and we shot in a variety of locations including a bridge, skatepark and ravine and I got to test out a new portable dolly system I rigged up this summer and some of the trail footage turned out amazing.  The team riders put down some big moves for the promo video and print ad dropping in January 2011.

While the Vans and Shadow crew finished up their trip at Mammoth by shredding the slopes, I flew cross country to Miami for a week-long shoot on a barge floating through the waterways between Ft Lauderdale and Miami. Red Bull came up with the concept to build a skatepark on a floating barge and film some of the world’s best riders on the first ever BMX barge. Surrounded by X Games Gold Medalists and Nora Cup Champions, it was hard to take a bad shot.  We took a morning off to go deep-sea fishing and I’m proud to say I hooked a 30lb sailfish while most of the boat was sleeping or trying not to yak in the choppy conditions. 

Today the rain is pouring in Southern California and I’m prepping for an interview with a Sports Psychologist for an Espn piece and planning out a hectic January packed with still photo shoots. Let’s hope the weather clears up or it looks like Arizona is going to be Plan B.  Below is a shot from the Red Bull barge floating towards the Miami Heat game at American Airlines Arena.