My Favourite Photo 2023

One thing that springs to my mind when I leaf through the plethora of magazines so readily available these days is ‘which is the photographer's favourite?’.

That’s why we thought to just hit the photographers up directly and ask them. It could seem like a relatively easy question to ask but who knows, if you’ve shot 100 skateboarding photos this year and only 30 have been used, would you have a favourite or is it like picking out your favourite child…?

JAKE DARWEN - TOM KNOX / OLLIE

"I have to go with the Tom Knox skinny Ollie which ended up on the cover of Thrasher. I think it’s one of my favourites purely just for how natural the photo happened. We didn’t really plan to shoot this trick weeks before like the other ones we had in mind. So we were walking home on a rainy afternoon and Tom mentioned this really narrow ollie he’s thought of trying for years. We checked it out and he said he thought it was possible. We went there the next morning with Jacob and it was history from there.

My setup was just my Nikon D800 and a Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye. I couldn’t figure out a way to set up any flashes because of how tight the space is so we just shot it like that.

I flew out to London three times shooting his campaign for his pro shoe the “ 600 “. This was on my second trip out there and I just flew out solo to try and get extra photos because I know how the weather can be in London so I wanted to make sure we definitely got enough stuff by the time the deadline came around. Like I mentioned above we went to the spot that morning and Tom just got to work. He’s a very get it done first thing and then enjoy the day kind of person. Once he has a plan, it’s 99% going down. He Ollied it for a single with Jacob and then figured out a line which was so cool to see how they work first hand together like that. Also when I was shooting the photo I couldn’t see anything. I was behind the big concrete wall and all I could hear were his wheels getting closer and his tail popping. Then I had to jump off my right leg and get out of the way so he wouldn’t land on me. A few of the photos the timing was absolutely butchered but I was so scared because I was clicking it too early. Tom came over and looked at the photo and was like “mate, trust me. You're not in my way and just wait that little bit longer” so we did that on the next attempt and it ended up being the photo we published!"

Follow Jake on Instargam here - https://www.instagram.com/jakedarwen/

SAM ASHLEY - BRIAN O'DWYER / SWITCH BACKSIDE 50-50

"I picked this one firstly because it's just good memories from a great trip. This rail is outside a supermarket, so we'd have to hit it pretty late at night, so we got into a bit of a routine where we'd go for dinner and then head for the 'Jerry Rail' afterwards, we did it several times, and every time we'd be hanging out here for hours, usually a couple of guys trying tricks, whilst the rest of the crew attempted to convert the spot into some sort of outdoor pub.

Also, I guess I shot this in way I usually wouldn't... just because of the angles involved it was a bit difficult for both James (Cruikshank) and myself to get a clean shot if we were shooting at the same time, so it was decided that Brian would attempt to land one for James, and then I'd get one after... Anyway, I got bored of waiting so came up with this in the meantime, breaking all my 'best practice' fisheye rules.

Shot with a Nikon D850, Nikon 8-15mm, and a couple of Godox AD200 flashes. This one ran in Free Skate Mag Issue 48."

Follow Sam on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/samuelashley/

Sam is the Photo Editor for Free Skate Magazine which you can check out here - https://www.freeskatemag.com/

GRAHAM TAIT - JOEL MEINHOLZ / THE STRUGGLE

"This is Joel Meinholz and every skateboarder has experienced a moment like this. Joel is sick. I'd be chatting with him about photography or whatever in a friendly manner then when he wanted to skate he would switch like the Incredible Hulk and I'd genuinely be scared. I honestly thought he hated me for the first week. We're cool now though. I think?

My setup was Canon EOS3 35mm with Fuji Superia 400iso film using a Canon 85mm 1.2 lens on 1.6 I think, using natural light. That lens lets in a lot of light so I bought an ND filter at the same time and this was actually my first time using it. Miami is a lot brighter than Scotland.

I was in Miami in March shooting an article with the Theories of Atlantis dudes. Josh Stewart has known Joel forever and is his go-to guy for spots. He's not one for stealing the limelight, but in between other guys tricks he had a handful of spots he wanted to get photos at and didn't fuck about when we got there. Josh informed me when we got to the spot that he'd be there with Joel on several occasions and he'd been robbed every time. It's next to a four lane road so it's pretty hectic as you can imagine. He's actually managed to boardslide along, up, along and off the top, but has yet to do the full along, up, along, then down and along and off. He got so close and definitely robbed again. Hopefully one day Joel!"

Follow Graham on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/grahamtait/

Graham runs North Skateboard Magazine which you can pick up from your local skate store - https://www.northskatemag.com/

JOHNNY HAYNES - ROSS ZAJACK / FRONTSIDE TAILSLIDE

"I've shot a lot of photos this year (probably my most productive in a while) so getting asked to pick a favourite was a bit of a tough one, I shortlisted it down to a handful but my mind kept going back to this one of Ross doing a gap to Fs Tail. I think the framing, lighting and his shapes all just clicked for me, tickling the right part of my brain. There's nothing too fancy on this one; two Godox flashes, one behind him to the left and another in front of him to the right. Then of course the fisheye on and attempt to get as close to him as possible without taking a board to the camera or face. I usually try to keep my setups as simple as possible.

Myself and Ross have a love hate relationship....as in I love taking photos of him and he hates me making him try tricks. I first met Ross over a decade ago, maybe 13 years or so and we've kept in touch ever since. Ross and the guys had just got their new company Treatment up and running and we'd printed their first run of boards here at Native. He got a bunch of the riders and close homies in a van and drove down to Newcastle to pick them up...they figured they'd make a trip out of it, grab some photos and footage towards the promo. As far as the trick itself goes, we didn't really plan it. I met up with them on the Saturday after work (we already had photos in the bag from the previous evening) and they were already warmed up and raring to go, him and Billy jumped straight on this rail and I was racing to get set up before he stuck one. That photo there is the first make and I believe he rolled 3-4 more straight after to clean it up for footage."

Johnny has been working his ass off for Native for 13 years you can follow his instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/blindjohnny/

JIM CRAVEN - DOM HENRY / KICKFLIP

"So it's probably this Dom Henry Kickflip squeeze. I'm not using any flashes or anything fancy like that, so it was just my Sony A7sII and my trusty Canon 70-200 lens. People often say that me and Dom have an almost sibling like relationship, which makes sense. We've known each other for about 13 years and lived, filmed and worked together in 2 countries now for a good chunk of that time, so the bond is pretty tight. When it comes to photos, I think I definitely have his trust, which I appreciate.

It was the beginning of spring, and I was really hyped to get out of the same vortex of spots and try something new. Myself, Dom and a small crew of other guys took the train with our bikes to a neighbouring town with the intention of hitting a bunch of spots on our cycle back to the city. It was a really fun day, we filmed and shot a lot and hit a bunch of new spots, and by the time we stumbled upon this thing it quite late into the afternoon/evening and everyone was pretty much over it. Dom, sensing the excitement I had for it, especially because of his clothes matching the colours of the spot, found the extra energy required to squeeze himself through this thing a bunch of times for me. He landed a few kickflips but without that iconic flick, I think because he was being cautious not to hit his head or arms or anything else. So after every land, him and the crew would all look at me and say "good?" and I would have to shake my head and convince Dom to do one more. After maybe 4 landed kickflips, he sent an absolutely perfect one through it, and a few minutes later we were all back on our bikes and heading home. It was the perfect end to the day!"

Jim is a photographer and filmaker, I met him in a pub once and he was very nice to me. Be nice to him on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/jimcravenfilm/