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MAR/APR 2019
OWEN ADAMS
Age: 17
School: Cascades Academy
Camera/video gear: Sony VX1000, Lumix GH4, Nikon d70
Favorite Subjects: Skateboarding, skiing, and short films
It seems like a natural thing that Owen Adams would be interested in photography.
Owen’s mom is a local wedding and lifestyle photographer. Being a skateboarder, Owen
naturally transitioned into skateboarding photography and videography. Owen found in-
spiration from the likes of renowned filmers like Ty Evans, Beagle, Mike Manzoori, William
Strobeck. These and others all know how to work videos and angle to be creative, show
off the trick and make it pleasing to look at.
In sixth grade, Owen had his first GoPro but didn’t use it much. From there he got into
photography off and on until his freshman year in high school. At that time he was just
using a phone or a Nikon D3300 to shoot.
Owen Adams, is still learning his trade and has a long way to go before he considers
himself an expert behind the lens. He has mainly learned from watching the progression
of skate filming from Toy Machine’s “Welcome to Hell” up to “Baker 3”, “Flat earth” and
using trial and error to try and manipulate shots or video with his own creativity. Owen
also learned a lot from his mom and the style she shoots.
Owen has a good eye and is finding his own way to shoot. Owen says, “I had a decent
eye for shooting at the beginning but becoming passionate for the subject allowed me to
progress and pick out a good photo from a bad photo, or choosing the right things and
places to shoot”.
Christian Hernandez absolutely kills this hubba at Ponderosa Skatepark so we decided
to get a quick Smith on it (below left). Also Christian with this no-comply on the bank at
Pondy (below right).
Owen has mainly progressed his skills by watching others videos. He has seen videos
where he questions the shot or wonder if it could have been done better, which teaches
him things to do and not to do. Owen has also seen shots that make him want to try and
achieve that look and feel. Owen comes up with his own ideas and said, “at first, I was
more worried about learning the skill and proper way to go about doing so. As I become
more experienced I always try to find a way to make it my own without too much influ-
ence”. Right now Owen is into commercial shooting as well creating short films.
Opposite page: James Stewart always likes to go as big as possible. He stomped this
Frontside Flip at Bearings a few times, but wasn’t satisfied with the height of it so he
tried one more and as you can tell it’s huge.
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