If you have opened up a magazine or browsed the internet for the best downhill skateboarding photography you can find, it is almost certain you came across the work of Dustin Damron – Co-founder and Creative Director/Photographer at Caliber Truck Co. SkateHouseMedia sat down with Dustin and asked him some questions about the creation of their recent ads.
“Advertising and photography are often times one and the same. They are two things that we as consumers are constantly exposed to in all facets of our daily lives. On a subconscious level and even at face value, advertising can impact the way that a brand is perceived by the viewer, for better or for worse. The key is to offer a high-quality product that you stand by, and to market the product in such a way that your target audience can identify with it and be excited about it at the same time. My target audience is every single one of you epic skaters out there, and my mission is to get you guys f*ckin’ stoked on Caliber Truck Co. It’s crucial for me to note that within Caliber, we have a very strong family mentality. Our insane roster of team riders are at the forefront of everything; pushing the boundaries of skating for the entire skateboarding community to follow. To us, developing our riders as iconic figures and giving them the spotlight they deserve is just an important as advertising our ever evolving product lineup.” – Dustin Damron
1. Midnight Green
DD: Let me start by saying that before I started working in the action sports industry, my work primarily revolved around fashion photography and thus photographing ultra-gorgeous models on a regular basis. After 2 years of Liam hitting me up and asking me to hook up some models for him to shoot with, we found ourselves at a perfect opportunity. New color ways are great because they allow us the flexibility to step outside of the cookie cutter run of the mill skate photo’s and do something different. Here we have Liam Morgan and James Kelly being portrayed as full blown rockstars, partying with beautiful naked women…having the time of their lives. We wanted to take this ad to such an extreme that the utter shock value and comedy of the image would leave people speechless. Is it over the top? Yes. Are the trucks the LEAST noticeable part of the ad? Absolutely. Has it been the most effective ad we’ve ever done to date? Hell yes. At this point, James Kelly and Liam Morgan are two names that everyone in the scene knows. Their reputations as two of the top downhill skaters in the world give more legitimacy to our ad than if we were to make a nice shiny product photo explaining all of the cool high-tech features of our trucks. We jokingly referred to this shoot as the ‘Liam and James Make a Wish Foundation’. It was a good night.
2. Acid Melon
DD: Here we have a color way that screams psychedelia. It was definitely my favorite of the 3 new colors to work with because there were limitless boundaries as to what I could do with it. I knew that I wanted to create an ad that was reminiscent of our previous Blue Dream ad, but completely progressive and new at the same time. I spent a lot of time staring at the trucks for inspiration and kept being taken back at how vibrant the colors were and how they appeared to be glowing. That’s when it dawned on me to try using black lights. I had never used them before (and hadn’t really seen any other people use them for that matter), which got me really stoked to see if I could create something worthwhile out of it. Conceptually the idea came to me almost instantly…Glow in the dark tribal acid goddess offering a sacrifice to the God’s of psychedelia. The tricky part was the unknown. I didn’t know where to find black lights that were powerful enough. I didn’t know how my camera would respond to the UV lights. I didn’t know where to find the right body paint that would fluoresce under UV light . I didn’t know if I could shoot at a fast enough shutter speed make a sharp photo in near darkness. It was pretty nerve-racking because the clock was ticking and I knew I needed to come up with something awesome, not having the slightest clue how it was going to look until I started shooting. Well, it all worked out somehow. I found a place that carried 400 watt high powered black lights (think rocket launcher that spews purple light) and their own brand of paints designed to work with their lights. Pretty much a one stop shop. My girlfriend’s sister (@juliahillart) came up and did the body painting and backdrop. Her work is amazing so I knew I didn’t have to worry about that side of things. My girlfriend came in clutch with the tribal headpiece. The model, Bekka Gunther, is the same model from the Blue Dream ad (as well as Midnight Green and Red Rum). I’ve worked with her many other times as well so I knew she would deliver as she always does. As for the camera working with the lights, no problems at all. I was blown away with how it all came together. For those of you camera nerds out there… I think I was somewhere around 1/160th – f/2.8 – iso 1000. There were two 400 watt black lights at 45 degrees, one on each side from around 6 feet away.
3. Red Rum
DD: Aaron ‘AFB’ Grulich. All around rad guy and incredible skater with a positive attitude. I’ve been wanting to do an ad with him for a long time and this one seemed like a perfect fit. A classy man suitable for suit wearing who looks good doing what he does. The continuity of this photo dates back to some of our earlier ads like ‘White Gold’ and ‘Blackout’. I wanted to shoot in the studio with a solid color backdrop while still giving it a different vibe than its predecessors. I also wanted to challenge myself in the process to see if I could composite a shit load of photo’s together and have them feel completely seamless with one another. This was one of those shoots where you walk away from it hoping you got everything but you’re never quite sure until you start putting it all together. I took photos of AFB and Bekka together, and also individually in different positions across the set. The goal was to have as much variety as possible so I’d have options when it came time to piece it together. I tried to imagine what the flow of the body positioning would look like and how it would interact with the rest of the image. This photo probably has more layers in it than any other photoshop file I’ve made for Caliber. There’s definitely over 100…which is probably also the number of joints I smoked while creating it.
4. Mutant Octopus
DD: I’ve been thinking about this project since we started Caliber. I knew I wanted to create an image that had an illustration interacting with one of my photos…I just didn’t know how to pull it off. I was planning on doing the illustration myself until reality finally set in that I’m surrounded by people a million times more talented than I am. San Francisco skater/artist Yvonne Byers was my go to. She contributed to the artwork on the Sunset Sliders/Caliber Bus and the aesthetic of her work is what I’d always hoped for. I shot the photo specifically for her and this project and what you see is the result. Next level RADNESS. This is the first piece of a continuing artist collaboration project so keep your eyes peeled for more down the line.
Other Questions:
First time published?
DD: First major publication worth talking about was Runway Magazine summer 2011. I shot a 10 page fashion spread featuring Miss USA (Alyssa Campanella) and GUESS lingerie model Julia Lescova. I ended up shooting the next few issues for them after that.
First Skate publication?
DD: CW buyers guide cover 2010 or Skate[Slate]? I can’t remember which one was first. Skate[Slate] made a gigantic fold out poster of my first Caliber ad that ended up being something like 40″ wide. That was cool.
First Camera?
DD: Nikon D40x with some cheap kit lens…I thought I was pretty bitchin’ at the time. Pretty sure I got it back in 2006?
How long have You been working with Caliber?
DD: I’ve been working with Caliber since co-founding the company in 2010. Since then I’ve created every photo, ad, logo, banner, and poster that you’ve seen.
Thanks for your time and answers buddy! Time to go Skate!