ESPN.com just did a sweet interview with Dane Herron, who is a master at pushing dirt...and riding his creations, as well. Check it out.

Panoramics. Everyone loves a panoramic, and the more extreme they are, the better. I've been in search of the perfect way to make panoramics with my 4x5 more economical. Calumet, Horseman and even Shen Hao make good 6x12 backs that all operate with the ease of use that comes along with using 120 roll film, but it comes with an expense. Some are more than others, but the step towards shooting panoramas led me to this idea. Why not make a film back that takes 35mm film? After a brainstorming session, I devised a back that does the job. It's not too efficient, but for now, it'll do the trick. Here's the first frame out of it. Looking forward to more of these...

Photographing snowboard boots is fun, but it's been done before. This time, we came up with something different. At Snowboard Magazine, we've tossed paint at products and dropped them in water, but this shoot would have a different theme: SMOKE. After puffing on five cigars over the course of an afternoon, we had what we needed, and it only took three weeks for the bar smell in the studio to disappear.

4x5 put to use.

Although it's just for fun, I've been getting into shooting big sheets of film...maybe because it is just for fun. Anyway, even though it's been done a thousand times, and has become cliché with the medium, grain mills here in the midwest are incredible to photograph. Under coats of paint, partially burned off by the baking sun, chipped away by driving summer hail storms and cracked by the dry winter, each mill is unique.

This summer, while exploring eastern Colorado and the southwest corner of Nebraska on some of the area's scenic backroads amidst sweeping corn fields, where every town can be identified on the horizon by its towering grain mills.

This photo was taken late on a hot summer evening in Lorenzo, CO, in the middle of a drive that swung through Sterling, CO, with a stop in Lorenzo, on the Colorado/Nebraska border, with a population of zero. Then, up to Sydney, Nebraska, and finally back West, through Eaton, CO, via CO 85 South (top photo).

FILM.

Like most photographers who have been shooting for a while, I learned the ropes on film. It wasn't until five or so years ago that I started shooting digital, and ever since, haven't turned back to film...until recently. In college, the 4x5 was my favorite tool. It was the clarity, control and technical advantages that the format had over the other two options at the time. 35 was so user-friendly, but didn't hold up to the quality I wanted. Medium format was clumsy, and not enough of an advantage over 35...if you ask me. So, 4x5 has always been an interest of mine.

This spring, I happened to come across a deal on a field camera posted on Craigslist that I couldn't refuse. Two lenses from KEH.com later, and we're back at it...stoked.

Thanks to my buddy Steve Jones for the photo.