I was comletely surprised and unprepared for this event.  I had a preconceived notion that the huckjam would draw in crowds of skaters and gamers, I also thought it would resemble the crowds of most of the concerts I attend. I was wrong. Although I am sure there were SOME of them there, the crowd was largely made up of kids and parents. So instead of getting the usual teen scene, it was more like Disneyland. Nothing against the boom boom huckjam, but I hate disneyland. If only for one reason. Every parent feels their child has a higher seniority rank than the next. This means it's perfectly acceptable to push, shove, and run over other people's kids while trying to cut in line. I don't know how many times I got bumped and pushed, not to mention how many parents were flinging their kids over my shoulders  just to shake Tony Hawk's hand. I was like, seriously?!? Kids at a rock concert behaved better.

There was no press area or pit to shoot from, so I stood in the crowd with my daughter. And for the 20 minutes I was allowed to shoot, more parents pushed me and uttered obscenities under their breath because i was blocking them or their kids, that at any concert. So although I LOVED the show, the people who attended were flat out rude. Great example for their kids. At one point when Tony addressed the fans and gave a really honest and heartfelt speech about doing your own thing, no matter how much you get made fun of, I thought he would have been better off giving a speech to the parents. The kids are already fans and obviously share a love of skateboarding. The parents desperately needed some tips on how to behave appropriately.

Despite the fact that I just bitched about the crowd, the event itself was really good. An excellent format to reach out and inspire younger kids. All of the athletes were spontaneous, honest, and really amazing at their craft.  I also thought DJ Mike Relm was outstanding! My personal favorite was his remix of the theme song from Charlie Brown. Being that most of my work is in the music industry, it was a special treat to see him show his skills.

I am grateful for the opportunity to shoot this event, and even though my camera got very confused trying to focus past the net, I feel like I got some good shots in.

DJ Mike Relm

The Athletes

Tony Hawk

Other athletes

©Jennifer J Dohner