Before There Was Instagram, There Was a Thing Called a SLR

In anticipation of my return to instagram (now that I've upgraded to a Galaxy SIII), I found some old pictures taken for my high school photography class using a manual SLR of Sean and my friend Mark skateboarding at Kaneohe Skate Park. Makes me miss shooting in film--having to manually focus the foreground, adjusting the aperture and not knowing exactly how the final picture will turn out. I haven't been on instagram for over a year now and am a bit hesitant fearing it will make me too lazy to shoot with my DSLR, but can I complain about a single filter making all my pictures look cool?

Skateistan: Bringing Skateboarding to Afghanistan

Here is an image of skateboarding you don't see very often: a non-profit organization in the Middle East helping to inspire the Youth through skateboarding.  Watch Director Orlando Von Einsiedel's beautifully shot 9 minute video "Skateistan" about the Youth in Kabul and what skateboarding means to them.

Photo and video is from the Skateistan website, check it out to learn more about the organization and how you can volunteer!

Let's Get More Chucked!

One of the coolest/craziest people I know is art director Danny Lowe from Digitas NY, who's recent Converse project launched today! It's the Converse consumer site, and definitely much easier to navigate than the old one.
I've always worn the basic black, low top chucks until they were disgustingly dirty with holes, but now I can MAKE MY OWN CHUCKS. It's like NikeID where you choose what color, style, shoelaces, etc. I made these for my roommate Marisa (Styleze blogger):
She loves pink and zebra print. No really, our plates have zebra stripes and mixing bowls are pink.

BUT THE COOLEST PART of the new Converse site are their SKATE shoes... who knew Converse made skate shoes. I say it's about time, not just because I love skateboarders, but because I've always thought Emerica shoes looked a lot like chucks:
Converse's Skate shoes:
Congratulations D-Lowe on the site! Once again, Converse is proof that a recession is no time to stop innovating and ad spend.