Posts Tagged ‘Alwyn Van Niekerk’
HEINSIGHT – RECOGNITION OF REALITIES AFTER ITS OCCURRENCE
I recently got to see some amazing pictures taken by a killer skateboard photographer Werner Lemprecht of Hein Kotze’ and I just had to catch up with him and see what makes him shred…
KDT: Hein Kotze’ can you tell us a little about yourself and your breakdown in the world of skateboarding?
HK: I guess it’s quite a cliché by now, but one day I saw a few of the older guys in my primary school flipping this huge (back then it seemed huge) 2-stair gap. I was super stoked, and used to sit there for hours even though nobody ever really landed it. After that day a few guys and me picked up a “Wasp” setup from Makro. This was the start of endless Fridays, running over into Saturdays, skating sessions. Nobody had cars, so we used to walk…and I mean WALK. Especially when Werner Lamprecht and me started skating together. Our regular Friday-spot (and closest) was about 4km from where we stayed (seemed like 100km, after having to climb a mountain of a street, to the top of one hill on your way back). Every single Friday we were in this guy’s yard skating the most perfect box and bank setup. Even after he had moved we would jump the gate and chill there the entire afternoon. Since then I couldn’t get over the feeling of landing a new trick, perfecting an old one, or getting excited over a new loading-bay filled with weeds that need cutting and surfaces in need of sweeping.
KDT: So, how was your summer? What did you get up to?
HK: It was EXCELLENT!
Had my first holiday for the entire year and caught up on some, really essential, habits; sleeping until 13h00, skating until 19h00, chilling with my girlfriend till 1 AM. Now that’s the life…ha-ha.
Oh yeah! We went to Margate for a week as well…that was rad.
We got some mad pics, made some new friends and forgot about the reality that is; “the working life”
Now that’s a holiday in its true form.
KDT: How do you manage to keep on top of your work when you spend so much time skating?
HK: My work IS skating…or anything that was influenced by it – if I look at it like that I will pretty much enjoy anything I do.
I must admit that 2009 was a mad-scramble of a year.
February I heard that my application for a bursary was denied, and thus ended my student life in one sentence. I had to find a job, had to start paying my own things etc. Crazy. I wanted to do photography.
I decided, as in skating, that it’s something you can pretty much learn by yourself (with some advice from others) - and thus started playing more with photography and design. Up to the point where, after only one year (and no qualification behind my name), my own business card says; photographer/graphic designer. And through it all skating has been one the main sources of new ideas/media/inspiration.
You’ll always find time to do what you like, as long as you on like what you do.
KDT: What’s the best way to go about becoming a good skateboarder?
HK: Depends on what your definition of “good” is I guess. To me it’s doing something as simple as a bs-180 off a ramp, landing it 100 times…and then, finally, landing it perfect. I’d like to think that a good skateboarder does it for himself.
KDT: What’s the best experience you’ve had while skateboarding?
HK: To many to count, to many stories to tell, to many great friends to mention all.
Recently: winning the game-of-skate at the Slip Skate Co launch event. It was the first contest I’ve ever entered, and I was surprisingly nervous. Me, Werner and two other guys were in the final. The game went on and JJ and me were the only survivors. That guy has got some mad style, and it was quite intimidating each time he made my tricks look effortless. We went on for, what seemed like, forever. The crowd was cheering each time someone set a mad trick, and freaked out even more when the opponent managed to equally nail it.
It was INSANE.
At the end I managed to land the most perfect nollie-bigspin-flip (one of those tricks you “have landed before”, but only hope to land as a last resort). Again JJ got insanely close to actually landing a trick you can see he has probably never tried before…but to no success. I was finally declared winner, and received my first “brand-new” deck in probably a year’s time. I was super stoked and equally brain-dead after planning what to do next every time JJ missed a set.
KDT: Your photography is awesome, what advice do you have about capturing that right moment?
HK: Again it’s about; if you’re doing what you love, it will come naturally.
Each moment is different, and each photo is opinion based. Werner and me will sometimes spend half an hour shooting a pic after finally agreeing on where we want it taken from, how the exposure must be etc. A very important thing is knowing your camera and lenses. Each one is different, and each one makes an image look different. In theory they must all work the same, but from my experience this is not the case at all. My settings/focal length etc. can be identical to Werner or Reuben’s, but you’ll still end up with three images that look completely different.
SLIP SKATE CO PRODUCT LAUNCH
Hey guys, just a reminder of the Slip product launch happening this saturday. Slip Skate Co will have a mini ramp comp and 12:00, a game of SKATE at 14:00, and best trick comp at 16:00.
Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Time: 12:00am – 5:00pm
Location: Cnr 9th & 11th Roads, Erand, Midrand
There are absolutely NO entry fees for any of the comps, and there will be prizes to be won in each of the comps.
They will also have all the new Slip Skate Co products available at the event to ensure that everybody can get their hands on our new product range, which you can see at http://www.slipskateco.com/products/decks.html.
This is truly going to be an awesome day filled with tons of good skating, and we look forward to seeing all of you there.
You can catch all the details of the event, inclduing directions on the event page here http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=239735100952&index=1
SLIP SKATE CO PRODUCT LAUNCH
By now you probable figured out that I am a big advocate of Slip Skate Co, a truly unique South Africa Skateboard Company that gets it. They just announced a product launch celebration and I wanted to share it with all the SK8Africa readers, so here it is;
In celebration of Slip Skate Co new range of decks, trucks, and wheels they’ve decided to throw down a skating event open to all, filled with competitions and prizes to be won.
Slip Skate Co with have their famous 4ft mini ramp and loads of rails and other homemade obstacles to skate for a good old fashion street session you can enjoy with all your buddies, while standing a chance to win some of the brand new Slip Skate Co products.
There’s absolutely NO cover charge or any costs involved! Just make sure you get yourself and all your buddies there for a serious skate session we’ll all remember for many years to come!
They’ll also have the complete range of the new products available at the event to ensure that everybody can get their hands on the new range…
Check out the Slip Skate Co websites: http://slipskateco.com/
Plz join the Slip Skate Co facebook group to show some support @ http://www.facebook.com/SlipSkateCo?ref=ts
SK8Africa will keep you posted and remind you closer to the time, here are the Competition details, times and prizes to be announced closer to the event time;
Event: Slip Skate Co Product Launch
What: Sporting Event
Start Time: Saturday, January 16 at 12:00am
End Time: Saturday, January 16 at 5:00pm
Where: Cnr 9th & 11th Roads, Erand, Midrand
To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=239735100952&mid=188a270G2b580f1bG3682b92G7
SLIP SKATEBOARDS – TAKING SA SK8BOARDING TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Author: Kevin Du Toit
I am so devoted to skateboarding in South Africa that having to wait in anticipation to hear back from Alwyn Van Niekerk (founder of Slip Skate Co.), so that SK8Africa could make the announcement about the NEW line of Slip Skateboard Decks, Trucks and Wheels was killing me. This is what I expect to see from SA Skaters, their own brands because nothing happens until somebody brands something, and who knows this better than the Americans.
Now South Africans like, Alwyn Van Niekerk, are building their own quality brand, Slip Skateboards, that carries with it a true persona, and the beliefs and experiences similar to those in the United States and that is why Slip Skateboards is rising to a new level. Slip Skateboard decks, trucks and wheels aren’t just another product – but a brand, and that is something to be proudly South African about.
KDT: Keeping at the forefront by checking in with Alwyn on the launch date of Slip Skate Co. new decks, trucks and wheel, also gave me the insight into Alwyn’s consistent message about the value in building a solid and strong brand;
ALWYN: While we were planning our next product range we realized that we had a great opportunity to build a strong brand for Slip Skate Co and it’s products. We started off by completely redesigning the official company logo to move away from the death and macabre feel of the first range, and to create a unique logo that better suits the overall feel and direction of the company.
When our designer, Hein Kotze, showed me the first version of the black & white barcoded logo I really didnt buy into it at all, as it was completely different from the initial ideas I had for our logo and the next range, but that logo quickly grew on all of us and it became our official company logo and ultimately set the tone for the designs for the entire product range.
“Branded” was the first deck design inspired by the new logo and it got an immediate “sick dude!” reaction all round. The black & white colours and deck-sized logo has a minimalistic boldness that just completely gets in your face while looking great as well.
“Aspire” was the next piece of sheer genius from Hein. When we initially chatted about it I really pictured something completely different, but that design really just speaks volumes when you look at it. Once again the black & white colour scheme really sets it apart from anything else out there, and those hands…
“Razed” was to be something completely different from Branded and Aspire. It has such an unexpected natural balance brought about by the centerpiece logo with the chaotic, hard lines on the nose and the smooth, curvy trails coming off the company name onto the tail of the deck.
We reused the barcode logo on the wheels and truck designs in a discreet, complimentary manner that wouldn’t detract from the awesome deck decsigns, while still fulfilling our branding requirements.
The vision with this product range was to establish Slip Skate Co as a strong brand in the SA skating industry with some of the most innovative and creative designs to compliment the proven quality of our products. We really feel that we’ve created a complete product range which is not only awesome enough to stick on your wall as a design masterpiece, but also has all the hardcore qualities skaters demand.
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Now that is what I’m talking about, Alwyn has set the standards high for Slip Skate Co and created quality with excellence. Slip Skate Co has also kicked up the website a notch @ http://slipskateco.com/
Slip Skate Co product pricing:
Decks (incl grip) R 300
Wheels (53mm 100A) R 120 per set
Bearings (ABEC 7) R 60 a set
Trucks R 200 a set
Completes R 650
They deliver anywhere in South Africa
WERNER LAMPRECHT – SHOOT to SKATE
Author: Kevin Du Toit
My SA peeps, there is a lot I’d like to say about my interview with Werner but I want this young dynamic persona to tell you himself about his passion and how Mr. Lamprecht gets his motivation. Werner is much like a filmmaker where his still pictures are telling a story and he truly seems to have captured the art of photography. So let’s begin.
KDT: Werner, please give us a quick synopsis/back story of who Werner Lamprecht, is and how it seems you’ve been shooting pictures for ever right:
WL: I’m 21 going on 22, I’ve been skating and taking photos for 9 going on 10 years. I love what I do and won’t stop for anything! Skateboarding has shaped my life and I’ll always be thankful for that!
KDT: Your pictures could easily be any pro photographer, what got you into shooting photos?
WL: I’ve always had an interest in photography. I do however believe that my interest in skate photography came after opening my first Blunt Magazine back in like 2000! Guys like Barry Tuck, Pablo Ponzone and Brett Thompsett really had the best pictures out there and really inspired me!
KDT: What got you into skating?
WL: This might sound weird, but I think I was meant to skate! Thanks to my dad I got my first board at age four. I still have a VHS tape of me standing on and pushing my fish tail board down a Kempton Park hill at age four!
Thanks to two of my very old friends, Eduard Malan and Thys Lötter, I popped my first ollie at our leaders camp at the end of 1999 on one of their boards which they brought along. Since then it has never stopped!
KDT: Yeah, skating is something you either have or you don’t. Would you give a brief walk through your work flow?
WL: I don’t really have a proper flow going at the moment because I work a 8 to 5 job from Monday to Friday and then I usually do my skating and photo shoots on weekends. If someone needs to get pictures taken, they’ll call me and I’ll organize a shoot on the weekend.
KDT: Werner, are you a self taught photographer or did you have a mentor that showed you the ropes?
WL: Well, my dad’s always been into photography. I think I just inherited his skill. I got my first “point and shoot” camera at age 12 and shot anything I could. If it looked good, I shot it! I kept on shooting pics with that camera until like age 17 when I got my first introduction to an SLR camera. I received a Pentax K1000 film SLR camera from Deon Fourie’s mom as a gift after she had seen some of my pics. I taught myself all about focus points, aperture and shutter speeds with that camera.
KDT: What does it take to be a good skateboard photographer?
WL: To me there are a couple of things that will make you a good skate photographer.
1 – make sure you have a good angle! The better your angle, the better your photo.
2 – make sure you have good lighting available. If you are shooting in the day, make sure you shoot with the sun behind you and if at night, make sure you have sufficient lighting set up.
3 – make sure to take the picture at the correct moment. Rather wait an extra 2 or 3 milliseconds when taking pics of flip tricks just to make sure you get the best shot. It always looks good to see the actual pop involved in a trick.
4 – make sure to take the picture from such an angle that you can see the rider’s face. No one likes looking at a photo where you don’t know who it is. You also get some funny facial expression from time to time!
5 – make sure your focus is correct. To be completely sure you have perfect focus, maybe ask the person you are shooting to stand in the position he will be when popping a trick. That way you can get correct focus with the lens.
6 – one should really have a feel for the trick that’s being done. Knowing what the rider is doing will assist in getting that perfect moment of the trick being done.
6 – having a good quality camera and lens also helps! haha
KDT: NICE! Awesome advice. Who are some of your heroes outside of skating?
WL: My Mom! She has been through a lot throughout her life and she has really taught me about being persistent and enduring when life gets you down! For that I am very thankful!
KDT: When was the defining moment when you knew that it was time to go digital instead of film, or was it a gradual transition?
WL: I’d say it was the day that I bought my Digital SLR camera. After I took my first pics with that camera I knew that things would change for the better. In a way I would say that it was something that came gradually as I had perfected my techniques with the film SLR camera, so going over to digital just made it so much easier to get the perfect shots.
KDT: There are times when everyone is telling me that a picture is good, but I am not satisfied with it. How do you know that a photo is really good?
WL: For this question I am quoting a close friend, Alwyn Van Niekerk. He has told me that a picture can be called a really good picture when it has the effect of making the viewer look at it over and over and over again.
KDT: Good one Alwyn Van Niekerk. You have many creative outlets… which do you get the greatest satisfaction from?
WL: It is mostly my photography. I get the best satisfaction out of seeing someone looking at one of my pictures and giving positive feedback and comments.
KDT: What is your fav camera body right now?
WL: I actually don’t have any other cameras than my Pentax K1000 and my Canon 350d. So the obviously choice would be the digital 350d. If I had the choice to choose a camera right now I’d have to say the Nikon D3X. That is one beast of a camera!
KDT: Which one item of equipment would you say is the most important to you?
WL: The obvious choice would be my camera. My cell phone is also in there as well as my PC and iPod.
KDT: What is Werner Lamprecht doing to pay bills now?
WL: I have been working as a hardware sales consultant at Sahara Computers since I finished school. I basically sell computers during the week as a full time job. I also recently started reselling Slip Skateboards. It’s a venture by two of my friends coming out of Kyalami to help the South African scene out with good quality product at a fraction of the price that one would expect to find in the shops. It’s just started off recently but the brand is doing good.
KDT: Would you say that South Africa is now the forefront of skateboarding?
WL: I wouldn’t say forefront, but we are definitely getting there! The skate scene in our country has really progressed tremendously over the last 10 years and it can only get better from here on onwards.
KDT: Who do you feel are some of the most under rated skateboarders out there right now?
WL: Locally – Both the Van Staden Brothers, Joubert and Jansen! These dudes are serious about skating and they really know how to put stuff down! Both have good style, good approaches and big bags of consistent tricks! They really make me want to skate more and better! I’d also say Charl “Skippy” Steyn! This dude is so technical it’s not even funny! Some people will go out trying to pull off hammers or complex technical tricks. Charl will go out and combine those two elements to provide seriously sick technical hammers!
Internationally – A kid called Nick Mullins. Do yourself a favor and go and search him on Youtube. This kid has sick style and big tricks. It is quite sad, but he is currently in the hospital with a viral infection and unable to skate.
KDT: Glad to see you are advocate of Nick Mullins. What is the ONE lasting impression you want to leave in your photos?
WL: I’d love to capture the essence of the era we are currently in when it comes to the skating and the skaters out there at the moment. I want people to look at my pics one day and say “Damn, look at what was being done back then”.
KDT: That is kind of why I wanted to interview you. You have that universal appeal when you capture an image. It’s all about getting it right at the moment of making an impact when catching that magic shot. Are you going to do galleries of your work?
WL: I’d like to do an exhibition of my work someday. Right now I don’t think it’s the right time to do something like that though. I’d rather wait another couple of years and build up a proper reputation for myself. That way an exhibition will make a bit more sence.
KDT: If anyone was to ask you how to capture that moment with your lense, what advice do you have for them?
WL: I’d say that they will have to go back to the “What does it take to be a good skateboard photographer?” question! Haha.
Here are some quick questions we got out of Werner and wanted to share with you:
Last Trip You Were On – I went on a trip to Mpumalanga about a month ago. It wasn’t for skating though. Strictly business!
Place To Visit – 1st Cape Town and 2nd Centurion!
Hobby besides Skating – Fishing, Photography, Music.
Drink – Double Southern Comfort with single lime and lemonade.
Band/Artist – for chilling out: JACK JOHNSON! , Matt Costa, The Killers, Interpol, Coldplay and then the Hip-Hop: Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, The Game, Obie Trice and the list goes on!
Competition – Good!
Last Time You Were Stoked – Every time I go skate!
Last CD You Bought – Jay-Z’s American Gangster
Time To Wake Up - 5:00 AM
Breakfast – Wimpy?
Last Person You Were With - My Mom
Magazine - Blunt (RIP) , Session , Thrasher and Transworld.
Website – www.theberrics.com
Last Thing You Read – an e-mail.
Car – I drive a Citi Golf , I’d like a Golf 5 GTI.
Animal - Cat
Last Time You Were Mad - Today at work!
Last New Trick You Learned – I got two new tricks. On Flat I’ve learned Pop Shuvit Underflips and on a ledge I’ve learned Fs 50-50 540 Bigspins out.
Quotes – “skateboarding is ideas put into action, if you can think of something you can pretty much do it on a skateboard” Marc Johnson
Movie – Pursuit of Happiness, The Hangover, American Gangster, The Number 23.
Place to eat – Kauai health bars.
Video Game – the original THPS 2!
Obstacle To Skate – The Gateway loading docks in Centurion, the Centurion Ditches and Skinner in Pretoria.
Trick – Smith Grinds and then my own Fakie Heelflip Sex Change (body varial).
Favorite Angle to shoot – Side angles always works for me!
