Tony Hawk for Starbucks
Like most projects these days, I was asked to put together a deck/treatment to pitch for the shoot. Luckily, with my background in skateboarding, I had plenty of images to choose from. Plus, having worked for Starbucks before, I knew they wanted someone who could capture both the action and some great coffee shots.
I put together a deck that included both. Knowing Tony Hawk might see this, I made sure to feature skateboarders he knows personally. You can see the deck below.
After a few calls with the awesome folks at Edelman, the ad agency, and Golden LA, the production company, I got the green light for the project.
As someone who grew up watching Tony Hawk in skate videos and playing his video games, this was a dream come true!
The main images Edelman wanted me to capture were portraits and skate shots of Tony with the product, as well as shots over the shoulder with what motion was capturing. The first half of the day was spent shooting with the motion crew. When it was the "stills only" time, I walked up and introduced myself to Tony and explained that I was a staff photographer at Skateboarder Magazine, so he was in good hands.
We took a few quick portraits before letting Tony skate the ramp. I suggested some tricks, and he gladly obliged. Our crew swapped out the products between tricks to keep the flow going without making Tony stop and start again. In about 30 minutes, we managed to get about nine different shots.
The highlight of the commercial was Tony Hawk skating up the vert wall to grab a glass off a shelf for his morning coffee. I've seen some incredible skating in my life, but this was next-level! Tony always has his team build the ramps, ensuring there are no issues with the setup. Even so, this wall had about 10 feet of vert and was very narrow. Tony had to jump off his board a few times while trying the trick, knocking down a lot of the set dressing in the process.
Once he figured out the right speed, he managed to frontside carve and grab a small glass 14 feet up. It was unbelievably impressive!
I wanted to capture this shot just like I would have photographed any skate trick back in the day. The key to a good skate photo is clearly showing the action while including the entire scene to provide context. It’s important not to just zoom in on the action.
What a dream project! Thank you to everyone who made it happen!