Wood Magazine out of Belgium shares their latest creative masterpiece – pictures are international!

Issue #5, all 92 pages packed back to front with outstanding pictures and a grand layout. Head over to their website for your daily dose of skateboarding.

» Wood Magazine’s website

If you like your online skateboard magazines in whatever language then have a look at the latest Wood Magazine out of Belgium. It’s yet another professionally developed mag, only problem is that I don’t get the language! Ahhh, but pictures speak louder than words…click on the cover for issue #3

The Matix Clothing team will be starting a European tour October 16th 2008 in the UK (Milton Keynes) with a lot of top skaters tagging along for the ride (like Rick McCrank, Brandon Biebel, Marc Johnson, Mike Mo, Lem Villemin, Jesus Fernandez and several more!!). Check the flyer below to see where they will be and check the MATIX site for updates.

- Matix Clothing website

Who are you? Tell us a little bit about yourself (age, what you do in life, where you live)

Hi! I am Nick Geboers. I’m 20 years old right now. My hometown is Balen, which lies in Antwerp, Belgium. I just dropped out of a film school in Brussels after 2 years and I’m now thinking about studying photography. In the good life I skate, take photos and film a lot.

How did you get into photography, especially skateboard photography?

A few years back.. when I was 15 or 16 I think, a friend of mine, Pieter, had his own indoor skatepark. An empty warehouse from his grandparents with, in the beginning, some sketchy obstacles and stuff. Another friend, Wim, came over to skate and he had a disposable camera with him. When I saw the print outs I was really impressed by the photos, not because they were amazing or something but just because of the ability to capture moments and moods and… I never thought about it before.

A few months later I got a digital camera from my mom.. a 4 megapixel point and shoot cam which had the amazing ability to film. So I started filming everyone I knew and taking pictures of them skating.
2 years later my dad bought me my first slr camera and that’s how it started I guess.. also because I wasn’t as good as some of my friends at skating. For example when I didn’t dare to pop some stair set I just took my camera and had as much fun as my friends did skating..

What type of equipment do you use for your photos? (outside shots, night shots, indoor shots)

My bag is packed with a Canon markII body, a Canon Eos 3, 2 580EXII flashes, some pocketwizards, lighting stands, 50mm 1.8, 15mm 2.8 and a 70-200mm 2.8 which I just bought from a summers work.
Normally I have a Canon AE1 with me with a 50mm on it.. just in case I want to take pictures but the lens broke down so it’s on the shelf at the moment.

Do you have any special “tricks” which you like to use for certain types of pictures?

I don’t know if there are any tricks.. using a fast or slow shutter or some different aperture numbers aren’t really tricks I guess, right?
Just try lots of different stuff with your camera and remember what you like in which occasion. Maybe that’s a trick.. Something that helps me a lot I think is.. looking up to your hero’s and for example look at their photos and how they deal with different situations of light and stuff and try to give it your own twist.
I don’t know if this answer is useful to someone but that’s what helps me sometimes.

If you could get any new equipment for free, what would you love to have?

Hasselblad 500 with an 80mm and a 30mm fish.. and a H16 Paillard for filming and lifetime free development of film.
That would be pretty sweet!

What is your opinion on post-processing, especially enhancing pictures?

Everybody’s got his own style and way of expressing themselves so I guess that post-processing, as it is now, is crap for the one and gold for the other.
For me it is really helpful and useful because I feel that I can put more expression in my photos sometimes and capture a mood better thanks to post-processing like it is now.
Back in the day when there were only dark rooms there was also the box with filters to get more contrast and stuff in your pictures. And if you didn’t use them when available you were pretty lazy or just plain stupid I guess.. It’s there to be used.

What are you currently working on and do you have any projects planned?

I am currently finishing the third issue of Lateflip with Enzo Smits. By the time this interview is online it should be finished so if you want you can have a look at it at www.lateflip.be.
I’m also working on a skateboard company called Lancier. Our range of products isn’t that big at the moment since I’m still a student and ain’t the son of the duke. But we’re working on a video and stuff so it’s a lot of fun.

A big thanks to Nick for taking the time to answer these questions – one of the last featured photographers with these questions. New questions are being put together for the second round of photographers so stay tuned!

Make sure you visit www.lateflip.be to see more of his work.

The Volcom Wild In The Parks 2008 tour is moving through Europe and it all continues this upcomg Saturday, August 30th, 2008 in the UK. Get all the details below:

Saturday 30th of August:
WITP UK, Skegness, Skegness Skate Park, registrations from 11.30

Saturday 30th of August:
WITP CZECH REPUBLIC, Prague, Mystic skate park, registrations from 11.00

Sunday 31st of August:
WITP BELGIUM, Wevelgem, Zumiez skatepark, registrations from 11.30

Sunday 31st of August:
WITP HOLLAND, Eindhoven, Area 51, registrations from 11.30

I’ve been following the Swiftfooted magazine out of Belgium for several issues now and as the saying goes: actions speak louder than words. In this case I would exchange ‘actions’ for ‘pictures’. Stefan Remes and his ‘team’ have put togetehr another great collection of photos and words which made me want to keep flipping the virtual pages of this Belgium mag.

This issue includes a report about the European Vans ‘Roll with us’ tour, then moves on to show some of an exposition called street life with some interesting art, throws in a couple of interviews with a Belgium artist and Bastien Marlin, a French skater who has been crossing the border a lot lately. With other odds and ends inbetween, the mag finishes off with some good photography…all in all, definitely worth spending the time to read and enjoy.

- Get the latest issue and all back issues here at Swiftfooted

Here’s the address and below the map if you want to get there:

Rue de la Chapelle/Kapellestraat
Square des Ursulines
1000 – Brussels
Belgium

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