Portfolio: Jeff Comber

Jan 31, 2011

We are happy to introduce a new feature to the site today, in which we get some of our favourite contributing photographers to give us a bit more of an in-depth look at some of their favourite photos that they've shot. For our introductory offering we have Toronto based lensman Jeff Comber. Between skating with some of Toronto's best and traveling to Barcelona, Jeff has no shortage of rad stuff, but he was able to narrow it down to his top 12.


Alex Olson, Frontside Air
A beautiful sunset always makes for a great backdrop for any photo. During a Quicksilver mini-trip in September Pat O’Rourke, Torrey Goodall, and Alex Olsen were ending the day with a sesh at the Dunbat Mini. I just enjoyed a cold one and watched as the sky opened up as Alex blasted this huge FS Air.


Jesse Landen, Nollie Flip Crook
I was really happy to get this sequence of Jesse’s Nollie Flip Crooked grind. I’ve always liked this trick and it kicked off a super fun and highly productive trip to Barcelona back in 2009. Fisheye sequences can be challenging to get right. You want to get as close to the action as you can without cutting off the dudes head. It worked out perfectly this time and it was great to see it come out as his Billabong ad a few months later.


Duncan McNaughton, Backside Tailslide
I always wanted to shoot a skate photo on this thing but I couldn’t figure out a way of hitting this spot and rolling away proper. Duncan knew how and we shot this high to low  Backside Tailslide before the city capped the rails.


Mikey Wenham, Low to High Backside Noseblunt
[as seen in the SBC 2011 Photo Annual]
The Christie dam is such a unique spot. Its photogenic and a great spot to just chill. If you’ve ever been there you know how hard it is to go up a level. Joey Pepper slid a Frontside Noseblunt  it while on tour a few years ago. Here local ripper Mikey Wenham stalls it Backside in 2010.


Ryan Blaxall, Backside Noseblunt
I live right around the corner from this spot and I’ve always wanted to shoot a photo of a trick on these blocks with the gates in the background at night. There are these blue lcd lights in the ground and I knew it would just look really sick to have a proper Back Noseblunt on one of those marble blocks. Blaxall has that trick dialed and allowed me to blind him repeatedly until he rode away clean. Thanks Ry!


Nathan Olokun, Frontside Crook
Nathan is a true street skater. He never seems to plan anything and just rolls out casually with different crews, always coming up on photos and footage completely naturally. The dude has been ruling it for years and has one of the best styles in Toronto's history.


Jesse Landen, Kickflip Backside 5-0
My first trip to Barcelona was in 2006. I met up with Jesse Landen, Ryan Blaxall, Drew Williams, Kuba Rygal, and Oliver Orrell two weeks into their month long stay. They had so many spots to show me and photos they wanted to get. Jesse and Oliver told me about this spot that Jesse wanted to Kickflip 5-0. I immediately pictured a still frame of the trick in my mind. This is one of those rare times where the photo comes out exactly the way you pictured it in your head.


Hugo Balek, Frontside Heelflip
Hugo is an animal.  Every time he visits Toronto he gets a ton of rad clips and photos. On this day he got two…Backside Feeble at the Bloor double set rail, and this popped Frontside Heelflip on the U of T sculpture bank. Both tricks done on a broken board.


Mikey Wenham, Backside Ollie
Hamilton is a raw city. It starts with the people and it translates to the streets. I got this photo of Mikey at Beas just as twighlight was fading. He suggested we get out of there before the darkness fell. As I was packing up my gear a dude covered in blood stumbled through the park. That was our cue to leave.


Cephas Benson, Switch Heelflip
[as seen in the SBC Fall 2010 Issue]
Cephas is one of the first skaters I shot photos with when I first moved downtown back around 2004. After so many years its great to see him back in fine form and getting properly hooked up. Downtown Switch Heel with security breathing down his neck.


Paul Liliani, Frontside Flip
Paul’s pop is one of the biggest I’ve ever encountered. He casually put up this Frontside Flip well over this already high flat bar. This was one of those days where everything just came together. In addition to this photo I got two amazing sequences, Morgan Smith's Fakie Flip Fakie 5-0 Fakie Flip out in the middle (which appeared in the SBC photo annual this year), and Johnny Grieco Kickflip Nosebluntslide at the York mills bank to stairs.


Ryan Blaxall, Kickflip Nosegrind Nollie Flip Out
This is my favourite sequence I’ve ever shot, one of the hardest tricks I’ve ever documented, and it took over an hour of straight shooting to get. I swear Ryan landed at least 20 kickflip nosegrind pop outs because his feet weren't set up for the nollie flip out. After 5+ years this footage should be seeing the light of day. Keep your eyes peeled for the Studio video!

To see more of Jeff's work check out his webiste, www.jeffcomber.com

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