Neal Heddings, Alley Oop Frontside Air, San Diego, CA 1998

Art Director: Ted Newsome

“This was second time I got a cover on the very first time I met a skater (first was Geoff Rowley); I can’t remember how this all got set up but somehow I met up with Neal down in the Barrio of SD. We skated a mini ramp in downtown and this was the second spot of the day. From an outsiders point of view, Neal was kind of gnarly and driving down to meet him I wasn’t sure what it would be like. He’d probably hate me, were my original thoughts. Ha. Neal was great and amped to go out and get some shots with me, so I loaded up the camera and shot away. This hip in Barrio Logan is not the easiest of spots to skate but Neal fucking destroyed it like it was a skatepark. While it was lighter I shot a sequence of Neal and than asked if he’d be down to shoot a few stills before it got completely dark outside. He was down and this shot, although one of my flashes didn’t fire, came out better than I’d ever expected. In 1998, skaters from Oregon like Neal and spots like this rarely got any coverage in the mags. This ending up on the cover of TWS was probably a shocker to most that read skate mags at the time.” Prints Available