Matt Alberts has started the Lifers Project to capture anyone that has devoted there life to skateboarding. He came through Jerry's the other day to do just that.
He uses wet plate photography, that yields a large 11X14 aluminum plate photograph. That's his mobile darkroom behind him.
His camera is a beast, and it sits atop a hand crafted tripod.
The first shot he took was of yours truly.
Meanwhile Russell is destroying the Recycler. Ollie.
Making sure Bruce is properly in focus.
Having an ISO speed of 1 means you have a pretty slow shutter speed. In layman's terms your gonna have to sit still for a bit. Even skating the ramp while Bruce sat on it could blur him and ruin the whole image.
Hold still. It's worth it.
His mobile darkroom folded up into a road case. Going in to develop the exposed plate.
Washing the print before varnish.
Jerry's laundry. This is as seen through Matt's camera. It's gotta be a real bitch to compose an image with.
Jerry's turn. If you notice, Matt is removing the cap from the lens. That's because the lens cap is essentially the shutter button on his camera. He counts the shutter off in his head.
To end the process he applies a varnish to the image. This also brings out the contrast and detail in the image while also darkening it a bit. So many different variables go into these images. The end result is so epic.
You can help make The Lifers Project reach other "Lifers" by going here
