Teach a Skater to Fish ...
catch a lesson from tabajando's corey henderson
[editor’s note: full disclosure, almost every piece of media by me in the magazine was shot using some kind of Trabajando product. All my gear was bought and paid for, and 4ts gets no cash from any links or whatever (me getting paid is up to you)]
Listen, we all know the look – that fucking classic look, from bolts to bowed sky, close and fast and alive. That look is only achievable via fisheye, the lens that literally has shaped skating. Unfortunately for a lot of us out here, a real rig can run well into the quadruple digits, which is where’s Trabajando comes in.
Founded by Chicagoland skater, filmer, and fisheye proselytizer Corey Henderson, Trabajando offers a phone-ready fisheye for a fraction of that price.
‘It’s kind of like solving the whole issue of accessibility,’ Henderson says of his motivations over speakerphone while rolling a j. ‘I’m just trying to inspire people to not only like try the gear, but to try and make something that you feel good about, you know?’ Henderson’s looking to push his fellow Americans to embrace the potential of using what they’ve already got to create, something more fully embraced in places like Brazil — instilling a DIY, fuckin’-go-get-it kind of idea.
To that end, he’s posting videos to the fisheye’s YouTube channel to inform and inspire, starting with a crash course of 10 tips that covers some of the technical basics and, more importantly, offers some philosophical advice for amateur anglers. The blend is key; when asked to hew it down to the bone, Henderson’s three musts are one part technical and two parts personal.
‘If you’re using an iPhone, you have to use an app,’ he says. These eliminate a shakiness that is a byproduct of the cameras themselves and could definitely be vexing as fuck if you don’t realize that it isn’t on you. The problem is something called internal optical stabilization, which you cannot turn off on an iPhone without an app. Some Android phones you can, by the way; gotta play around. There’s a few options, including the Death Lens and Blackmagic Camera apps. (And of course, maybe you like the shake, in which case work it bb.)
Ok, but just b/c your shit isn’t shakey dog doesn’t mean it’s gonna be good, right? Which is where the other two most-important-things come in: getting the fuck out there to practice, and brining the positive energy and good vibes to the sesh. Watch some of those raw tapes Beagle has been putting up; the positivity is undeniable, uplifting, and genuine — and the hammers follow. Probably not a coincidence, right?
By practicing filming on low-stakes stuff, like a homie’s warmup line or a grind they can do in their sleep, you can get a feel for Henderson’s Three Keeps — keep up, keep close, keep steady. Someone’s gonna want a clip eventually, and that’s what you want too, right?, so put in some time to feel ready.
A lot of the fisheye filmers Henderson recommends newbies watch, like French Fred and Photosynthesis-era Strobeck, had no fear for their gear, something to keep in mind if you’re wondering why you can’t capture the spirit in the same way. ‘A lot of those filmers were in a position where they could get another fisheye,’ he says. ‘They could film in an extremely risky way.’
Regardless of how reckless you want to get, at the core of all of this is one basic thing: make what you love.
‘You could have it however you want, you know? It could be super epic, or classical, or rough; however you want it,’ Henderson says. ‘But the mindset going into it is the most important part, in my opinion. Because that’s how I feel like you can enjoy what you’re doing, regardless of the style of what you’re producing.’
