Photos and captions by Cameron Markin.



Josh Pall, backside lipslide.
Rhodes manual pads are one of Sydney’s new hot spots. With Sydney spots in decline, their shade and no-bust factor made this a popular one for a number of weekends in a row. For someone as ledge-illiterate as myself, I found a lot of time on my hands to wander around and hang out in bushes shooting my technically-minded friends.

Ray Macken, frontside halfcab kickflip.
Ray did this second shot. Let that sink in for a quick minute. Not by some fluke either – that’s just how he skates. He then proceeded to knock out two other amazing tricks later that day.

Pat Dandy, tail drop.
Pat is a caveman. Anyone that has met him will happily agree that he may not have fully evolved with the rest of us, which makes it all the more fitting that he’s jumping out of the sky off a prehistoric dragon. Sunny sun sun!

Bjorn Johnston, crooks pop out.
This is one of those shots, trick wise, where I don’t understand why it didn’t find a home earlier, and in print. I hope it wasn’t because the photo wasn’t up to scratch. If so, sorry Bjorn.

Ben DeRome, ollie up to kickflip to fakie.
It’s not often we get new spots on the Northern Beaches. So you can be sure that when they do pop up, within the first couple of weeks they’re going to get rinsed. Somehow, despite a couple months passing, Ben was still the first one to skate it to fakie. Not surprising, considering the ollie up at the bottom.

Mitch Robertom, gap to backside Smith grind.
Mitch is amazing. I’ve seen him do some impressive tricks and he’s never really had to work for any of them. When Dean Parsons and I heard that the cover of Slam issue 199 would go to either him or Dean, we just assumed Mitch had it in the bag.

Lewis Wood, frontside lipslide.
Lewis loves skating, maybe more than anyone else I know. You wouldn’t realise that he has just knocked off from a laborious 10 hour day by the way he’ll rock up to a rail like this and knock out multiple tricks. Not to mention cheering on the homies and yelling at me to turn up the techno tunes on the ride home.

Jayar Smyth, 360 flip.
Jayar, or “the forgotten Smyth” as he’s known, very much embodies the middle child syndrome. Unlike his brothers Chris and Jake who are more consistently out on the mission, Jayar will just randomly pop up like the enigma that he is. He makes up for it though, as almost every time he graces us with his presence he will come out of the dark with some sort of weird or wonderful trick.

Josh Jones, frontside feeble grind.
Josh makes skateboarding look effortless, and I’m starting to realise it’s because he puts in so little effort. That might seem like an obvious statement, but it’s refreshing to see a style so naturally lazy, opposed to the awkwardly forced testaments to Antwuan Dixon you often come across.

Adam Tabone, frontside noseslide.
Tabone is the proud owner of Central Coast board brand, Scram Skateboards. And as all skateboard brand owners should, he embodies the “run by skaters, for skaters” concept. He’s out every weekend shredding with the best of them for nothing more than the pure love of it.

Tom Armstrong, ollie.
I got a call asking to shoot a spot I drive by almost every day, and had supposedly never noticed. Skeptic, I met up with Tom. He didn’t hesitate to remove the blind bumps and was rolling away in no time. I like those simple, straightforward, single trick missions. Good work, Tom.

Adam Coul, backside Smith as Nick Degotardi watches on.
The Portal is a labour of love. The boys have put in so much of their time and money to create one of the most incredible DIY spots I’ve personally ever skated. Featured here are two of the original founders, living it.

Mark Silvester, frontside boardslide down the bonnet.
As soon as I noticed this abandoned car dumped in a pretty rich neighborhood I knew our time was limited. I called Mark, who lives nearby, and as always he was keen. Somehow the thing was unlocked, and I feel that all the glass that ended up in my hands was worth the adventure.

Chris Smyth, boardslide.
Backside boardslides down 11-stair rails just don’t get run anymore, even if they are through skate stoppers. Good thing Chris couldn’t care less.

Karl Dorman, drop-in 50-50.
As well as being incredibly talented behind the lens, Karl is no stranger to pulling some ridiculous skoochieboard moves. Often his tricks come from other people’s unwillingness to skate a spot. “Well, if no-one else is going to skate this...” is the call right before I know to reach for my camera.

Cody Passfield, frontside lipslide.
Cody did this lipslide no worries. Upon watching him roll away, Julius May immediately rolled up on someone else’s board and informed Karl that he was about to do the exact same trick. While everyone was left looking on in confusion, Jules’ first attempt ended swiftly with a clean snapped board and solid genitals-to-rail connection. Everyone was immediately in hysterics at what became the highlight of the day.

Levi Moore, backside Smith grind.
This Newcastle hubba has seen its fair share of heavy sessions. Over the decades I believe the run-up has gone from tiles, to grass, and back again. Through it all, the locals have done what’s necessary to keep the sessions alive, whether it’s using plywood, popping caps or dodging security. Levi’s back Smith is just another notch in the belt.

Dean Parsons, gap to frontside noseblunt slide, pop out.
I hate this spot. It’s often unproductive, it’s a bust and hard to shoot something original that will run. That small child in the background seems to be enjoying it, though.

Stay tuned for more photo gallery features. Head back to the homepage.