Chris Mann – slappy switch crook.

I’ve lived in Leeds for about 6 years now and I’ve always walked through the uni thinking it would be sick to shoot the infamous Whippy Banks from an above angle but never actually got round to it or had the opportunity to shoot from that angle because we usually get kicked out by security pretty quickly.

We attempted to skate Leeds city centre hoping it would be dry but it was a standard busy Saturday so it was ridiculously busy everywhere we went. In fact, we skated here after the previously mentioned Manny Lopez indoor backlip. We ended up going to the uni banks as it’s usually a good undercover spot but it can also be hit or miss with security. Chris was getting into a few of these slappy switch crooks so I decided to actually give the angle from above a try. I set up my flashes and headed up to the spot where I wanted to shoot, but once I’d eventually set up I spied some security guards in the distance, which is typical, though luckily they walked off and didn’t notice the guys skating below. At first I was thinking that the angle wouldn’t work with the trick but after a few attempts Chris started getting into them better and was getting closer to landing the trick. He managed to get the trick and the end result of the photo was better than I’d expected.

It’s taken a long time to get up there to shoot from that angle but in the end I think it was well worth it.

Or maybe it’s because Chris Mann has got them angles!