Oh the power of social media. What I thought to be a humorous Instagram & Twitter post, very quickly turned into a viral (that word is horrible I know) celebrity news story. For those of you who don’t pay attention to celebrity gossip… I shot a photo of my friend Lany Morrison with Twilight stars Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart since they happened to be hanging out at the same bar I was at with my friends on a Tuesday. Little did I know that photo was going to spread like wildfire across every entertainment media site around the world.

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of dropping by Ed Templeton’s house in Huntington Beach, CA to do an interview and shoot some photos for a feature I was writing for Relapse Magazine’s Art Issue. We sat and talked for over an hour straight about everything from the influence of skateboarding on his creativity, and how he manages to shoot photos of people on the streets without being noticed, and his whole skateboarding girl thing. Afterwards he gave me a tour of his house, studio, and darkroom while I shot off some photos for the piece. It was definitely rad to rap out with someone so prolific and influential in not only skateboarding, but photography as well. Ed is an incredibly humble guy.

See some more photos after the jump then head over to Relapse Magazine’s website where you can read the feature and look at the rest of the issue right there…. or if you are in NYC go pick it up from select newsstands.

I recently did an interview with rad Peru-based online magazine ETEREA. But since most of you probably don’t speak Spanish I figured I would post the English translation here. However if you happen to be an over-achiever and bilingual you can read the original version here and poke around the rest of the site while you’re at it… they post some cool content on there. -Laura

Read the interview after the jump.

Want to add a little something extra to that camera you always carry around with you? My good friend Gary Tyler McLeod just launched his new company Great State Strap Co. which features rugged camera straps handmade by leatherworkers in Portland, OR. They come in an assortment of colors and lengths. I have personally been using the Bracelet Strap that just wraps around my wrist for my Contax T2 and I love it. Ditch that ugly plastic thing you have been running with your camera and pick up one of these good looking durable leather straps from Great State Strap Co.

More pictures and a full press release after the jump.

Full house at Lomography’s space right on Santa Monica Blvd.

Friday, November 2nd I had the privilege of hosting a group photo show titled “Everyone’s A Photographer” at the Lomography Gallery Store in Los Angeles as the winner of their “Win Your Dream Space” competition. Long story short, Lomography offered up their different gallery stores all over the world to whoever came up with the best idea how to utilize each space for an entire month. And I was lucky enough to win their LA location with this photo show I dreamed up involving a group of California-based friends that I have personally been influenced by creatively.

Click more to see the rest of the recap & photos.

A little while back I had the privilege of venturing up to the Oregon coast with some of the Burton crew to do a shoot for their Fall lookbook and the relaunch of BurtonGirls.com. Seeing as their new site just went live, I figured I would give you a preview of my day exploring the woods and the shore with team riders Gabi Viteri, Kimmy Fasani, and Hannah Teter. It is always cool working with Burton seeing as they are like family, but it was especially rad to do this shoot with an all girl crew from the talent, to the stylists, filmer, and producers. Be sure to check out the full lookbook here and click around the rest of the site to see what these lovely ladies have in store for you.

More photos and a video from the day after the jump.

A friend of mine, Justin Parkhurst, recently released the second issue of his photo zine “Punch The Camera“. When you hear the word “zine” you tend to think of a couple black and white xeroxed pages crudely bound by a string of thread. “Punch The Camera” however is more of a soft cover book filled with 104 pages of full color images on nicely bound premium stock paper. And printed on those pages is the work of 8 different photographers including the likes of Peter Sutherland, Jim Mangan, Gary McLeod, and Justin himself. You can buy a copy for yourself here and support a project that many of us think of doing ourselves and rarely follow through on.

More preview images after the jump.

There are a lot of people who tell me how nice it must be to have a job that allows me to travel so much. I will admit, the travel is definitely is a perk… but it is still a job. As the online editor for Snowboarder Magazine, I bounce from mountain to mountain covering snowboarding… but the thing is, the snow looks the same in Colorado as it does Austria, Chile, Japan, or any other far off ski destination. What I am saying is that if I didn’t make a point to get out and explore, then everywhere I traveled for work would all feel the same… a hotel room, a mountain, some form of trees, snow, and snowboarders throwing themselves off features. When I went to Austria I didn’t want it to just fall into that routine.

More after the jump.

I used to be opposed to “iPhone Photography” before I actually owned an iPhone. I thought it made the whole photo process from shooting, to editing, to sharing way too easy. Now I am a fan, mainly because of Instagram… it is addicting. But recently while scrolling through my Tumblr I stumbled upon this iPhone Rangefinder case. I hate to hate… but there is a certain point where you should just give in and buy an actual camera. If you need to spend $100 on a case to make your phone look like an old school camera, that is a bit over the top.

More looks and info after the jump.