Lesson 3: Urban Freestyle Walking (Portland, OR)

Brent, here, is a master at grace and finesse. His moves aren't large, like many of my old girlfriends, nor do they involve a lot of air, but they are fine-tuned and carefully crafted. Enjoy this gallery of his work.

Photography by Garrett Wesley Gibbons. Canon 400D, 18mm f/3.5 lens.
October 2008, Portland, Oregon. USA




I call this move (depicted in the "Safeway" shot) the "Toyota," since it involves jumping like the people used to do in those nerdy 1980s Toyota commercials. Nerdy commercial, sweet move.

The Koala stall is a type of Treehugger stall (very appropriate, given the proximity of the large SUV behind Brent). A Treehugger stall involves just jumping at a tree and grabbing it so the Walker sticks and doesn't move. I recommend long sleeves. The Koala stall is when the hands go to branches instead of hugging the trunk of the tree, as seen here. Very nice form.