YOON REMEMBERS HIS FIRST ANDREW REYNOLDS FRONTSIDE FLIP

Like a rare Pokemon, Andrew Reynolds’s FS flip is a sought after photograph that a skate photographer would be very lucky to shoot. And I had no clue I was going to shoot it that one day in 2011.

I got a call from Beagle one early Sunday morning to come meet up and shoot with some “guys.” He just said to meet up at the Mission school at 10:30 a.m. So I got up, brewed a quick cup of joe, and packed up my gear. I used to live in Downtown Los Angeles so it took me 10 minutes to get there. As I pulled up, the crew, which consisted of Jon Dickson, Lizard King, Shane Heyl, Neen Williams, Beagle, and, I believe, Jeff Lenoce, were already hopping the fence.

You know… it really sucks for photographers to hop a fence. It already sucks to hop a fence, but try do it with a heavy-ass camera bag and light stands.

So after a little time of climbing a metal mountain, I made it in. I rolled up to Beagle and asked who in the school was gonna do what. He said, “The Boss is on the way and he wants to FS flip over the rail.”  Fuck yes… I get to add that rare card to my collection! Again, there are some guys out there that do tricks that are legendary, and when it comes to Andrew Reynolds, that FS flip is probably at the top of the list.

So we wait, and after dicking around on our skateboards on the black tar, we see the Boss pull up in his silver Cadillac behind the fence, so Beagle and I get prepped. Lizard gives Andrew a warm welcome as he hops the fence with a big-ass iced coffee from Starbucks and the crew follows suit with the bro hugs and high fives. Andrew then rolls over to a bench to put down all the stuff he’s not taking with him to the FS flip. He does some stretching, then rolls around the schoolyard to warm up the blood. He pops several flatground FS flips and after several minutes, he starts to drag a table to the middle of the school yard and tells Beagle he wants to fakie ollie the table after the FS flip. He then walks up the stairs and eyes out the spot and then asks Beagle if he’s good to go—gametime.

The next 30 minutes were an amazing sight to see. He did, like, 15 perfect FS flips over that thing as perfect as can be done, and it was the first time I ever seen it in person. It was as magical as legend had it, and I got to see it 15 times—because he wanted to fakie ollie a table after. After he fakie ollies the table, the victory lap ensues and the boys celebrate. Perfection would be an understatement when describing that FS flip, but it’s the only word I can use to describe what I shot 15 times that day.  Afterwards, Shane Heyl also filmed a line and the day was over at like 12:00 p.m.… well not just yet, I still had to hop that damn fence again with all my shit… again.