Roberto, what first drew you to this kind of action photography specifically skateboarding?

I started skating when I was 11 years old and photography came 4 years later thanks to my sister as she was doing a photography course. I was just playing with her camera and it come out I was quite good at it.

To be honest at the beginning I was not really mixing these two passions but one day I took a good skate shot and a magazine published it as a cover. It was really inspiring and encouraging to see my first skate publication in a cover, that was the beginning of the skateboard photography era for me and this is also when I started to make a living out of my work.After so many years, you learn how to do it the best as possible. And to be honest, the less accessible the spot is the better image you are gonna end up taking. Its a constant challenge: Look for undiscovered places and do it as fast as possible always producing high quality work. 

Skateboard photography there is never an ideal situation. How do you produce images you would be happy with?

In the skateboard photography there is never an ideal situation, because you have to do it in the street and always dealing with neighbors and police, sometimes you haven’t more than 5 minutes to take a picture.  

After so many years, you learn how to do it the best as possible. And to be honest, the less accessible the spot is the better image you are gonna end up taking. Its a constent challenge: Look for undiscovered places and do it as fast as possible always producing high quality work.  

What is the most memorable trip you have had in recent memory? What kind of hidden places did you get to explore?

Probably the country of Oman, I went with the Volcom team and Red Bull in the hottest season of the year (104ºF during the day) you literally can drop an egg in the middle of the street and it will get cooked.

It was the first time that a skate team went to this country. We managed to skate during the night and luckily we produced a lot of footage so we could give ourselves a ‘day off’ (so weird in a skate tour) so we decided to go on an adventure, visit some Wadis (canyons) and sinkholes.

The whole trip was memorable and fun, the culture of Oman and the landscapes are amazing and the people are some of the most friendly in the world.

What equipment’s do you use to captures your footage? What are some of the challenges of using them?

I have a Canon 1D for sequences and a Hasselblad with a digital back for stills, 3 Elinchrom ranger flashes. 

The challenge is that the whole equipment is very heavy and many times I have troubles traveling but it ’s worth it when you see the final work

How do you think photography and traveling has changed your view of the world?

I think it changed a lot of the perception I have on the world, many years ago before the internet era all the info about countries and so on was limited.

The power of pictures is so strong that just one single image can be the trigger to decide on a trip. 

Follow Roberto: 

Instagram: @roberto_alegria

facebook: Roberto Alegria photography

www.robertoalegria.com