Hold On Loosely...but don't let go.

Earlier this summer I got a call from Aaron Chase asking me if I had a motorcycle. At this point I had JUST bought my first motorcycle and had signed up for the weekend long beginner motorcycle course. I asked why, and then he filled me in on what would be my most epic mtn bike road trip I've been so far in my life. I say 'so far' because I'm hoping next year is even more crazy ridiculous.

Chase and Highland Mountain Bike Park dirt-master Dave Smutok rounded up Cameron Zink, Adam Hauck, and the cape boys Clint McMahon and Mike Kent for a 9 day road trip through New England. The only catch is that we were all going to ride motorcycles the ENTIRE trip, with a rented box truck as our 'support vehicle' carrying all the bikes and gear.

Our first leg of the trip started up with a 150+ mile rip through VT backroads to Kyle Ebbett's house, where everyone shredded his amazing backyard setup and private dirt jump line in the woods down the street. After a night of partying and letting loose at Ebbett's house, we woke up early the next day and headed straight over to Knight Ide's house, home of the IdeRide camps! We spent the first night filming/riding his personal indoor skate park, and then woke up early for an epic day in his backyard wonderland. After a LONG day of throwing down, we were back on the bikes Friday afternoon for the straight shot back to Highland.

Saturday was our first 'relaxation' day so we ripped up to Laconia to check out the infamous Bike Week festival. Thousands of bikers, beers, and beer babes. That's all I have to say about that.

The rest of our trip consisted of ripping anything and everything Highland Mountain Bike Park has to offer. I have filmed a lot of the trails and spots there but I don't think I can ever get sick of it!

Now for the videos. Chase has the vision of doing a 'Casino' style video with narration by Cam Zink himself. The premise behind the story is that Chase, Smutok, a & Zink were a group that randomly met up with the 'city boys' Hauck, Clint, and Mike. At first Chase and co. were open to them, but soon realized they were nothing but show boaters trying to steal the limelight. After a failed attempt to take em out, the city boys fool Chase into thinking it's all the beef has been squashed....or so they think.

Part 1:

Hold On Loosely Tour: Episode 1 - More Mountain Bike Videos

Part 2:

Hold On Loosely Tour: Episode 2 - More Mountain Bike Videos

Time Lapse

Hey folks, sorry for the HUGE lapse since the last post. With a full time job, part-time job of Lucent, and owning a house I feel like I rarely have a free second to update this blog (AND not to mention work on the website).

Anyways, lets start off with oldest to newest updates!

This past February I flew down with my gfriend to Chile for a half-vacation, half-filming gig to shoot the Valparaiso Urban downhill race, as well as a local downhill race up in the Andes in La Parva. As you all know, Chile was hit with one of the largest earthquakes in history...and I was still there for it! I had an amazing/crazy time while we were in Chile (earthquake aside), we met some amazing people while we were there and I can't wait to see them again this winter!

I had planned to shoot two videos, one of the urban event, and one for the downhill, but the dh race was cancelled due to the earthquake, so I made a second video from the extra footage from the trip.

Check em out!

Valparaiso Cerro Abajo Urban Downhill Race - More Mountain Bike Videos

Chile Numero Dos: Terremoto! - More Mountain Bike Videos

While in Chile I shot a bike check with Kona Clump Team Member Graham Agassiz. If you look closely, you'll see the fingerstache tattoo he acquired one drunken night in Chile!

Graham Agassiz Bike Check - More Mountain Bike Videos

Next up on the list was the Rye Airfield Big Wheels Redux comp. A local rider tried his best to revive the ol' skool Big Wheels comp, unfortunately there was a small pro turnout (is mtb park dead?). Regardless, the boys from the cape threw down for everyone at the park and it was still a good time!

Rye Airfield Video Action - More Mountain Bike Videos

If you live in the Northeast (or on the east coast for that matter) and you haven't been to Highland Mountain Bike Park yet, GET ON IT!! I am shooting all of Highland's Promo material this year and I can't be more pumped! Mark and Smutok (and the rest of the crew) are on point to deliver yet another amazing season with many new improvements to keep every pumped and coming back again and again.



Last on the list of video updates is the good ol' US Open!! Headed down to the dirty jerz once again to cover all the action for VitalMTB.com. Even though it felt like attendance was down this year, a large pool of international riders were drawn to the event, all hungry for the tasty prize money!!

2010 US Open of Mountain Biking - More Mountain Bike Videos

I also shot once again for Evil Bikes to provide coverage of team riders Stevie Smith and Luke Strobel. Stevie is always a blast to hang out with, crackin jokes and always laid back which my job that much easier. This was my first time working with Luke Strobel but I hope it's not my last!

Evil Bikes - 2010 US Open - More Mountain Bike Videos

So what's on deck you ask?

- I returned last week from a 9 day roadtrip with a handful of pro rippers. The contents and filming of this trip are a little under wraps at this point until video is released. Keep an eye out for a release after the Claymore Challenge!!

- I'll be up at Highland Mountain all summer shooting promos and updates, and hopefully make it to a few more events this summer.

- Lucent Weddings is booking more weekends and I can't be more pumped! We have 2 weddings this fall, and currently 2 weddings for next spring. Book now or forever hold your peace!

- New threads. World Cup racer/artist/friend/goofball Micayla Gatto has been commissioned to design some new tees for Lucent. Hopefully have them in time for summer, with some hoodies for those chilly fall nights around the fire!

Thats its for now, this is probably the longest blog post I'll ever do, and hopefully keep everyone updated more frequently. I say that every time, one of these days i'll keep that promise.

Over and out!
- Justin

Lucent Weddings - book now!

I've recently uploaded some additional wedding sample videos to the Lucent Productions Wedding blog. Check it out here! Lucent Weddings

Lucent is able to work with any budget you may have, feel free to contact me at justin@lucentproductions.com for any quotes and to check availability.

Go Green!

About a month ago I traveled up to Putnams Ski shop in Portsmouth, NH to shoot a few quick vids for Green Wax.

First up is a quick How-To on waxing a snowboard!



Second is a quick Testimonial for the guys at Green Wax




I also picked up a Vholdr ContourHD helmet cam this past summer. I've shot a few things so far, and recently started shooting some snowboarding footage. I whipped up a quick pistol grip for a different perspective other than strapping it to the goggles.

BIG Update!

First and foremost, Highland Mountain Bike Park and Lucent have partnered up for the 2010 season to bring a wide variety of video content to the riders! Feel free to read the full press release here:

Press release

Additionally, I've been 'dabbling' in the snow world with some videos as of late.
Check out a quick webisode for my friends over at Bean Snowboards!



All of Beans boards will come pre-waxed with Green Ski Wax for the 2010 season. Check out the vid I shot for Green Wax w/the bean guys!!


Other than that, just gearing up for snowboarding season and making plans for 2010!
Merry Xmas to everyone and a happy new year!

A Real update: Ryan McDermott Muay Thai video

Ryan McDermott is one of my best friends that I've known since high school, and has been training as a Muay Thai fighter for the past 6+ yrs. His 'pay the bills' job is as an architect, so it's a pretty big contrast seeing him transform from dress clothes to fight gear. Ryan would be the first to admit that he used to have a temper in his college days, resulting in him punching holes in walls. The temper is gone but he's still punching things. The only difference now is that he has to watch out for that return left hook.

I visted Ryan's fight school Redline Fight Sports in Cambridge, MA last week over the course of 2 nights. Night one we shot 90% of the footage, including some dolly footage and some helmet cam footage using the ContourHD 720p camera. Worked out pretty good, I did some handheld shooting with it, and then placed it under one of the bags to get a unique perspective. Night two we shot the interview and some additional POV sparring footage using the helmet cam again. Pretty pumped on the end result, even though I always see things after the fact I wish I could do over.

Can't get enough Lucent??

So if you've reached this blog via the main Lucent Productions website (which is prob indefinitely 'under construction' until winter), feel free to keep up-to-date on Lucent happenings via Facebook or Twitter.

Bromont Promo

So after the Bromont event, I edited the Evil Bike Team vid, did some travel for work, worked on the house....and then finally got around to editing the rest of the Bromont footage. Gotta love 80s pop music, been wanting to use this song for a while now.



In other news, I have officially written off using Ratatat in any future videos. I'm starting to think they are the new Rise Against of bike videos. Awesome but played out. Onward and upward folks.

Evil Bikes - 2009 Bromont UCI World Cup video

Made the trip up to Quebec to film all 3 Evil riders at the Bromont UCI Worldcup!

Grab a seat and some popcorn, this one's chock full of butter.

Evil Bikes:::2009 Bromont UCI World Cup from Lucent Productions on Vimeo.

Flippies, whippies, and spinnies.

Highland Mountain Bike Park held the 2nd Annual Claymore Challenge this past weekend. After last years event, they drew an even larger list of heavy hitters from all over the globe. Everyone threw down hard as usual, with Brandon Semenuk coming out on top!

Littermag (soon to be VitalMTB.com) hired me to bust out my camera and shoot the event, and here's what came out of it!

2009 Claymore Challenge Slopestyle Video from Litter Mag on Vimeo.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

I usually have a purpose for posts, but this one is completely random, so I apologize on what you may consider a poor excuse for a 'deep thought'.

It kind of just hit me that some of the people I have met, and/or know on a more intimate basis, that I consider to share and appreciate their perspectives on life & the mtb industry live in distant corners of this rock we inhabit. For a second it kinda bums me out, but at the same time I'll be even more stoked on the rare occasion we get to share a 3D experience together.

What am I tryin to say? Basically the same sh!t people say all the time. Appreciate the people you have in your life, even if they're a digital version of themselves on a washed out computer screen. For the handful of peeps I'm referring to (you may or may not know who you are), I hope our paths cross in the near future.

For now one of my baddest of rad 3D friends is coming over to hang out and grill on a warm Friday night. Hugs.

Ain't no sunshine when shes gone...

I don't really remember the last time I saw the sun, I'm pretty sure it was over 2 weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure the trails have the consistency of a water logged loaf of bread.

In other news.....I have been a contributor to LitterMag for a few years now and have developed an quite pleasant "e-friend" level relationship with Shawn Spomer. (Spom's if you're read this: if we hang 2 more times in person you get bumped to "3D friend" status.)
Anyways, Littermag is probably one of THE best online media sites in the mountain bike industry. Not for some fancy flash layouts, or do-hickey forums, but for some of the most rad content on the planet. The "cream-of-the-crop" photogs like Sven and Gary Perkins are regular contributors, so I am pretty stoked to be mixed in with those guys.
The BIG news for Litter/Shawn, its that they have partnered with the Vital Media Network, founders of VitalBMX.com and VitalMX.com, to create VitalMTB.com. The crazy part is that Shawn had temporarily scaled back the site content at one point. The new site drops August 1st, and I should still be contributing to the new venture!

Pics for clicks

Both machines in action. Sad part is that my laptop has more power than the G5 tower. My girlfriend knows more about Final Cut Pro than your girlfriend. Rad.




You'll find some really cool, interesting, or just plain weird items when you buy a house formerly occupied/owned by a couple in their 70's. I found this old Kodak film canister in the basement workshop, filled with about 100+ various keys to god knows what. It now houses my loose change. File this one under the 'cool' category.

A rebuilding year....

LucentProductions.com is currently down right now while I try and focus some energy on the site. I'm thinking that I want something that has a better video player embedded so that I can really showcase some of the good stuffs. If anyone is out there that has some recommendations on that sort of thing let me know! My interweb-page design is right up there with my photochop skills.

For now, just stayed linked here or on face-space/twitter/smoke signal for any updates.

Highland Mountain Bike Park.

So the past week and a half consisted of filming 3 days down in NJ for the US Open, and then coming home to pound out 2 vids from that event, AND finish a pre-season Highland Mountain bike park video I shot.

Being that I wanted to get it out ASAP since its no longer 'pre-season', I tossed this together last night for the dudes at HMBP. The mountain, the owner, the crew....ALL rock. Get your arse up to Highland now!!

Highland Mountain Pre-season from Lucent Productions on Vimeo.

See no Evil.

I hadn't touched editing in quite some time....and I think I'm making up for it this week in a big way. I shot for the MS/Evil Bikes race team @ the US Open, ate some delicious indian food courtesy of Evil Marketing Manager Todd Seplavy, and learned how rad Steve Smith is on and off the bike. The kid likes movie quotes, cooking in his undies, and italian ice. Oh, and he loves his mom.

Evil Bikes - 2009 US Open from Lucent Productions on Vimeo.