In 1991 I started a BMX Bicycle Company called Homestead Bicycles. I'd just dropped out of college, hadn't researched any market conditions or strategies, but just knew that I had a dream of creating a really cool bike. A bike that might not be for everyone but that was unique and fast and light. I got Cyclecraft to weld them, Brian Foster to paint them, sponsored a kid from Auburn CA as my only rider, and I was on my way.

For four years I drove around the western U.S. to ABA races, and ran BMX tracks for two youth summer camps. I made a ton of shirts and stickers and all told sold 30 bikes, but hardly enough to make a living.

In 1995 I folded Homestead and haven't looked back.

Until now.

Join me as I try to locate everyone and anyone who owned a Homestead Basilisk BMX frame. Early metallic green models were painted by a young upstart racer named Brian Foster - we went shopping for paint together, with the water-running Basilisk lizard as my guide. Ten bikes have been found and there's more to come - look for the trailer on Christmas Day!

An old camera found in a closet led to a slow education, but convinced my dad to gift me a Topcon camera kit, complete with James Bond-like metal suitcase. My pictures got instantly better, having multiple and high quality lenses to play with, but the shutter wasn't up to my number of shots, and began to fail intermittently on a cross - country trip to Indiana to purchase an old Chrysler convertible.

* * *

Fate smiled though, when I popped in to a random camera shop in Scotts Valley and the store owner recommended what is now my favorite camera, the 70's - 80's classic Canon F-1. I finally found a camera with a great light meter, that operated in very extreme conditions, and that produced in print the image I saw and wanted to capture when I originally took the shot.

25,000+ photos in heat and cold, sun and rain, it's been held above my head on the Yuba River, huddled with me under a crevice opposite Half Dome in Yosemite, slid down dirt cliffs on more than one occasion, dangled over the edge of Havasu Falls in Arizona, accompanied me to England and Wales, and will continue I hope, to accompany me on many more adventures to come.

Questions about print sizes and mounting options? - Just ask!

I have been shooting and and editing video since my late teenage years, and in 2006 shot my first feature film Dill, California on a 16mm Arriflex Camera that I bought on craigslist. It was an amazing experience, and I have since made two documentaries, written six screenplays, and pitched television pilots to alcoholic producers.

2007:

Dill, California

2012:

My Father, Who Art In Nature (2012) Official Trailer

2014:

The Story of Jug Handle (2013) PBS Version 26:00

2015:

Director of Photography on Convinced (2015), a feature documentary exploring 'Why would any intelligent, sane person become Catholic? Trailer on Vimeo

2016:

Life is a Highway: An Olmsted Journey

2017-2018:

Director of Photography on Unprotected, a feature documentary exploring the history and results of contraception, feminism, and the sexual revolution. Trailer on Vimeo. Click for local screenings here.

2019:

30 Bikes, The Story of Homestead Bicycles

30 Bikes is the story of a tiny BMX Bicycle company I started in 1991 after writing a letter to Bob Haro. I dropped out of college, enlisted Cyclecraft to manufacture, and designed a pro frame and fork set called the Basilisk. I ran the company for four years before running out of steam and resources.

23 years later I'm tracking down the 30 bikes I sold, who bought them and why, and where are they now. It's an awesome journey so follow at @hbbikes and check back here for screenings.