He may hold down a day job as an account manager for DC ("Basically, I do Al Bundy's job but on a bigger scale."), but for Shane Hutton, it's more of a Clark Kent/Superman-thing. Except his Kent wears better shoes and I'm pretty sure he doesn't wear tights while shooting skate photos. A self-taught photographer, Shane's photos have graced the pages of possibly every Canadian skate mag, and now we have the pleasure of bringing you the digital version of the fruits of his labours.

In a nutshell, what's your background in photography?
I really don't have much of a background in photography. I was introduced to it very early because my parents shot a lot when I was young. We even had a permanent darkroom in our house, but for me it was just a cool place to build model cars cause there was a big worktable.  By the time I was old enough to really give a crap they had stopped shooting and the darkroom had been renovated into a huge bathroom.  I didn't start shooting until years later when I was running a skate shop and had met Jay Bridges. He just made that shit look cool. I am a pretty keen learner so I started asking Jay dumb questions, reading everything I could and checking out websites.  I stumbled on a website called skateboardphotography.com (R.I.P) and that was where I learned everything I know about off-camera flash.  Once I understood that cameras don't count for much and that a good photo was about controlling the light, things got a lot easier.

How long have you been shooting for?
I can't say for sure but I think my first real skate shot would have been in 2004. Dan Mathieu ran my first photo later that year in Exposé.  It was Seb Labbé doing a varial-heel in Ottawa. Once I saw that photo in print I was hooked - Thanks Dan.

Do you have a regular crew you shoot with, or will you shoot with anyone?
I will pretty much shoot with anyone. As long as the trick / spot is going to allow me to shoot something I am proud of, then I'm down. I have a sarcastic personality though and I like to hate on people for fun so it is probably more about who wants to shoot with me - you either get it, or you don't...

Who have you been shooting lately?
Lots of Gerbs and wanna-be gangsters.

What was the last thing you shot?
It seems like it has been raining for days so it's been a bit.  I think it was a big Switch FS 180 with Mitch Prima.  He's pretty sick, that was the first time I had met him.

Why not go full-time photo?
I like to sleep inside and eat food that didn't come from a garbage can. There simply isn't enough money in it.

Chris Connolly, airwalk.
"Not the best photo I have ever shot but nobody has ever seen it. Chris has style for days and isn't afraid to toss in a weird trick every now and then."

Check out Shane's portfolio gallery for more of this shots along with colourful commentary from Mr. Hutton himself.