We’ve all been friends with Jeff Z. for a while now, so it was only a matter of time before one of his rad photos ended up on a shirt. That shirt is the current “DAK” shirt featuring Huntington Beach’s Dakota Roche.

We asked Jeff to write a few words behind this photo. Read on:

I actually shot this tooth hanger with Dakota on two different occasions. The first time we shot it, I met Dak at the spot along with Robbie Morales, Chase Dehart, and Chris Cole…yup, the pro skater. The crew was hyped and it was looking like it might turn out to be a pretty productive day, and as usual, Dak was ready to shoot almost as soon as I got there. I went back to my car to get my gear and my trunk wouldn’t open! Unlike some cars, there isn’t access to the trunk from behind the seats, so I tried the keyhole on the trunk and locking and unlocking the power locks what felt like a hundred times—then I resorted to kicking the trunk out of frustration because the damn thing was definitely not opening.

Eventually, Dak just wanted to get it over with so they could film it, so I ended up shooting it with Robbie’s prosumer DSLR. Although using someone else’s camera doesn’t feel as weird as riding someone else’s bike, his camera still felt way too light to shoot such a heavy move.

After Dak pulled it, I immediately left to find a locksmith and I called him (Dak) from the car and asked if he would mind re-shooting it. Like the champ he is, he was totally down for it, so we went back a few weeks later and shot the photo how I originally intended to shoot it—with a Hassleblad 501 cm, 80mm lens, three strobes, on Fuji Provia 100F 120.

– Jeff Zielinski

The G-Sport DAK shirt is available now at shops & mailorders. Dealers feel free to call 562-623-9995.

ALSO, we will be doing a giveaway soon for some of these shirts signed by Dakota, so keep checking back.