Shooting in Hawaii: Snorkeling, Beaches, Waves and Bikinis

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Hawaii (Maui to be exact) with my wife Karlee. While this trip was a vacation, I find it impossible not to pick up the camera and shoot when in such a beautiful environment. Below are a handful of my favorite images from the trip. And look on the website in the near future to see more. Enjoy!

New Eddie Bauer Ad Campaign for Publicis

Earlier in this summer (or maybe I should say late, late Spring), I got a call from Publicis - Seattle to shoot part of the new Eddie Bauer ad campaign (Eddie. Set. Go.) They had already shot the action part of the campaign, but still needed close ups of the jackets on their athletes. With little to no snow left in the mountains, crappy weather in the forecast and a looming print deadline, we headed indoors to capture the needed images. We would shoot the athletes (Lynsey Dyer and Wyatt Caldwell) in studio and photoshop in the background elements later. 

 A short notice, quick and fun shoot. Below are the completed ads as well as a couple candid shots from the day.

 

 

 A couple of crappy cell phone shots from the studio (overview of location setup & a shot from Lynsey's Instagram feed of us trading jobs for a few... apparently all photogs have to have attitude when they're in front of the camera :)

Skiing Magazine : Focus Gallery with Ingrid Backstrom

New Commercial Work: Salomon Sports and Stevens Pass

As the leaves have started turning and the temperature gets colder, we say goodbye to another Summer. And with that, the start of another ski season. Nothing marks this on my calendar more than seeing the first of the ski magazines and movies of the season. So, without further ado, here's the first crop of images I was fortunate enough to work on last winter.

Promotional poster for Stevens Pass Mountain Resort

Salomon poster for Vincent Gagnier

Crossfit Shoot: Behind the Scenes

A couple weeks back I did a Crossfit photo shoot at a gym here in Seattle. This shoot was a personal shoot I produced for myself rather than for a client. Every once in a while I like to put together projects where I have complete creative freedom and can shoot whatever style I 'm feeling like.

Not only is it nice to be able to have creative freedom in the styling, but it also allows me to experiment with new techniques, styles or concepts. On top of that, it gives me the chance to tailor my portfolio to the kind of shooting I want to be doing in the future.

Check out the behind the scenes video of the shoot above. And I've attached a couple of my favorite shots here on the blog. But be sure to visit our main website www.iancoble.com to see more.

 

Portait Assignment for Ski Magazine: Tim Petrick: CEO of K2

Last week I got a last minute assignment from Ski Magazine to go and shoot the CEO of K2 skis, Tim Petrick.

With minimal time to accomplish this, I showed up a little before I was supposed to meet Tim,  to scout the office and set up lights. Not wanting to waste a lot of Tim's time, I tried to keep the portrait session under 15 minutes between three different locations within the building.

All said and done, the portraits turned out great and you'll be able to see the finished product in the September Issue of the magazine. Until then, here are a couple of out-takes from the shoot.

Behind the Scenes: Stevens Pass shoot with Bobby Brown, Gus Kenworthy and Poor Boyz Productions

Back in May I had the opportunity to do a massive park shoot at one of my home mountains, Stevens Pass. This shoot was for Poor Boyz Productions and highlighted ESPN X-Games gold medalist, Bobby Brown.

Check out the behind the scenes video from ESPN above. And I've attached a couple of my favorite out-takes of Bobby, Gus and Vincent from the shoot... shots I dig, but that are the B edits from the shoot. Look for the "A" selects in the magazines this coming winter.

Brooks Running : Track Shoot

Just finished a quick one day shoot for Brooks Running earlier this week. The shoot was aimed at capturing images of their track and cross country shoes and outerwear for their 2014 catalog.

A large crew of producers, art directors, stylists, assistants, digital techs and models comprised our group. Fortunately, everyone in the group was awesome! All the moving pieces coordinated well and our shot list was easy to achieve in our one day of allotted time.

As the catalog is still under wraps, I can't yet share any of the images from the day, but above is a shot of the crew reviewing pics on the iPad. This recent addition of gear/ technology to our arsenal is priceless in it's ability to wirelessly push images to an iPad for easy review by art directors and clients. So much nicer than having four or five people crowd around the back of the small LCD screen on camera. In the shot above, the iPad is coupled with a sun shade from sunhoods.com

Behind the Scenes Video : Powder Magazine & Pocket Wizard Interviews

I just recently took part in a behind the scenes video interview that just went live online today. Local athlete, Tyler Ceccanti and his filmer, Chris King have been producing their web series, Snow Chasers for two years now. Earlier in the season they approached me to see if I'd be interested in working with them on a behind the scenes look at what goes into shooting skiing.

Check out the resulting video above. If you'd like to see the write up on the video by Powder Magazine, you can check it out HERE .

Also got some additional love for the video from the good people at Pocket Wizard radio transmitters. Their interview about the piece can be found HERE .

Atlas Snowshoes Shoot

Just started the first day of our snowshoe work for Atlas Snowshoes this year. Always love shooting for Atlas as they're a great group of guys and their shoots always take us to some cool places.

Last week's shoot took place up at Snoqualmie Summit, just outside Seattle.

We've got two more days of shooting to plan and execute in the coming weeks. Will keep you posted as those days occur.

New Snow in the Mountains!

A quick post here. We've been getting LOTS of new snow in the Pacific Northwest. I was up in the mountains yesterday doing some shooting in all the new snow. Below is a self portrait of yours truly, ME! Just thought I'd share a new pic that showcases some of the new angles we've been experimenting with this winter. Enjoy!

Fly Low Gear Lifestyle Photo Shoot

We just wrapped up a shoot this past weekend for Fly Low Outerwear. This lifestyle shoot was done to showcase the 2014 line of gear. A moderate sized crew of myself, one assistant and 5 models made for quick travel time between locations... which was a good thing as the weather was horrible.

But all in all, everything went great. Super happy with how the shots turned out. Here's a preview of some of the work.

And a behind the scenes shot courtesy of model/ athlete Brian Hopper.

 

Thanks to all involved for making the shoot a success. Cheers!

DiamondBack Bicycles Shoot

I usually don't shoot mountain biking in the middle of winter, but this March was particularly dry in the Pacific Northwest. So when I got a call from Diamondback Bikes to do a last minute shoot, I jumped at the opportunity.

As the shoot came together literally the night before, we had to keep our location close to home. Opting to hit the trails of Galbraith just outside Bellingham, we were on familiar ground for myself. Teamed up with athletes Kyle Thomas, Billy Lewis and Eric Porter the day was pretty awesome. A good group of guys, some awesome single track riding and a few beers afterwards to cap off the ride... not a bad way to spend a day.

Freeskier Magazine : Editorial Feature Article

I just got back from an 8 day shoot for Freeskier Magazine. The trip was part of a feature article for next winter's magazine.

I was stoked to get a call a few weeks back from the magazine's photo editor, telling me that I was slated to not only shoot the article, but also write it. I've done some writing in the past for magazines, but usually it's little pieces that are minor sections of the mag. This was the first time I've had the chance to shoot and write and entire piece though.

At any rate, I can't share everything about the trip yet... you'll have to look for the story in next year's magazine (I'll be sure to post it in it's entirety when it hits newsstands). But the basic premise of the trip was traveling and skiing around the Western US by train. It made for a lot of gear hauling and moving, but the trip was awesome. Can't wait to share more photos soon.

MSR Trekking Pole Ads

Last summer I got to do an ad shoot for MSR (a division of Cascade Designs) for their newest line of trekking poles. Those ads just got released earlier this past week and I can finally share them with you.

The TR-3 (Trigger Release) is designed to be used in rocky, uneven terrain. The focus of the shots for this campaign were to showcase the poles in rocky environments, where quote, "Slipping is not and option".

For the shoot we headed into the remote backcountry of the Cascades for our location backdrop. A lot of hiking and hauling gear, but the day couldn't have been better.

Red Bull : Third Shift at Snoqualmie Summit

Last week I got called up by Red Bull to shoot their upcoming ski and snowboard event, Red Bull Third Shift. Held at Summit at Snoqualmie, the event is a slopestyle competition that is held on a custom designed park built specifically for the event.

The venue looks a lot like an abandoned ghost town from the old west, that's been dropped onto a ski slope.

Events are always tough to shoot, as the photographer has little to no coordination with the athletes. Instead a more editorial/ documentary style of shooting comes into play. However, as the event was held at night, we had to resort to utilizing strobes to light the venue. Not an easy task given the size of the space.

On top of that, mother nature decided to throw us a curve ball, and dropped a full fledged blizzard on us during the event. It made for some great photos, despite the tough working conditions though.

All in all, the event went off perfectly. Tons of spectators braved the weather to watch the event. (It probably didn't hurt that there was a full bar built into the venue to help draw a crowd). I always like working with Red Bull... I never know what they're going to ask me to shoot next.

Ski Tuning Shoot for Patagonia

About a week ago I met up with local skier, business owner and close friend, Bryce Phillips, to do a ski tuning shoot for Patagonia.

 

Bryce, who is not only a badass skier for Patagonia, is also the owner of Seattle's uber popular store Evo, a sporting goods store in Fremont. As a result of his ties to the shop, we were able to use the ski tuning room as our location for this shoot. Score!

As Bryce was nursing a sore knee for a few days, and the weather locally was dry as dirt, we turned our attention the more lifestyle oriented shots we could achieve off the snow. 

Troy Lee Designs Shoot

Back in December of last year, I got called by Troy Lee Designs (one of the leading brands in bike and motocross helmets and apparel) to shoot their newest product, the A1 Helmet.

 

As the release of the helmet was a big secret, I haven't been able to talk about the shoot, until now... as the helmet was just announced to the public on the 23rd.

 

When originally called, I was asked to shoot the helmet in the mossy, green forests of the Pacific Northwest. I teamed up with local shredder, Lars Sternberg and we spent a day roaming around the overgrown, rain soaked forests just outside Bellingham.

 

Super stoked with how the photos came out.

NY Times Article : Snow Fall - The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

As 2012 wound to a close, the New York Times released an article, Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek. An incredibly well written multi-media presentation detailing the tragic avalanche that occurred just outside the boundaries of Stevens Pass, Washington.

To say that this article hit close to home is a gross understatement. Stevens Pass is one of my home mountains and many of the skiers that were involved in the incident are close personal friends. To top it off, one of the skiers that perished in the avalanche, Chris Rudolph, was my best friend.

Almost a year later, and I still haven't been able to write about his passing. However, the article written by John Branch really captured the event that unfolded last February 19th. I'm honored that the NY Times turned to me to help with some of the photos for this story.

 

If you'd like to read the full article, there's a link to it HERE. Check out all the interviews, slideshows, maps and videos that are embedded. It's a long read (I think it took me 3 1/2 hours to get through), but it's well worth it.