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 :)

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

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.

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 .

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!

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.

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. 

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.

Last Week in the PNW

The last week in the Pacific Northwest was pretty incredible. I just got back from an amazing day shooting up at Crystal Mountain, after they'd received 18" of new snow in one night.

 

A pretty incredible day. Looking forward to many more like it this season!

National Geographic Extreme Photo of the Week

For the second time in the past year, I was awarded National Geographic's Extreme Photo of the Week! Incredibly honored to be selected for this again. Thanks!

To see the write up on what went in to getting this shot, click on the LINK to National Geographic.

Ski Canada Cover

Just opened up my mailbox yesterday to see one of my images on the cover of Ski Canada Magazine. I don't care how many covers a photographer might land during their career... it's always an honor to see your work as the face of a publication... that feeling never gets old.

Thanks to everyone involved for making this happen!

ESPN.com 2012 Winter in Review Feature Story

I just got asked to work with ESPN.com to give a retrospective look back on my Winter of 2012. Check out the full gallery and story HERE. I'm incredibly honored to have my work profiled in such a manner, especially as we get ready for another Winter. Enjoy!

Storm Shooting at Night in the PNW

I had a chance to get out and take advantage of the big storm that rolled thru Washington last week. With athletes Elyse Saugstad, Amie Engerbretson and Tyler Ceccanti I headed up to Stevens Pass to do some night shooting with all the new snow. Really happy with how the images turned out. These are just a few from the night. More to come later.

New Editorial Work from this Winter

Just a couple of stories I worked on this past week. The first is a story on ESPN.com on the best Freeskiing Websites online. You can check out the article HERE.

And another with Teton Gravity Research on the huge storm that hit Washington last week. The photo below is from the article, but you can read the post in its entirety HERE.

Remembering Sarah Burke

This has been a tough week for the ski industry. We lost an amazing person. Sarah Burke was so many things to this industry and the people that call it home. I've been trying to find the words the last few days to post about her, but it's tough to put my thoughts onto paper.

Rather than try and explain all of her accomplishments, her contributions to the sport or what she meant to everyone, I thought I'd share a story.

I met Sarah for the first time back in 2007. It was one of the first major commercial shoots I had ever been on in my career as a photographer. It was a 2 week heli ski trip in Terrace, British Columbia with Matchstick Productions. To say the least, I was nervous as hell. I was slated to work with some of the biggest names in the industry on this shoot. Names I had read in magazines and seen in movies for years. Now I was supposed to be the one shooting them. While I was honored and stoked at this opportunity, I was a nervous wreck the first day.

As I walked in the door of the lodge and set my gear down, there was Sarah. I'd seen her in competitions, movies, magazines and ads, but up until that moment, she was just a name. Without hesitation, she jumped right up, walked over and introduced herself with a big smile. I'm pretty sure I stuttered back a nervous "nice to meet you". Sensing I was new to the crew, and a little nervous, she went out of her way to talk to me and make feel like part of the group. She asked questions, told stories and joked around with me and everyone else. I can't tell you how that simple action helped to set my nerves at ease. Because of her caring nature and wanting to make sure everyone was comfortable and happy, I quickly calmed my nerves and was able to be myself... instead of the stumbling newcomer. It's amazing what even the tiniest of gestures can do though.

But that was just who Sarah was and it's what made her so incredible. She was always friendly and outgoing and made you feel good about yourself. I saw her do this with all her friends, and even her fans that would come up to ask for her autograph. She was truly a class act.

I feel blessed to have gotten to know Sarah on that trip to Terrace and on the numerous occasions I got to work with her after that. Her impact on the sport will never be forgotten. But even beyond her impact on the sport of skiing, is a lesson I think we can all learn from... to be more like Sarah. To welcome those around you, to be friendly and outgoing, to make a difference. The world is a better place for having had Sarah in it, even if she was taken away from us all too early. I can only hope to try and live my life in a similar manner that helps to enlighten and enrich the lives of those around us.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and her husband Rory. My deepest sympathies.

And to Sarah, thank you again for being such an incredible human being. You will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace.

Because of the space restrictions of this blog format, I couldn't fit all the photos I wanted to include. If you'd like to see some more of the images I was fortunate enough to collaborate with Sarah on, please check out the link to an additional gallery HERE.

Below is a beautiful video tribute that's been floating around the internet. Definitely worth the watch.

A Sarah Burke tribute video. from Downtofilm. on Vimeo.

New Magazine Covers on the Newstands

Just got these a few days ago... two new mag covers! Bravoski Magazine out of Japan and SportMagazin out of Austria. Always fun to see your work as the leading image for a magazine.

Big thanks to Tyler Ceccanti, the skier pictured in both shots. Pretty stoked to get him his first cover... let alone two in the same month.

Stevens Pass Ad

Just got done working with Stevens Pass Resort on one of their print ads for this winter. Here's the original image and the finished layout of the ad which will be running in the Ski Journal this winter.