'Tis the Season

Fall is possibly my favorite time of year. The stifling heat of summer drifts away leaving cool, refreshing temps. Ink blue skies stand in stark contrast to the changing yellows, reds, and oranges of the maples. And then there's a certain smell in the air: burning leaves, compost, home fires brewing in small cabin stoves; and also the smell of pumpkins rotting and fireworks being blown off by neighborhood hooligans. I love it.

What I enjoy the most though, is the fresh anticipation of things to come. Of winter soon to be. What will it hold? Epic powder to ski in the mountains? Or month after endless month of horrible rain? Will it bring joy and camaraderie and a raft of great ski hut trips and road trips south to rock climb? Whatever the weather, it's up to you to make the most of it. We often revel in the joys of summer but cringe at the thought of winter's grasp and the endless November rains. But really, we live in the Pacific Northwest, so you better get out there and make the best of it or you'll go mad.

Lately outside it's what we call the shoulder season - too wet and mucky to ride a bike or rock climb, but still no snow to go skiing or snowshoeing. Hmm.. Let me tell ya that this is the best time to go for a RUN in the forest. The leaves are turning, and the heavy dark rains bring a brooding beauty to the cloud-shrouded forests, making it all feel rather lush and Ewok-esque. Doesn't matter the weather, you can still run in all that slop, and it sure feels awesome. Extra adventurous. Enjoy it while it lasts.

MEC bike shoot

Shot some of the new bicycles for Mountain Equipment Coop a short while ago. Nice commuter rigs! MEC plans to roll these out (so to speak) late October and are sure to be a hit with the bike-centric Vancouver crowd. We shot these in Victoria, BC. Check 'em out...

Moving Magazines

OK this is seriously cool. Living Art. The future of print collateral? Well, it will likely cost the consumer a whole lot more, which makes the validity of this movement questionable in consumer print formats (such as magazines), yet highly effective in promotions and marketing campaigns. Lets face it, moving pictures jump out of a static landscape far more than a still image. But will you pay the $25 it will likely cost for one of these 'magazines'? I didn't think so. Cool none the less, and a fun (scary) look into the future of print. Kind of reminds of stuff we saw throughout the classic sci-fi film Blade Runner. What do you think of this? Enjoy...

THE BEST CAMERA (is the one that's with you)

Once again, Mr. Chase Jarvis down in Seattle has come up with yet another brilliant idea - his all new iPhone application called THE BEST CAMERA. The premise? Well, Chase has taken the commonly coined phrase, "the best camera is the one that's with you", and created both a book and new iPhone app for consumers to use and enjoy. It ushers in a new era of art fun with basic cel phone technology, and marries the cel phone camera with the current wave of social media.

Many pros use this phrase when asked the common, and basically pointless question, "what camera do you use?". The answer "the one that's with you!" rings all too true, and is the basis of Jarvis' recent project. I'm a huge fan of this tongue in cheek answer, since it's painfully obvious, and NOT the answer many amateur shooters are looking for. Seriously, in this day and age, where low-fi and digitally created old-school looking imagery is gaining artful credibility, it's become more vogue to jump OFF the megapixel wagon, and jump ONTO the art bus. The average consumer who simply wants to enjoy the power of photo sharing, typically via Twitter, Facebook, a personal Flickr account, or wherever, surely doesn't need a $5000 DSLR and a raft of impossibly complicated gear. really, what has become lost and is hopefully to be regained by this new wave of compact cameras, is the art and spontaneity of photography for the sake of story telling and moment capturing. Now there is certainly a need for pros to be using high-megapixel speedy autofocus cameras that produce advertising quality imagery, but if you're spending forever digging in your bag for a huge heavy set-up, you're going to miss the shot.

So, with the speedy advancement of camera-phone technology, in particular the iPhone, it's now possible to get down right fun and silly with yer cel phone. Chase's iPhone app lets you tweak these low-fi images with photo filters and effects, and facilities instant uploading to social media via the single touch of a cel phone button. Sweet!

Check it out:http://www.thebestcamera.com/

South Chilcotins

Every summer seems to bring on a bit of a heatwave, during which, we realize that it's time to get in the alpine. Here in BC, there's only a short window each season that allows travel to the higher, more remote regions of our backyard, and over the past few years, my preferred method of exploration has been via mountain bike.

Certainly one of the most incredible places one can ride a bike is the South Chilcotin range, located south of Highway 20, north of the Pemberton, and west of the Fraser Canyon. Essentially, this is a largely remote chunk of cowboy country and is known as Spruce Lake Protected Area, and Big Creek Provincial Park. It's a zone where hundreds of kilometers of perfect alpine singletrack weaves through the valleys and over high passes, pioneered by cowboys and horse-packers. This is gold rush country.

These days, most folks who explore the Spruce Lake trails enjoy the luxury of float plane access from Tyax Resort near Gold Bridge, in order to set up a base camp at Spruce Lake, or more rarely Lorna Lake. It's great to ride for 8-10 hours a day, arriving back at a plush camp, great food, cold beers, and a warm sleeping bag. We knew that the old schoolers never did it this way, and often thought that one day we would explore this region in the old style - self supported. This is nothing knew, however it's WAY more work, and you obviously must carry MUCH LESS since you are riding with all your food and camping gear on your bike and back. This way, you're not so nimble. And the workouts are rather mammoth.

I could do little to quench the enthusiasm for this project and was able to lure two old MEC buddies, Dirk Gibbs and Chris Sturgeon, into the plot. Both fellas were stoked for an adventure. We set off from Jewell Creek trailhead in Gun Creek, and rode to Spruce on day one. Pretty straight forward. Day two we pedaled from Spruce up Tyaughton Creek and over Lorna Pass and down to Lorna Lake and an incredible camp site on the east shores of the lake. Super remote back there! Day three took us further down the Big Creek drainage towards the Graveyard, past Grizzly and Wolverine tracks. Day 4 began as an epic bushwhack and bog thrash to get over Elbow Pass. We were rewarded with an unbelievable descent down into Tyaughton Creek, zipping past numerous Grizzly dens. We then labored over the massive Deer Pass, and enjoyed another wicked rip down to Trigger Lake. Day 5 brought us the cold beer we craved back at Jewell, after a wonderful, high speed pedal down the rolling Gun Creek Trail. Thanks boys for a truly memorable trip! It was one of those missions that gets noted on your personal timeline of memorable events in life, and I can't wait to do it again next year.

As far as gear goes, we ate almost entirely dehydrated food, and carried only a super light, compressible sleeping bag and pad each, plus a tiny stove and single 1L pot to share. An 8x10 siltarp to dive under should the weather totally dive, and a down jacket. We never changed our clothes. My camera kit was as light as I could make it with the ability to capture large RAW files with some variance in perspective. The kit was basic: Nikon D90, 1 spare battery, 16mm F2.8, 85mm F1.8. That's it.

Squamish Mountain festival 2009 recap

So, I was caught pickin' my nose on video this year at the mountain festival (comon, it was itchy). I have Scott Milton to thank for that. Good times. Can't wait for next year, which of course, will be upon us before we even know it. Summer has officially ended around the south coast of BC and autumn is brewing. Leaves are beginning to change color and drop from the branches, and it smells like cool dankness up in the alpine. I've been a busy boy lately working hard on my trail running book, and also doing a number of cool gigs for various peeps, including a cycle commuting shoot and a day packs shoot for MEC. Also been out exploring the backcountry of the south Chilcotin Mountains once again, this time self-supported - as opposed to the usual float plane assisted trip we've been doing in the past. Stay tuned, as I'll be posting a few goodies in the next week or so. For now, please enjoy this festival recap. And please don't take my nostril excavation too seriously; we were just goofing off (honest).

Squamish Mountain Festival

The 2009 Squamish Mountain Festival went off this year, and one of the highlights, as always, was the Steep Shot Photo Contest, held at the Howe Sound Brew Pub. 5 rock climbing photographers from across North America are invited to present a short photo slideshow set to music. The event was once again standing room only at the pub, and each shooter presented a barrage of inspiring photos to light up the crowd.

The shows are judged on a standard 4 point criteria: 1. technical/composition 2. originality/creativity 3. theme 4. overall. Each category gets a score between 1-5 points. It simply gets tallied and the winner scores bragging rights, and a whopping $1500. Second place nets a crisp $1000, and third pockets a respectable $500.

I was invited by Arcteryx to be a judge at this year's event, which was interesting. It's not an easy task judging your peers. The shooters this year were Andrew Burr, returning champ Keith Ladzinski, Corey Richards, Susanica Tam, and Sonnie Trotter. I was particularly impressed with Andy Burr, the winner, who gracefully frisbeed his winning paycheck across the brewpub, and apparently donated his entire winnings to our local climber's access society. F'in rad, Andy.That's my handwriting on the check...
Three happy ladies..

Another very interesting aspect to this years fest was the presence of legends Peter Croft, Hamish Fraser, and Greg Foweraker. These guys are heros in the climbing world, and were on hand together, a rarity in itself, to receive the Baldwin Award for their 1982 ascent of University Wall (5.12) on the Chief. In tow was the young dynamic duo of Jason Kruk and Will Stanhope who also received the award for free climbing Cannabis Wall, a well known aid route on the Chief.

The festival was a huge success and loads of fun, culminating with a huge bash at the Adventure Center and my buddy Kai's 40th birthday party. I left this week totally inspired, totally exhausted, and totally hungover. I can't wait for next year!

Keystone Standard Basin

I've recently been enjoying what might be the best display of wildflowers I have ever seen. My rambles into the alpine this summer began in the Yukon back in late June, but recently I've been traveling southern BC a little, mainly to the Kootenay region in the southeast. My good friends Jasmin and Evan have a lodge in the hills above New Denver, and they operate Valhalla Mountain Touring, a phenomenal cat-accessed ski-touring business, in the powdery winter months. They invited me there to shoot some summer hiking with a group they had booked just recently, mid-August. I promise to post about that more soon, since the terrain they have just out the door at Ruby Creek Lodge is pretty insane, and by that I mean GORGEOUS. You'll see...

For now I'd like to show off a couple shots from a day mountain biking that Jasmin, her Dad Dale, their buddy Rob, and I enjoyed up in Revelstoke, on our collective ways home from VMT. We rode Keystone Standard Basin, about 50km north of Revelstoke itself. This is an alpine ride that I have heard people wax about for a couple years now. Meadows bursting with flowers, a mellow 3-4 hour rip with minimal hill climbing, and alp-like views of the glacier cut Monashee Mountains perpetually lurking on the sun-soaked horizon. Stunning. I can't wait to go back and ride this spot in the autumn when all the colors change.

I'll confess, after a week of shooting everyday at the lodge, I was a little tired, and elected to just toss one SLR (Nikon D300) and a single Sigma 10-20 zoom lens in my bike pack. Normally, if I were planning to shoot a lot while also being active during a ride, I would wear a LowePro TLZ 1 chest pack, which allows for this camera plus an extra 85mm 1.8 lens for a little telefoto perspective. The chest bag allows instant access making my sprints to the front of the group, and leaps into the bushes to grab the shot, much, much easier. Any other set-up and you're just not going to get these on-the-fly shots. My old photo mentor, the legendary Pat Morrow, had a slogan: "f8 & be there!". So true. Others have said that the best camera to shoot with is the one that's with you. No point carrying an expensive SLR and NOT being fast enough to use it. For this kind of stuff, trust me, use a chest bag, and get the shot!

Yukon Tourism

Lately I've been wrapping up a week long shoot for Yukon Tourism. It was a memorable experience. I flew to Whitehorse almost a month ago now, where I met up the Art Director and Marketing Coordinator for the shoot. We then drove a massive RV to Kluane Lake, where we flew via helicopter up to Outpost Plateau for a couple days of trekking and camp life photography. We also shot some aerials from the helicopter (always exciting with the door off). In 4 days we saw 3 Grizzly bears, one of which came uncomfortably close to our unprotected campsite high on the open plateau - nowhere to run! The weather started off rather funky, and our initial concerns gave way to glorious weather as we met up with 4 hired talent (shop talk for models), who posed effortlessly for some mountain biking, hiking, canoeing and camp life photos. HUGE thanks to everyone involved: Matt, Katia-Anik, Jen, Stace, Catherine, John, and our super helpful guide Tyler, and our patient heli-pilot, whose name now escapes me. Great Thai dinner there Tyler!

The days were long and tiring, but I was very happy with the results and very glad to have met all involved in the shoot. The following week I waded through 5000 images, approximately 250 Gigabytes of photos, which were ultimately delivered to the ad agency here in Vancouver. More later on tech details if you're interested, but here's a few shots picked totally at random.

Will Stanhope frees Cobra Crack 5.14

A couple of weeks ago, North Van local Will Stanhope freed one of the world's most difficult crack climbs, Cobra Crack (5.14). Located at the Cirque of the Uncrackables, in Squamish, this incredible splitter has now had five ascents. Interestingly this is Will's first 5.14, coming hot of an impressive second all clean ascent of the East face of the Monkey, at Smith Rock (5.13d).

Will is a focused, fun dude who is specializing in these ultra burly, often run out, scary, gear climbs. He's making his way through an impressive tick list, and the Cobra is a bit of a crowning achievement. We were terrified watching the actual redpoint, since he climbs so high above his gear through the crux that a fall would likely result in broken bones, or worse. Inspiring to watch people climb this stuff with their head's together. I would simply fall fall apart mentally and retreat to the pub...
This was likely one of the easiest set ups for a picture, and it really didn't take too long at all to get these shots, and Will is in the full pose-athon, having sent the route the previous week. Certainly one of the ingredients for a good climbing shot is color and contrast between the climber and the environment. It helps if there is some congruity between the colors in the natural area and the wardrobe of the climber. In this case, Will dug up a bright yellow tshirt, which stands out much nicer than his pasty bare chest, which he usually wears when sending. Skin doesn't work so well for good pictures though, unless we're talking about, uhh, a different industry.
Here's a shot of my location, a huge Doug Fir perched near the base of the wall. I've looked at this tree a gazillion times wondering if I would ever get a chance to shoot the Cobra. i'd pretty much given up since all the other climbers came with an entourage of film makers already. I heard to get into this tree that Paul Bride, another photographer from Squampton, had actually ascended this tree with crampons and ice tools. Hilarious. I'm not much of an alpinist, and I'll leave the bark scratching for those hungry Woodpeckers.

I did, however, wish to use the tree to gain the 'bird's eye' view of the route I was looking for. To make it even easier, Sonnie Trotter had left a fixed rop in place from when he shot a video, so I didn't have to do much work. Pretty chill effort. Having practiced this angle many times at heavily treed crags, I know this can yield a comfy perch and a sweet angle that onlookers from the ground don't get to see. It generally offers a wide open view of the entire climb, along with some colorful branches and depth. I enjoy such angles myself.

Typically one needs to hike or scramble to the top of the cliff, and fix a rappel rope to descend with a Gri-gri (auto locking belay/rappel device). Once on rappel I lower myself to a point where it looks Iike I might be able to kick out from the cliff itself and grab a branch. You then pull yourself into the tree, fix an anchor, and pull the rope so it's not in the way of your shot. Later, rappel out of the tree. Simple. I often get my buddies on the ground to attach my camera bag, so I can then haul it up in the tree. In this instance, they offered me a nice little surprise to enjoy whilst shooting.
For you techno weenies who really want to know... this was shot with a Nikon D300, at about 800 ISO, about 1/30 second at F8 (to maintain depth of field). I used a Sigma 10-20 wide angle zoom lens, and Kokanee beer to keep hydrated and on form.Good times. Crank on Big Willy!