Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Thursday, September 27, 2012
My Photo in Lift Magazine
The 2012 issue of Lift Magazine, a Chilean ski magazine is out and it looks awesome! This is my first 2 page spread and it feels goooood. Big thanks to Juan Luis de Heeckeren for the in and Carlos Ferrer for choosing to run this image!
Monday, August 27, 2012
View from La Parva
This last weekend was super productive and a lot of fun. I had the opportunity to shoot some talented skiers up at La Parva. It was a beautiful day with awesome conditions. Below is a photo of the view of the town and looking down the Andes towards Santiago. I got some shots I'm really excited about, but I'll only be able to post some of the outtakes as the best ones will hopefully be ending up in a Chilean ski/snowboard magazine. But we'll see!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Stray Puppy
A stray puppy hiding behind a pile of snow at Valle Nevado ski resort outside of Santiago. He was one of eight dogs running around together. More photos of the rest coming soon!
Monday, August 20, 2012
First day at Valle Nevado
Finally, after two years of a snowless existence I have made it back to the mountains. It feels amazing to be back. I love the community centered around skiing and snowboarding because no matter where you go there is a very similar energy.
I'm in Chile now and it is certainly different from Lake Tahoe or Colorado, but when you are up at the ski resorts, other than the scenery being different, the atmosphere is quite similar. And the atmosphere is always upbeat and lively. Ski resorts are a place where people with the same passions and interests are brought together to enjoy themselves. What can be bad about that? The answer is obviously nothing.
I haven't gotten to go up to the mountains as much as I'd like to due to the fact I've got a bunch of other work going on. That, and it's kind of expensive. Without a ride from a friend or the energy to try and hitchhike, it is about $28 to get up to the mountain each day. Then if you don't have another friend to get you a half of student ticket you may be forced to pay the full price of $80 for a lift ticket. In Chile, skiing is definitely more of a sport for the rich and the tourists. Limited housing up at the mountains makes this even more of an issue.
Perhaps the biggest downside of going to the mountains from Santiago, especially for me living in Santiago Centro, is the commute. When I'm forced to take the tourist bus up I have to leave the apartment at 7am, dressed in all my gear and walk through crowded streets with my snowboard, boots and camera bag. I then have to squeeze onto a packed, rush hour metro. This usually involves waiting for 2-5 trains to pass to find an opening I can even consider fitting into.
I then have to walk another 8 blocks to the bus and wait on line with a bunch of tourists to get a seat on the next bus to the mountains. Pay $26 and then sit there sweating for another two hours up to the mountains. So a day snowboarding can cost over well over $100 and require six hours of commuting. The first time was ok, for the experience, but I can see this commute getting very old, very fast.
Once you get to the mountains it is all worth it though. July was a weak month and produced almost no snow, but fortunately they have been getting some snow the last couple weeks. It's still a little dry but better than nothing. Below are a few photos of my first day up with my friend Diego.
The road to Valle Nevado from Farellones
View of the hotel and lodge at Valle Nevado
Diego popping a little shifty into the sun
A bigger shifty
The shuttle van at dusk
Sunset over Santiago in the distance
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Stop and Remember Where You Are
When you are in a specific place for a while, it is only a matter of time before the initial excitement wears off and you start to become jaded. I constantly remind myself of the fact I'm living in Chile. That this is all so different and that so much of Chile is simply gorgeous.
I am grateful to be here and I never forget it. But with over six months here, on top of three previously, I rarely experience the same awe I felt when I first came here. I look around and know it's beautiful and appreciate every second of it. But it's never the same as seeing it for the first time.
Before traveling somewhere, you think, dream and imagine about what it will look like. You see photos and you try to visualize yourself there. Then when you are there it is almost always better. Beyond better. The smell in the air fills your nostrils and attaches themselves to your memories. The mood and feeling of the place takes you over. You experience the weather, the feeling of the sun on your face. Or the rain, depending on how you catch it. Seeing it in person allows it all to come together. To make sense and become a memory and experience, and not just a thought or day dream.
On my trip to Mendoza last weekend I was surprised at how much more colorful the landscape was compared to my trip three months earlier during summer. There were red fields with golden yellow trees reaching up to rich blue skies all amongst seas of vibrant green. The colors made everything seem so alive even though the fast approaching winter temperatures were slowly killing everything (quite beautifully, I might add).
It took returning home and viewing all the photos a couple days later that it hit me how beautiful it was and how Chile continues to surprise and impress me (very often really). My photos weren't anything that special. Shot through a dirty window (I've made a habit of trying to clean off the inside and outside of the window before leaving, but it only helps so much), out of a van going 70mph the focus may be a little off, the framing not ideal and there is absolutely no time to think while it all zooms by. But nonetheless the landscape itself is just so striking you can't help but mentally stop and enjoy it for a moment.
Having done four cross country US road trips in the previous two years, I was well accustomed to photographing out of a moving vehicle. This time was just easier because I wasn't also driving. But the sharpness of the images and time to make thought out compositions wasn't really there. You can just get a couple ideas in your head that you try to execute if, and when, they pass by.
Below are some images during the bus ride from Santiago to Mendoza. If you don't know anything about this bus ride, you should definitely do it if you ever stumble upon the opportunity in your life. It is six hours of stunning, constantly changing landscapes. From Santiago the road winds past rolling hills laced with vineyards and vistas of far off mountain peaks. The far off peaks become closer and closer and gradually you are surrounded by the jagged Andes at their most impressive (even passing the highest peak outside of The Himalayas, Aconcagau (22,841 ft)) Then you head back down in elevation to a more arid, high desert type environment, still surrounded by towering mountains.
Anyway, my photographic editing style constantly changes and goes through phases. On trips like this I don't get to think about what I'm shooting. I just shoot it as it goes by. So I never know what I'm going to do with an image until I'm looking at it on the computer and an idea comes from somewhere. Sometimes I see things in panoramas, sometimes 4:5 format, and today, squares. So a majority of these are in squares, because that's how I'm seeing things these days.
I am grateful to be here and I never forget it. But with over six months here, on top of three previously, I rarely experience the same awe I felt when I first came here. I look around and know it's beautiful and appreciate every second of it. But it's never the same as seeing it for the first time.
Before traveling somewhere, you think, dream and imagine about what it will look like. You see photos and you try to visualize yourself there. Then when you are there it is almost always better. Beyond better. The smell in the air fills your nostrils and attaches themselves to your memories. The mood and feeling of the place takes you over. You experience the weather, the feeling of the sun on your face. Or the rain, depending on how you catch it. Seeing it in person allows it all to come together. To make sense and become a memory and experience, and not just a thought or day dream.
On my trip to Mendoza last weekend I was surprised at how much more colorful the landscape was compared to my trip three months earlier during summer. There were red fields with golden yellow trees reaching up to rich blue skies all amongst seas of vibrant green. The colors made everything seem so alive even though the fast approaching winter temperatures were slowly killing everything (quite beautifully, I might add).
It took returning home and viewing all the photos a couple days later that it hit me how beautiful it was and how Chile continues to surprise and impress me (very often really). My photos weren't anything that special. Shot through a dirty window (I've made a habit of trying to clean off the inside and outside of the window before leaving, but it only helps so much), out of a van going 70mph the focus may be a little off, the framing not ideal and there is absolutely no time to think while it all zooms by. But nonetheless the landscape itself is just so striking you can't help but mentally stop and enjoy it for a moment.
Having done four cross country US road trips in the previous two years, I was well accustomed to photographing out of a moving vehicle. This time was just easier because I wasn't also driving. But the sharpness of the images and time to make thought out compositions wasn't really there. You can just get a couple ideas in your head that you try to execute if, and when, they pass by.
Below are some images during the bus ride from Santiago to Mendoza. If you don't know anything about this bus ride, you should definitely do it if you ever stumble upon the opportunity in your life. It is six hours of stunning, constantly changing landscapes. From Santiago the road winds past rolling hills laced with vineyards and vistas of far off mountain peaks. The far off peaks become closer and closer and gradually you are surrounded by the jagged Andes at their most impressive (even passing the highest peak outside of The Himalayas, Aconcagau (22,841 ft)) Then you head back down in elevation to a more arid, high desert type environment, still surrounded by towering mountains.
Anyway, my photographic editing style constantly changes and goes through phases. On trips like this I don't get to think about what I'm shooting. I just shoot it as it goes by. So I never know what I'm going to do with an image until I'm looking at it on the computer and an idea comes from somewhere. Sometimes I see things in panoramas, sometimes 4:5 format, and today, squares. So a majority of these are in squares, because that's how I'm seeing things these days.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Santiago to Mendoza on Three Wheels
This past weekend I went solo on my second trip to Mendoza, Argentina to renew my visa. My first trip I went with Camila and although there isn't all too much to do in Mendoza, it was a good time. I don't generally use the word lovely, but for some reason it feels entirely appropriate when describing Mendoza. As a traveler it isn't all that exciting and doesn't require more than a few days to enjoy most it has to offer.
There are nice wineries and hot springs outside of town, and nice restaurants, parks and plazas within the town. But beyond that it gets boring kinda quick. That being said, I can see it being a lovely place to live. Life here is slow and it seems like everything in town is closed most of the time. Stores, restaurants and most businesses seem to open between 9am and 12pm and then close from 2pm-6/7pm. Then they open again for a couple more hours, with restaurants staying open later obviously. Then on Saturday things have even less hours open and on Sunday, practically everything is closed.
It is a city that clearly doesn't take life too seriously, which is great. Beyond that, the weather is usually pretty nice and people seem quite happy overall. Oh yeah, and like all Argentinians, they love to party. Things don't kick off until after midnight, but parties easily go until 7am or later.
Being that I was alone this trip it was a little more boring than last time. I was exhausted after waking up early for the first bus to Mendoza which generally takes about six hours. This time, it took nearly 10 hours due to a lazy wheel on the bus.
On the Chilean side of the border there are a series of around 30 switchbacks. At number 22 we were rounding the bend and out of nowhere there was sudden lurch to the left followed by a loud crash and grinding noise. We immediately came to a stop and we all climbed out to see what it was. The driver grabbed nearby stones to cram under the wheels to prevent the bus from prematurely heading back down the mountain. From the time the bus stopped moving to the time I was outside took about 45 seconds and once I was out there was absolutely no sign of the back wheel. The tire and rim was literally gone. Not sure if it shot off the side of the cliff or where it was, but it was gone.
A group of five men worked on getting the bus mobile while I went off shooting some photos. 45 minutes later we were on our way and then 15 minutes later we heard a loud thwap, thwap as the tire was working its way off the axel again. After stopping three times to fix the damn tire the driver finally started signaling other buses with free space to take us the rest of the way. So almost 10 hours later I finally made it to Mendoza and had little energy to do much at all.
The following day was Sunday, so everything was closed and the only area of activity was the park. So I headed there. One thing I really like about Mendoza, and Argentina in general is the number of old cars on the road. And I mean cool old cars. Most aren't in good shape but they still have a lot more character than a bunch of shiny new cars which dominate the roads in Chile.
I decided to take advantage of having interesting, stationary objects to practice a photographic technique I read about a little while ago called the Brenizer Method, first done by photographer Ryan Brenizer. I could describe all the details of the method but it would take too much time, so if interested click on the link above. It essentially involves shooting closer to a subject with a lens higher than 50mm(preferably even higher) at a wide open f stop of 1.8 or something similar. You stitch together a number of images to create a wider angle photo with a more blurred background(this is a very poor description, just Google it if you're curious). So here are a couple first attempts. These photos are only made with 3-4 frames (Ryan generally uses anywhere from 15-40 frames which makes a massive image) so the depth of field isn't super blurred like it could be. But it is a starting point!
There are nice wineries and hot springs outside of town, and nice restaurants, parks and plazas within the town. But beyond that it gets boring kinda quick. That being said, I can see it being a lovely place to live. Life here is slow and it seems like everything in town is closed most of the time. Stores, restaurants and most businesses seem to open between 9am and 12pm and then close from 2pm-6/7pm. Then they open again for a couple more hours, with restaurants staying open later obviously. Then on Saturday things have even less hours open and on Sunday, practically everything is closed.
It is a city that clearly doesn't take life too seriously, which is great. Beyond that, the weather is usually pretty nice and people seem quite happy overall. Oh yeah, and like all Argentinians, they love to party. Things don't kick off until after midnight, but parties easily go until 7am or later.
Being that I was alone this trip it was a little more boring than last time. I was exhausted after waking up early for the first bus to Mendoza which generally takes about six hours. This time, it took nearly 10 hours due to a lazy wheel on the bus.
On the Chilean side of the border there are a series of around 30 switchbacks. At number 22 we were rounding the bend and out of nowhere there was sudden lurch to the left followed by a loud crash and grinding noise. We immediately came to a stop and we all climbed out to see what it was. The driver grabbed nearby stones to cram under the wheels to prevent the bus from prematurely heading back down the mountain. From the time the bus stopped moving to the time I was outside took about 45 seconds and once I was out there was absolutely no sign of the back wheel. The tire and rim was literally gone. Not sure if it shot off the side of the cliff or where it was, but it was gone.
At least it fell off somewhere with great views
The tire must be somewhere down there
I decided to take advantage of having interesting, stationary objects to practice a photographic technique I read about a little while ago called the Brenizer Method, first done by photographer Ryan Brenizer. I could describe all the details of the method but it would take too much time, so if interested click on the link above. It essentially involves shooting closer to a subject with a lens higher than 50mm(preferably even higher) at a wide open f stop of 1.8 or something similar. You stitch together a number of images to create a wider angle photo with a more blurred background(this is a very poor description, just Google it if you're curious). So here are a couple first attempts. These photos are only made with 3-4 frames (Ryan generally uses anywhere from 15-40 frames which makes a massive image) so the depth of field isn't super blurred like it could be. But it is a starting point!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Random Photo
Winter is almost here and I am craving some snowboarding. This is one shot with my friend Nick Ellis on the south shore of Lake Tahoe from 2009.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Random Photos
Friday, March 5, 2010
Lake Tahoe Back Injury
So it has been a week since my injury and I'm starting to go crazy. I can't stand for an extended period of time without problems and I certainly can't snowboard. I am in Lake Tahoe and they are getting snow every few days and I am forced to sit around and watch it from a sleazy motel room.
Last Thursday a few friends and I were up at Squaw Valley and were taking our last runs. We were by the bottom of the Solitude lift and I traversed and climbed up a little to hit a fun looking 8 foot cliff. I shot off the cliff and landed solid but with a lot of speed. It was getting bumpy and tracked out so it was hard to slow down. I saw a patch of powder ahead and I planned on carving through it to slow down and get a nice turn in. I hit a bump off-balance and nosedived on the landing which sent me into the air backwards. Expecting a soft, powdery landing I put all my weight in to it. But I was immediately stopped by what felt like a jagged brick wall in the middle of my back. It made a sickening noise, similar to the sound you get when trying to snap a soggy branch. I gasped in pain and imagined all my organs being punctured and leaking all over my insides. I looked behind me to see what ruined my day, which probably wasn't smart at the time considering the trauma to my back seconds earlier. It was a gnarly tree stump or bit of exposed fallen log maybe 6 inches in diameter.
After my friends and I decided against calling Ski Patrol, we headed back over to the gondola and down to the base. Nick ran to get the car while I waited. He returned moments later with the car idling 50 yards away. He came up to me, grabbed our snowboards and headed to the car and returned again, to tell me he locked his keys inside, with it still running. Perfect. At this point it was two hours after the accident and my vision had been blurring for ten minute stretches and I tasted blood at random moments. So my imagination was going wild, inventing rare medical cases I'd most likely have. I saw all the blood and other fluids from all my organs spilling down my body on the inside to my feet. Each moment making my chances of survival less and less. It's amazing the thoughts that can run through your head when something traumatic happens and you just don't know what is going on.
Twenty five minutes later, loaded into my own car, I was being driven by a Chilean friend to the hospital in Truckee with another riding on my bed in the back. Fortunately it turned out I was wrong and wasn't dying . All I had was a fractured rib, a bruised lung and what would soon be, a nasty bruise in my middle back. I also happened to be very lucky. The doctor told me if I had hit the log an inch to the right on my spine I could have broken my back or even been paralyzed. Lucky indeed. So they gave me a prescription for painkillers and sent me on my way.
Now, a week later and I feel no closer to getting on a snowboard. After several days in this motel room I began to go crazy. I had sacrificed too many hygienic standards and the mess, constant noise, disorder and stench pushed me to my limits. 72 hours straight there would drive even the most open minded person mad though. No offense to the people living there. They are good friends and good people, but they are living in a shithole. The last few days were spent with my Aunt in Portola Valley and now San Francisco with a friend. The recovery was going well until I spent six straight hours on my feet yesterday taking pictures at my friend Taylor's parents' home in Sonoma. I head back to Tahoe tomorrow to hopefully begin shooting photos again, but we'll see if I'm up to it.
Here are some photos from my time in Lake Tahoe so far:
Nick, Foster and Cote building a jump near homes in Alpine Meadows
Jump building - the jump throws you over a tree and down a slope
Cote hiking
Cote, rodeo
Alpine Meadows homes
Nick Ellis on a North Lake dock
The three roommates minus one - Foster, Nick, Cote
Sunset at North Lake
Last Thursday a few friends and I were up at Squaw Valley and were taking our last runs. We were by the bottom of the Solitude lift and I traversed and climbed up a little to hit a fun looking 8 foot cliff. I shot off the cliff and landed solid but with a lot of speed. It was getting bumpy and tracked out so it was hard to slow down. I saw a patch of powder ahead and I planned on carving through it to slow down and get a nice turn in. I hit a bump off-balance and nosedived on the landing which sent me into the air backwards. Expecting a soft, powdery landing I put all my weight in to it. But I was immediately stopped by what felt like a jagged brick wall in the middle of my back. It made a sickening noise, similar to the sound you get when trying to snap a soggy branch. I gasped in pain and imagined all my organs being punctured and leaking all over my insides. I looked behind me to see what ruined my day, which probably wasn't smart at the time considering the trauma to my back seconds earlier. It was a gnarly tree stump or bit of exposed fallen log maybe 6 inches in diameter.
After my friends and I decided against calling Ski Patrol, we headed back over to the gondola and down to the base. Nick ran to get the car while I waited. He returned moments later with the car idling 50 yards away. He came up to me, grabbed our snowboards and headed to the car and returned again, to tell me he locked his keys inside, with it still running. Perfect. At this point it was two hours after the accident and my vision had been blurring for ten minute stretches and I tasted blood at random moments. So my imagination was going wild, inventing rare medical cases I'd most likely have. I saw all the blood and other fluids from all my organs spilling down my body on the inside to my feet. Each moment making my chances of survival less and less. It's amazing the thoughts that can run through your head when something traumatic happens and you just don't know what is going on.
Twenty five minutes later, loaded into my own car, I was being driven by a Chilean friend to the hospital in Truckee with another riding on my bed in the back. Fortunately it turned out I was wrong and wasn't dying . All I had was a fractured rib, a bruised lung and what would soon be, a nasty bruise in my middle back. I also happened to be very lucky. The doctor told me if I had hit the log an inch to the right on my spine I could have broken my back or even been paralyzed. Lucky indeed. So they gave me a prescription for painkillers and sent me on my way.
Now, a week later and I feel no closer to getting on a snowboard. After several days in this motel room I began to go crazy. I had sacrificed too many hygienic standards and the mess, constant noise, disorder and stench pushed me to my limits. 72 hours straight there would drive even the most open minded person mad though. No offense to the people living there. They are good friends and good people, but they are living in a shithole. The last few days were spent with my Aunt in Portola Valley and now San Francisco with a friend. The recovery was going well until I spent six straight hours on my feet yesterday taking pictures at my friend Taylor's parents' home in Sonoma. I head back to Tahoe tomorrow to hopefully begin shooting photos again, but we'll see if I'm up to it.
Here are some photos from my time in Lake Tahoe so far:
Nick, Foster and Cote building a jump near homes in Alpine Meadows
Jump building - the jump throws you over a tree and down a slope
Cote hiking
Cote, rodeo
Alpine Meadows homes
Nick Ellis on a North Lake dock
The three roommates minus one - Foster, Nick, Cote
Sunset at North Lake
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Crested Butte and Telluride
I haven't had internet access in a few days, or my desktop to upload all of my new photos, so it's been difficult to post on my blog. But I stepped into a small coffee shop in Telluride to get a little work done and utilize some wifi. So much has happened in the last five days I can't tell it all in the 10 minutes I have to type this up. Crested Butte and Telluride have been my favorite towns and resorts so far, so there is a lot to be said.
I spent three days in Crested Butte and Laci and Kirsten with CBMR PR synced me up with two tele skiers to photograph and show me around the mountain. Colin and Seaton MacMillan made my time in Crested Butte unforgetable. They not only showed me the best runs, the longest lasting powder stashes and the best places to eat in town, but they invited me into their home, took me snowmobiling and even invited me back anytime (which I'm taking them up on and returning tonight). They are two very talented skiers and all around great people who are making it difficult to leave Crested Butte.
The last two days were spent in Telluride which is a breathtakingly beautiful area. A rustic mining town in a box canyon, surrounded by 12,000-14,000+ mountains. My time is up and I have to run. There is much more to say about both places and as long as I can find some internet access I'll be posting more ASAP.
I'm heading to Ouray which is nicknamed "The Switzerland of America" to hit up some natural hot springs and vapor caves (suggested by Colin and Seaton). Then I'm returning to Crested Butte for a backcountry shoot with the twins.
I spent three days in Crested Butte and Laci and Kirsten with CBMR PR synced me up with two tele skiers to photograph and show me around the mountain. Colin and Seaton MacMillan made my time in Crested Butte unforgetable. They not only showed me the best runs, the longest lasting powder stashes and the best places to eat in town, but they invited me into their home, took me snowmobiling and even invited me back anytime (which I'm taking them up on and returning tonight). They are two very talented skiers and all around great people who are making it difficult to leave Crested Butte.
The last two days were spent in Telluride which is a breathtakingly beautiful area. A rustic mining town in a box canyon, surrounded by 12,000-14,000+ mountains. My time is up and I have to run. There is much more to say about both places and as long as I can find some internet access I'll be posting more ASAP.
I'm heading to Ouray which is nicknamed "The Switzerland of America" to hit up some natural hot springs and vapor caves (suggested by Colin and Seaton). Then I'm returning to Crested Butte for a backcountry shoot with the twins.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Last day at Winter Park
My last day at Winter Park I finally found some sun, and it was perfect. It was the kind of day you want to live every day. Where everything seems to rub you the right way. Sunny and warm with 8 inches of fresh. Then it began snowing around 2pm, but no wind, and still a little sun seeping through, so it was just great.
I even got to drive in the snow on the way back to Denver, which I love to do. I really enjoy driving in the snow. I find it very peaceful, but fun. It's a challenge, something else to know how to do.
Anyway, great day overall. Here are a few photos
View of Mary Jane
Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup
Rainbow rail in the Railyard terrain park
Railyard terrain park
Winter Park
I even got to drive in the snow on the way back to Denver, which I love to do. I really enjoy driving in the snow. I find it very peaceful, but fun. It's a challenge, something else to know how to do.
Anyway, great day overall. Here are a few photos
View of Mary Jane
Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup
Rainbow rail in the Railyard terrain park
Railyard terrain park
Winter ParkTomorrow is my last day in Denver and then I head down to Crested Butte. There is supposed to be a storm coming in tomorrow so hopefully I'll have another powder day at CB.
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