"PRO-Files": Ski Patroller GR Fletcher

ABS Avalanche Airbags and ZEAL Optics sponsored a video I created about avalanche control professionals at Snowbasin.  Veteran patroller GR Fletcher leads a crew of ski patrollers doing avalanche control work after a fresh dumping of Utah powder.  I'm glad to finally be able to release this video for general viewing.  We shot it late last season on crisp, bluebird morning.  Through the graciousness of the ski patrol, I was allowed to shadow them as they made the mountain safe for everyone to enjoy.

The video was primarily shot with a Canon 70D since the camera's auto-focus capabilities are incredibly helpful during single-person documentary style shoots such as this one.  I also shot some footage with my GoPro3+ and stabilized it as best as I could in post.

NUTCRACKER BALLET

Last night I recorded a performance of The Nutcracker ballet performed by Ogden's Imagine Ballet Theater.  Since the recording was simply a wide, static shot of the stage, I had time to wander around with my Canon 70D and fast prime lenses to capture the activity in and around the stage.  While I've now seen this ballet more times than I ever thought possible in a lifetime, I'm still amazed by the dedication, passion, and excitement of the young people who work so hard to make this performance a success year after year.

Below is the link to the photo essay I created on Storehouse, since the photos look wonderful on a large monitor.  You can see a very similar photo essay I made using Steller here.  The Steller version is optimized for viewing on a cell phone screen.

A Little Photo of Mine Was Published

Okay, so my photo is a small square amongst twelve others on one page (upper right...almost too dark to see), but it's still an honor that the creators of ALPINE MODERN liked my photo enough to include it in the inaugural issue of their quarterly magazine.  It's also an honor, and rather humorous, my photo is included on the same page as a photo by the amazingly talented Chris Burkard.  I hope he's not too offended to have to share page space with an amateur like me; I'm sure it's a one time anomaly.

Wonderful Winter Season Partners

As the temperatures continue to stay cold and the forecasts keep predicting more waves of snow, I can say I'm getting excited about this ski season.  This year I have the support of four wonderful partners, and I'm itching to get out on the snow and start creating inspiring media for all of them.  I hope to see you out in the mountains this winter!

EXPLORE MORE: SEATTLE

(I originally wrote this article for the ZEAL Optics website where it accompanied a photo essay from my recent trip to Seattle.)

What does ‘explore more’ mean to me?  Well, I know it’s not limited to grabbing a passport, hopping on a transoceanic flight, and paddling in a dugout canoe to some far flung corner of the globe.  ‘Explore More’ is a mindset.  It’s about seeking out unique moments and new experiences where ever you can find them.  

Whether it’s eating at a new mom and pop taqueria in town, skiing a new area, or floating down a remote river with friends -- these are the experiences I look for and what I consider to be ‘exploring.’

Recently, I traveled back to Seattle; the city of my youth.  My best friend from high school picked me up at the airport, and we spent the day roaming around various neighborhoods taking photos and 'exploring.'

A camera is a great excuse to slow down, to look at the details, and it’s your ticket to ‘explore more.’  To stroll the sidewalks, check out the alleyways, study architectural details, to walk into stores, restaurants, tattoo parlors, coffee shops and begin conversations with people from every walk of life.  At the end of the day I had a fresh view of the city I thought I already knew so well.

You don’t have to travel far to do this.  Just visit a place you’ve never been to before.  Invite a friend.  Get out of your car.  Walk around.  Strike up a conversation with a stranger.  Order a meal you can’t pronounce.

Want to ‘explore more?’  Then stop reading this article and head outside.  You don’t have to have a ticket to a foreign land to be an explorer, just a mindset to get out and experience something new.  The world is waiting.

A Farewell to Fall

Outside it's snowing and cold...and I'm loving it.  I'm in the middle of a bunch of different video projects and looking forward the publishing of my first articles in a national publication next month, but I took a moment to create this little collection of photos from this past autumn.  Fall is one of my favorite times of year and this year it didn't disappoint -- we had a gorgeous season of color and Indian Summer temps right until the bitter end. 

You can see my other Steller and Storehouse visual stories on those pages of my website.

Kokanee Salmon

I love living in a state with distinct seasons, and I look forward to every autumn as it brings a massive wave of change in weather and colors.  Here in northern Utah the maples are first to change with their brilliant oranges and reds, then the aspen with their shimmering waves of glowing yellow, and finally the majestic, sprawling oaks which turn a somber maroon as a final farewell to our Indian Summer.  

During this time some of the rivers above our lakes and reservoirs explode with crimson as thousands of land-locked Sockeye salmon, known as Kokanee, make their lives' final journey upriver to spawn.  Within half an hour of my home is a trailhead that leads to one such small river.  In September I hiked to the river to take photos and video of the small salmon.  While I posted the multi-media story on Steller and Storehouse, I forgot to post the video here.  As the Wasatch Range becomes dusted with our first real winter storm, I thought it would be a good time to post the video before the excitement and activities of the winter season lead to me forgetting about it until next spring.  Here it is...better late than never.  

Caroline Gleich

Last weekend Caroline Gleich and I spent the day shooting footage for a video we hope to complete later this winter.  We spent part of the day in SLC and the late afternoon up at Snowbird where I took the following photos.  Besides crashing my Phantom 2 drone, it was a fun day and we got a lot of great footage.  It was beautiful at the top of Snowbird, but let's all keep praying for snow.

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Craftsman

In conjunction with ZEAL Optics posting my video, article, and photos about local violin-maker John Young, I also created photo essays in both Steller and Storehouse.  Here's a link to the new Storehouse page I added to this site where you can look at my Storehouse stories.

Phantom2 Aerial Photos

It happened last spring.  All it took was for my wife to see a video with an aerial perspective of a skier descending through trees and knee deep powder.  She was sold.  She showed me the video and so was I.  Now I've been experimenting with my own Phantom2 copter and GoPro in preparation for the upcoming ski season.  The aspen groves in the mountains around my house are lighting up and give me a great excuse to head out and get some footage before all the leaves fall away.  This particular shot was taken a few minutes from my house on the road heading up to Snowbasin.

Amazing Story Apps: Storehouse and Steller

Being a very recent convert to the word of the iPhone, I recently discovered the iPad/iPhone apps Storehouse & Steller.  Both apps let users use their own multi-media to create stories along the lines of more expensive and complicated online stories, such as those created by the NY Times and Powder Magazine.  

This link on the right is to the Storehouse version of the story, which is presented in more of a scrolling article format that's great for high fidelity photos.

Over at Steller, which features more of a flipbook type presentation, I was pleasantly surprised to see a larger community and quickly a lot of people were reading and liking my stories....which is exactly the point of posting stories in the first place.  Here is the same story about Kokanee salmon, but in the Steller flipbook format.  Enjoy.

I Am SheJumps. Are You?

Tomorrow night is the world premiere of Lynsey Dyer's film, PRETTY FACES, in Boulder, Colorado.  While I can't make it out to Boulder for the premiere, I'm certainly going to the SLC screening later this month with my family to show our support for the movie (it was funded in part through a Kickstarter campaign).  Several years back, Lynsey, along with Claire Smallwood and Vanessa Pierce, created the non-profit SheJumps organization to promote women getting out and involved in the outdoors.  I'm proud to say a short video ad I created for SheJumps will play at the premiere and most showings of the film.  Thanks to Claire for asking me to do this and having the confidence I could quickly put something together fitting of their inspiring organization.

Warren Miller Contest Results

Thanks to everyone who rallied behind our video and cast votes throughout all the rounds of the competition.  We garnered more votes in the final round than any of the previous rounds, but the Midwest team proved too strong.  Congrats to Joey Wallis and his supporters!  It was a well deserved win, and I look forward to meeting him at the SLC premiere.  Joey won the overall contest and we proudly settled for the runner up position and winner of the Intermountain Region.  Thanks again to everyone for your support -- we'll see you at the premiere and on the mountain!

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Snowbasin in late winter.

Two Ski Films to Get Excited About

It's officially time to get excited about the premieres of two ski movies next month.  First, the all women ski film, PRETTY FACES, is making its Utah premiere in SLC on October 8th.  Our family happily contributed to the Kickstarter campaign and are now thrilled to see the movie come to fruition.  I've done some video work with SheJumps, so it's great to see this offshoot of that organization put together a big time ski film to promote women getting out on the snow and charging. 

The second film is Warren Miller's NO TURNING BACK.  This film has its world premiere in SLC on October 18th (and will also be playing closer to my home in Ogden on October 22&23).  My short film, THE WORLD OPENS UP, which won Warren Miller Hometown Hill competition for the Intermountain region, will be playing on the big screen before the film.  This is exciting for us to present this short film of skiing here in our local mountains for everyone to see and get excited about the upcoming winter.  Let it snow!

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Above Ogden

It seems like I've been surgically attached to my chair and desk the last two weeks as I finished up a ton of video projects, so I decided to get out and camp in the nearby mountains for the night to a) shoot some test video with a new Phantom copter, b) shoot some video footage for a project, c) take some photos with a new lens, d) test out a new sleeping pad, and e) just get out and sleep high on the mountains for a night.  The views of Ogden on the west and the Eden Valley on the east were amazing, most of the tests worked well (I'll ignore the crashing of the Phantom copter for now), and Lucy and I had the ridge all to ourselves. 

Uintas Revisited

An earlier post of mine featured a recent trip to the Uinta Mountains, and I'm happy to say that Orvis selected my story, photos, and the short video of the trip for their web page.  You can check it out here. 

I'm not a "classically trained" writer, I don't call myself a photographer (there are way too many others who take better photos than I do), and I really wasn't on the trip to shoot any usable video, but I must say I'm happy with the results of all three.  I like the praise from Pat Monahan at Orvis, "The Trifecta! A great story accompanied by killer photos and a video."

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Uinta Mountains

Since my trip to Alaska I've been on four trips to the Uinta Mountains of northern Utah.  They're one of my favorite places on earth with their grand vistas, verdant valleys, miles of crystal clear streams, and their innumerable lakes with colorful brook and cutthroat trout.

Our faithful companion taking a much needed rest from chasing chipmunks.

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Modern "hiking boots."

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The other big sky country.

Adventure: Kanektok River, Alaska

Freshwater Adventures has been providing air cargo service out of Dillingham, Alaska for many years.  Owner Jerry Ball's experience is unmatched when it comes to safely traveling through the vast Alaskan wilderness.  Thanks to him and his employees at Freshwater Adventures, people can successfully enjoy the remotest areas of southwest Alaska.  I just finished spending two weeks in Alaska shooting video and photos (and primarily fly fishing), and I loved flying in their vintage Grumman Goose.  Jerry and company flew us to a remote lake, landed on the water, taxied up onto the shore, and deposited us and all our gear in the "Alaskan bush" (in four flights total).  Eleven days later Jerry flew us out from a gravel runway over 100 miles from our drop-off point.  It was a flying experience that rivaled my time in the F-16...except at a much slower speed.

Here's my personal items packing list for the trip:  Packing List

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Utah Olympic Park

As part of an ongoing series of videos I've been creating for the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, here's a quick trailer created to promote the FUNdamentals Camps held at the Utah Olympic Park every summer for young teens.  I shot on the Canon 70D as the kids participated in a myriad of activities during the four day camps.  The autofocus system on the Canon 70D is truly amazing and makes single person filming much more manageable in uncontrolled documentary settings.  This camera, along with a variable ND filter, make it much easier than ever before to properly expose and capture good footage.

Zeal Optics

Zeal Optics is a great company out of Boulder, Colorado that creates all sorts of eyewear ranging from hip summer shades to bomber winter goggles with integrated video cameras.  I'll be taking their sunglasses with me on our Alaska trip and shooting video/photos of our team using the sunglasses in the remote wilds of Alaska.  Meanwhile, I shot a few shots locally at Park City and Snowbasin for the Zeal Optics crew.