This idea built on a shoot I did early in the year. That shoot can be seen HERE. Skateboarding was my original idea and after we shot that I was stoked how it came out and decided to expand on the concept further. At first I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and brainstormed some ideas before randomly stumbling on flatland BMX. While scrolling through my phone I remember having seen someone post on a local Facebook group asking if anybody had built a BMX bike recently. I went back and tried to find this post and searched the group and ending up coming across a video of someone riding in Whistler. The rider in the video was good and that was when I thought flatland BMX would be a good option. I reached out to the rider, Mickael Loiodice, and after I explained my concept he was down to give it a go. 

This was a commercial shoot for the Scandinave Spa in Whistler. They were interested in featuring a new product, Duo Massage and the goal was to capture imagery that highlighted this experience. In my conversations leading up to this shoot I knew they wanted to create a warm welcoming feeling that gave an inviting feel to the experience.

Rain, high winds and overall bad weather led to a mountain closure and a down day this season in Bariloche, Argentina. Since I didn’t want to not shoot anything this day I made a plan to capture some portraits since we weren’t able to get out on the mountain. Behind the lodge we were staying in was a new construction project that was partially completed. I had poked my head in a few days before and liked the look and knew I wanted to get in here to shoot at some point. I knew who was doing the construction so I asked for permission and got the go ahead to head in.

I was excited going into this shoot! In the past Whistler Blackcomb has done lots of sunset park shoots, but they haven’t happened as often in recent years. This past two year filmmakers Ryan Regher and Jeff Thomas were working on a couple video projects for WB and had the right pull to be able make a few different sessions happen.

Prior to this year my opportunities to participate in a sunset park shoot like this had been limited, so I jumped at the chance when Ryan gave me a call. Photo assets weren’t specifically necessary for either of these shoots, but knowing how rare these sunset shoots are I still wanted to make it happen. Without the pressure of needing to deliver specific images it allowed for more creative freedom to capture the images I wanted to.

Over the years I’ve always been intrigued by the Red Bull Illume photo contest. The work that makes it to finals of this event is some of the greatest action sports photography from a laundry list of the best action sports and adventure photographers in the world. I always make a point of entering this contest and finding images in my collection to submit.

I first shot kayakers on this waterfall years ago but at the time just used natural light. We shot on a cloudy day, and at the time I was excited about the images, but looking back my excitement had faded and they weren’t super strong. They kayaking was still impressive, but the images were flat and weren’t anything special.

I had the idea towards the end of last summer to try and shoot the falls using a flash to create a more dynamic image that showcased the power of the water and the shape of the waterfall. At that time of year the water is to low to safely paddle so it needed to wait. I sat on the idea for the winter and waited until the spring when the water levels would be higher. 

This shoot came around last minute. Keon reached out to me looking to get some photos of his bike, but wanted to get them done before he started riding it. The original photographer he was going to work with fell through. We had never met, but a friend recommended me and when he asked I immediately had an idea of how I wanted to make it look so I said I’d be down to give it a go.

This idea lived in my head for a while. When I first thought about it I was hurt, on crutches, and spending most of my time on the couch. With all this time to brainstorm I was able to come up with ideas I was excited about but had no ability to actually execute them. Therefore I sat on this one for a while and figured out the logistics of making it work.

This wasn’t the particular image I had planned for the day, but I’ve had an idea similar to this in my mind for a while. I picked up the athlete, Will Goneau, from nearby this location, and thought if we had time we could check it out after we finished the original shot we planned to try this other idea I had.

We focused on the first shot, which was a top own running image in the forest. After we completed this image I asked Will if he was down and we went back to the underground parking lot.

As a photographer, I often wish I could be in multiple places at the same time to get imagery from a few angles. This specifically happens when shooting a jump where each rider might only take a couple tries.

When I first show up to a jump I usually try and do a full 360 around the jump. Checking out every angle to see where the feature looks best. Some jumps, based off the terrain they are built in are limited and might only look good from one side. Others have multiple angles, and one isn’t necessarily better than another.

Ben Poechman had a spot in mind he wanted to hit. He had been there a few days before and set it up, but just needed to wait for it to snow for the landing to get soft. When he reached out to me he said the feature was right at the end of the forest. This was my first day back shooting snowboarding of the 2020/2021 season and while I hadn’t shot snowboarding with strobes in a while I knew I wanted to do that for this image. The feature was close to a chairlift so it took away some of the difficulty of the logistics of hauling all the gear.

When getting out for this sunrise I had a specific shot in mind I wanted to shoot. Not to long ago, I shot a sunrise image in the fall. Later that spring, a massive landslide on Joffre Peak took off half the face of the mountain, altering the mountains look. While the peak was only a small element in the photo, I wanted to shoot the same landscape and show the difference between before and after. We got there just in time for sunrise, I set up my tripod and got the shot I was after.

For his 30th birthday, Tony Pavlantos made the goal to hike and snowboard 30,000 vertical feet on Mount Superior in Utah. This is no easy feat and it took the better part of a day to do this. He was up all night hiking and riding, and stopping for breaks in between to take a nap.

I didn’t have a particular plan to make an image in the ice cave. Ben Poechman and I planned to get out on Whistler Blackcomb on what was supposed to be a mostly sunny day. The idea was to shoot images on the giant ice blocks that fall off cornices in the spring. However, a storm came in and we were instead hanging out in a whiteout with nearly zero definition. We decided to go and check out the ice cave as it was nearby and we hadn’t been in a while.

When I lived Utah, anytime I was going up into the mountains to adventure, or snowboard I would drive past this spot in Big Cottonwood Canyon. I had scoped this angle when checking out a climbing location and knew I wanted to make a photograph here. It was a matter of waiting for the ideal conditions.

This was another one of those days where we got skunked by the weather. We had some good conditions in the morning, but as we moved into the afternoon it started to cloud out with high clouds at first. Noticing this sun dog starting to be visible I knew I wanted to get a shot with the rider in front of it. We were already in a zone taking some fun laps that had a slope that lined up reasonably well. I wanted the sun dog to intercept the slope so the rider appeared in the middle.

When going out to shoot photos, I keep a few things in mind to create the best possible photo I can. In some situations, I plan out an exact image, and in other cases, I try to work on the fly and shoot things as they adapt and change around me.

What gear do I carry on a regular trip into the mountains? This is an ever-adapting list, and I’m always adding or removing things based on what activity I’m doing.

Some items included in the winter, rarely make it in, in the summer, and vice versa. I try to keep the weight of my pack down, and I think many people would be surprised at how simple I keep it.

Traveling can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t do it regularly. Trying to decide what you should bring, and what should be left at home, can cause nightmares putting stuff in and out of bags trying to make up your mind. When packing my suitcases, if I have time lay everything out quickly, put it in my bag, weigh it and gage where I am. I then take everything out and look through it to make sure I’m not missing something important, or bringing a bit too much. However with my carry on I always pack the same things, and always know what I am going to bring.

Last season I spent a few days shooting with the ManBoys in early February. We had good snow for a bit, but on the third day we went to a zone and the snow had been wind scoured. We made the call to head back home checking a few spots on the way.

A hike and photography at a trail near my house in Whistler. Behind the scenes of my thought process and my photography.

A hike and photography at Joffre Lakes in Pemberton, BC on a sunny fall evening. Behind the scenes of my thought process and my photography.