Tagged: Ski

The Winter Olympics – Team GB

On snow, Team GB have really shown what talent we have as a nation. Unfortunately it’s only produced one medal so far but it’s going to be such a boost to the sports of Skiing and Snowboarding. I’ve seen a fair few people comment on how they’d like to give snowboarding a go after watching the two slopestyle events at the weekend. It’s great that our teams presence at the Olympics seems to be having such a positive affect. If you’ve watched some of the events and fancy giving it a go, then do it. There are so many slopes up and down the country where you can learn and you don’t even have to buy any gear to start with as most places (if not all) will rent the gear out. We have 6 indoor real snow “Domes” in the country and countless dry slopes. If you’ve been inspired just head on down and give it a go. The more backing and interest the sports get, the more we can progress and produce more stars of the world stage.

Anyway, Team GB on snow. You’ll have seen briefly that I posted a couple of results on Saturday. In the mens Snowboard Slopestyle, Jamie Nicholls and Billy Morgan both took to the slope to represent GB. Jamie made it straight through to the finals, while Billy fought his way through the Semi’s to join the final line up. The final, on Saturday morning was such a tense watch. Jamie managed to get into a medal position with his first run while many of the other riders failed to put down a decent run. Unfortunately Billy was one of those, who, while trying to push the limits ended up wiping out on both his first and second run. Jamie didn’t fair too better in his second run either after having a slight moment on the first rail he realised it wasn’t going to be the perfect run needed for a medal so cruised the course to end up in 5th. With the judging being so strict it was hard on all riders, one tiny mistake could see your whole run ruined and no big trick could bring it back. Still a fifth place and tenth place in the Winter Olympics is nothing to be downhearted about. Both lads are still young and both still have a chance for the next Olympics in four years time!

On Sunday morning it was time for the women and representing Team GB were Aimee Fuller and Jenny Jones. It was a tough fight through the qualifications and unfortunately Aimee didn’t make the cut but the experience of Jenny Jones took her through. After the tough judging of the mens slopestyle everyone knew there runs HAD to be clean. Through the first set of runs we saw riders from every nation trying to go big but tiny little mistakes were costing big points. There was one terrifying moment when Šárka Pančochová took a violent fall after catching her heel edge, hitting her head off the slope before rag-dolling to the flat. It took a moment or two but she managed to get up and ride to the bottom where we saw that the helmet she had been wearing was now split in two. If anyone needs proof as to why you should always wear a lid, that was it. On the other hand, Jenny had played it safe with her final run and it had put her in gold medal spot. It was a nervous, nail biting wait as the rest of the field had their runs but our girl Jenny managed to stick in the medals and come away with a Bronze. That medal is Britains first one snow in the Olympics. Such a proud moment for British snowsports.

Today was the turn of the womens Ski Slopestyle. Our only competitor, Katie Summerhayes made a cracking start. After the first run of qualifying she was in second place and after the second she had only dropped to third. It was looking extremely promising! As with the other slopestyle events though, big tricks and more importantly, a clean execution was needed and with the slope deteriorating rapidly a lot of the field were failing to lay down a solid run. In her first run in the final, Katie laid down possibly the best rail line of all the competitors but at the kicker line she went big but failed to land the trick. (Don’t quote me on this but I think it was a 1260 with a Japan grab???) That really put the pressure on and when her second run came around I could barely watch. Again the rail line was perfection and then came the kicker line. First kicker cleared with the (1260??), second kicker, third kicker cleared. It seemed like it was job done, Gold medal in the bag. A few smalls mistakes had cost her a medal though. Going big in the kickers had resulted in a couple of hand drags and the judges had really marked her down for those, placing her final run in 6th. With only a couple of competitors left she ended up in 7th. Of course, supporting Team GB I thought the judging was a bit harsh, especially as the Bronze medal winning run had a switch straight air as a trick but nevermind. We’re proud of Katie for making it to the Olympics stage and we know she has a lot more to give for the next Olympics.

Around lunchtime today the Men’s Halfpipe qualification got under way. I’d read before the organisers were thinking of postponing the event due to the poor condition of the pipe but it seems it all went ahead anyway. Unfortunately our two riders Dom Harrington and Ben Kilner didn’t make it into the final. Both were caught out by the slushy pipe and couldn’t quite get the score needed to progress.

Regardless of the results, I personally couldn’t be more proud of the performance our guys and girls have put in. Knowing how hard they’ve all worked to get to the level they are and the determination they showed throughout their careers, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future. We’re not done yet though, there’s still a good few more events to come where GB has some medals hopes on Snow.

Good luck Team GB!

#Throwback Thursday

Back on these posts again but it’s just two events for today. The very last events of 2009 in fact.

The first was Santa Cruz’ “Rookie Rider” hosted at my local slope of Tamworth Snowdome. I was covering it for Fear Of The Park again this year and had high expectations but ended up being bitterly disappointed. It was advertised as a competition night for “Rookie” riders. Those unsponsored riders that ride hard every week but don’t often get the recognition. The year before Rob Lawton and Alice Blake had won, and both, at the time were unsponsored (or at least Rob was, I’m not sure about Alice). This year however the organisers seemed to concentrate on the sponsored riders.

I just thought that was a little unfair and ended up giving the event a bit of a bad review. Fair enough companies have to get their publicity and if a bigger sponsored rider gets the top spot it’s generally publicised more but it’s not really a “Rookie” event if riders that have proved themselves are the only ones that seemed eligible to win. I seem to even remember one of the finalists telling the hosts he was sponsored and shouldn’t really be in the final only to be told it didn’t really matter.

I didn’t bother taking photos the following year, instead I rode the night. That did’t go down well either. I was told I was too old to enter the competition and I felt I was ignored all night by all the “on the spot” prizes that were being given to anyone and everyone. I haven’t been back to a Santa Cruz night since, nor do I know if they’re actually still running, but anyway, here’s some shots from the 2009 Santa Cruz (Not so) “Rookie Rider”.

The last event of 2009 was over in Stoke and I’m glad to say it was a good end to the year. Stoke only has a small dry slope but it has a big community feel. The Jam was organised by the riders and they did everything they could with the limited resources they had.

The evening drew in a pretty big crowd but it was more a social gathering than anything. Music blaring, random prizes being chucked out and a wrecked lift; all in a nights work. One of the pommels somehow flipped over and crashed into the return station with an almighty bang, disabling the whole lift system so for half the night everyone had to walk the Dendex slope. Still, it was a good laugh.

These are the events I like the best. Smaller, more community based ones. Sure it may not be constant, pro action but everyone has a go and gets cheered on no matter what.

2009 was over and 2010 was just beginning. There wasn’t really any competitions to cover in the first few months but when the snow hits the UK, people get resourceful… Look out for the results next time.

#ThrowbackThursday

I haven’t done one of these posts in a few weeks so here’s a good one for you. This week, three shoots from the end of 2009.

First was a trip to Manchester for the “Just Passing’ Thru” tour. It was meant to be one of those evenings where the pro’s come over, show off their skills for a bit on a specially shaped park and then the public can go on and ride with them. What I didn’t know before I made the trip was that I wasn’t allowed on the slope either, not until later in the evening. I was hoping for some shots of just the pro’s doing their thing but instead I was relegated to the sidelines while their official photographer took all the snaps. Until all their work was done I had to sit and wait and when I did eventually get on it was a rush to get around as many features as I could. I’m not even sure when I made it on I got any shots of the pro’s but some of the “local” riders gave me some great shots. Although I did like the shots and got enough for a Fear Of The Park feature I felt really disappointed that I wasn’t let on. I can’t even remember now if my shots even made it on FoTP. It just seemed like one of those nights you ended up writing off. Nevermind eh?!

The next event I went to was the 2009 Who’s The Daddy night at my local slope, Tamworth Snowdome. I’d managed to get the night off working on the slope to take photos and I’m glad I did. The night produced one of my favourite photos out of ALL the photos I’ve ever taken. It’s the photo of Jack Oughton riding the C Box. I always like using a bit of contrast between dark and light at Snowdome because it isn’t very well lit but this time the lighting worked perfectly. One flash each side of the box caught every drop of snow that flicked off Jack’s board as he slid round in a near perfect pose. Not much has come close to that shot since. The rest of the night was pretty good for photos too though. It’s always a busy night so I’m never short of shots and with Skiers and Snowboarders of all abilities the opportunities never stop. The “main event” of the night is the quarter pipe competition. A Skier vs Snowboarder shoot out to see who can get the most height out of the pipe. It was a choice between climbing up on the pipe and trying to get some close fish eye shots while avoiding a nasty headshot or standing back and capturing the action as well as the crowd. I chose the latter and timing it just right I could have used my photos as a better judge of height than the “Oh I think they got about here *puts hand out*” method that Snowdome normally use. Still, standing back gives a good idea of the atmosphere of the night. It’s not just a night for the riders, the spectators get involved too and that’s what I love to see.

Another trip up north was on the cards now but this time I’d be visiting an outdoor dry slope I’d never been to before. I was heading to Rossendale for the King of the Kicker competition. If my memory serves me rightly the kicker and landing had recently been remade so it turned out to be the christening competition for it. The weather looked pretty threatening on the way up there so I wasn’t confident it was going to be a “good” shoot. It wasn’t good. It was one of my favourite shoots of all time. Everything just seemed to click. The backdrop of the slope, the lighting, my flashes and the riders all came together to create many of my top 20 photos. It was late autumn and with the weather quite “miserable” it gave me plenty of practice with the flashes. I used them all day and they didn’t miss a beat. I used them to provide just a little bit of illumination and sharpen the “target”. I know I’m blowing my own trumpet but I don’t think I could have done much better that day, the shots turned out brilliantly. Throughout the whole day I was concentrating on the kicker but there was a small jam on a box and rail where I managed to grab a few shots. The best shots came when the day light started to turn to dusk. It seemed to enhance the environment and just give that little bit more to the photos. I’m happy to say these photos were used on FoTP and one won me some tickets to the Freeze Festival the following year. Enjoy this small selection.

#ThrowbackThursday

I can’t believe all this was just over 4 years ago. I was driving around the country to event after event, getting paid to do something I loved and now all I have is these pictures.

The first set come from one very long day spent at Milton Keynes Xscape. I’d been asked to come along to help out Rich from Fear Of The Park cover the Big Bang Show and then the For Boarders By Boarders tour final. The Big Bang Show is run around the country by TSA (The Snowboard Asylum) as a chance to demo some new gear, watch some of the latest movies, brush up on your skills with coaching and much more. I’d arrived ready to shoot and ride but Rich kept me busy all day and I didn’t get a chance to strap on a new board. I followed around the different coaching groups on the slope all day, watching all different levels of riders brush up their skills with coaches from Salomon, Forum and Roxy. Nothing that exciting happened and the shots were all that exciting but the evening should have made up for that.

The FBBB final took place once the slope had cleared in the evening. I was expecting big things from the evening but I’m not sure it lived up to expectations. Whether it was the long day taking it’s toll or something else but the night just didn’t click for me photo wise. The features were ok, the riders were definitely riding hard and the FBBB crew were giving their 2010 season a great send off. Between myself and Rich we managed to get a fair amount of shots together for a feature but I needed something different to get my creative juices flowing again.

That ‘kick up the ass’ came when Swadlincote Ski Centre threw one of their jam nights. Swadlincote doesn’t have the most imaginative or crazy features and the lighting is terrible for shooting but it was an amazing evening. I think that was mainly down to the community feel the slope brings. It doesn’t attract riders from all over the country like the bigger events so this one always feels a better place to be. The night didn’t become anything too serious, little ‘competitions’ happened when it felt right and the riding was amazing but the big feel of the night for me was fun. Small nights like this bring out the best in the ski/snowboard community I think (hence the cover photo to this post). Skiing and snowboarding for a prize is good, but having a laugh with friends while doing it is even better.

The last event in the post sent me back up to Chill Factore. Volcom were holding a ladies night for training. They brought a handful of their best international riders to coach the ladies throughout the evening. It was another friendly, organised night from the Manchester slope and all the different levels of rider were catered for. From the basic box riding to advanced kicker techniques everyone learned something. I was covering the night for FoTP again but after speaking with the guys from Volcom I also managed to get a few shots of their website. It was a good evening and the shots flowed. Before the evening drew to a close I got one of my favourite shots. Although not exactly a lady, I asked one of the riders to ride the banked C box behind the Volcom sign. I wanted to try and cast a coloured light over the logo while catching a stylish slide over the box in the background. It took a few attempts to get it right but it worked. The shot would have been just fine without the coloured filter on the flash but I thought it just added a bit more depth to the image.

The night at Manchester signalled the winter season was drawing in again and the UK events would come to a close for a few months. I only had a few more events to go to till work dried up for a few months but the last few events were pretty fruitful and the UKs winter brought some special opportunities once the snow fell.

Snowboard Repair & Service

eBay zero insertion fee weekends always make me go on a mad dash around the flat looking for anything I can list to make a bit of money. This weekend I dug out an old snowboard of mine that was in need of a bit of TLC. The board had a short and somewhat brutal life with me. On one trip away I noticed a crack had developed in the top sheet but thought nothing of it, until one fateful evening back at my local slope I took a heavy landing on the nose and it cracked right open. It was still rideable but with a staff discount to hand it was easier for me to just buy another board. It’s been sat in my cupboard ever since so this weekend I decided to repair it & service it. So here’s how;

I’d already made a quick attempt at waterproofing it when the damage originally occurred but in a rush I’d just ended up making a mess. The first job was to clean up the wound so it could be glued back together. The edges of the fracture were all splintered so I used my Dremel to cut back any rough edges and sand up the opening to give the glue something to stick to. Araldite is my weapon of choice. It’s a strong resin that works well with snowboards as it remains slightly flexible and forms a nice waterproof layer.

You need to watch out when using it though. It gives off quite an intoxicating smell so it needs to be used in a ventilated area. Slightly worse than the smell is that it sets quite quickly and it’s VERY sticky so you really do need to be careful where you use it. Wearing gloves to keep it off your skin and somewhere that’s covered because if you drop it on the carpet, or any other nice floor…it’s not coming off.

Before you use it, mix it well. The hardener needs to mix well with the resin or it won’t set. I used an old bicycle spoke to mix it up and feed it right into the fracture before clamping it down and leaving it for 24 hours to set. I wasn’t worried too much about excess oozing out of the join. When it goes tacky you can trim it back slightly with a Stanley blade or knife but I just let it set completely before sanding it back with my Dremel and a small sanding block. It has formed a nice seal around the fracture. Flexing the board doesn’t pop it back open so I think for the average ride it should be good to go again.

If you have your own snowboard and you use it regularly it’s a good thing to learn how to wax it. You’ll know when it needs a good wax when it starts to become really sluggish and the base looses some of its colour and dries out. You don’t need to spend a fortune on buying fancy gear, a cheap travel iron and a scrap piece of steel will do, and it definitely saves you a few pennies when you compare it to the price of a shop service. I use a cheap travel iron to heat up the wax (“proper” wax irons don’t have holes in the base but it doesn’t really matter, just don’t use your mums best iron!), some One Ball Jay “Cool” wax (it smells beautiful!), a small piece of steel as a scraper, and a ToKo brush to tune up the base.

(It’s best to wax your board without the bindings on as the heat from the iron can cause the base to deform around the screw holes if they’re left in)

The first thing I do is clean up the base. I’d normally use some ToKo wax remover spray to clean it up (just spray on and rub off) but I’ve run out of that so this time I used my scraper to remove any left over wax I could. I find holding the blade at a 45 degree angle to the base and pulling towards you is a good way to go about things but don’t go digging the base up! I was just left with a few old bits of wax flaking up.

With the base clean it’s time to apply the wax. I like to start by rubbing the base with the wax to form a very thin protection layer but it’s not essential. Turn the iron on to a medium heat and let it get up to temperature. The right temperature is hot enough so the wax melts when it comes in contact with the base, but so hot that it starts to burn the wax and it smokes. Be careful when you’re doing this, iron burns hurt if you slip! Tilt the iron back slightly and drip the wax over the base sparingly. It doesn’t need to completely cover it, random dots will do.

Don’t admire the dot work for too long because once the base is covered in drips it’s time to smooth it down. Gently and slowly run the iron over the base so that it melts the wax. Always work from nose to tail and gently glide the iron over until the wax is evenly layered. Don’t leave the iron in one place for too long as the heat might damage the base. It won’t be completely smooth when finished, there are always going to be some ripples but you can get rid of those in the next stage.

Hopefully you haven’t used too much wax as the next job is to scrape most of it off. The thinner the layer of wax the quicker the board will run so grab the scraper and working from nose to tail again remove all the excess wax. The wax is held in the porous base material so anything you take off is just excess. Leaving a layer on isn’t all that bad though, it will slow you down a bit but it will add a bit more protection. I always scrape the base back till no more wax is being removed so I can ride it a quick as possible.

The board should now be good to ride but for that extra tune up it’s good to have a ToKo brush handy. It’s got a soft copper brush side and a softer nylon brush. I work it from nose to tail just to polish up the base and make the finish that little bit finer.

That’s one board repaired and waxed. I hope that helps some of you budding snowboarders and skiers out there. Just be careful when using the iron, I don’t want anyone getting burnt.

If you’re interested the board is for sale here: eBay

#ThrowbackThursday

I think it’s time for another photography throwback ant conveniently the next three events I covered for Fear of the Park were all at Manchester’s Chill Factore.

The first event of this little hat trick was another For Boarders By Boarders evening. Although technically a ‘boarders event Manchester’s Ski community were out in force which gave me a bit of variety to shoot. Mikee and the FBBB crew had laid out a pretty awesome park but what really makes the FBBB nights come alive is the live DJ. Live music and snowboarding is never a bad thing. I managed to get some decent photos for FOTP but not all were useable. I’d tried to get a little creative with few shots using objects in the foreground to add a little interest. It didn’t really work and instead of making my say ‘Wow’ the made me hit the delete button. Never mind, it’s all a learning curve and it made me think a bit more carefully about shots in the future.

The next event was an evening with Westbeach. If I remember rightly they were celebrating ‘x’ amount of years in business and had released a book for their story. This night was to celebrate that. The slope was rammed and the event organisers were on slope all night keeping the mood electric. I like shooting at Chill Factore. It’s a nice light slope and being so big and wide they can fill the slope with a mass of hits. I’d always been used to using strong lighting which often blacked out the background but CFe helped me change that. I tried to get the background a bit lighter to show a bit more of the slope. I think it gave the pictures a bit more of an atmosphere and in some of the shots from this night it really helped show how busy the night was. I had a really good time shooting this night and came away with plenty of choice for Fear of the Park.

The last evening in this threesome was a night with Santa Cruz. I can’t quite remember wha the whole night was about but I do remember it wasn’t very busy. It made me think about how to change the style of images I was making. I decided to shoot the whole night with my fisheye lens. It was a bit awkward to get the right shot but when it went right it gave so much more depth and drama to the photo. Rails looked longer, tricks looked more styled and the kicker looked much bigger. It was hard to get to grips with but it gave me something to think about for future shoots.

Chill Factore felt like my second home at this point but I was grateful for all the work. Thankfully. The work kept flowing and the endocrine the year was a busy one!

#ThrowbackThursday

A Throwback to only one place this week; Norwich.

Just over three years ago now, I packed my camping gear, bike and camera and drove East until I reached the destination I’d be spending the next week. It was another job for Fear of the Park but this time the event lasted for three days. Norwich is the home to one of the best equipped outdoor “dry” slopes in the UK and that slope is home to the Farmers Jam. Farmers Jam is run over the course of three days, starting with an evening of practice on the Friday and culminating in a day of Finals on the Sunday. It’s open to all ages and abilities, skier or snowboarder, everybody is welcome. It wasn’t just about the “job” for me though. The Farmers Jam brings a whole host of people together and there is a real friendly community sense about it. Spending a few days on the slope and the evenings on the campsite, constantly surrounded by friends, didn’t really feel like work at all.

The shooting was pretty good for the whole time the jam was on. It threatened to rain once or twice but amazingly, not one drop fell. The most I had to contend with was clouds suddenly drifting over the sun and blocking out my light. Compared to my local dry slope of Swadlincote, Norwich is huge so I was never left without an opportunity to shoot and there were plenty of ways to get creative. I kept finding myself hiding behind different features, or people, to make the shots more interesting. There was always so much going on that I couldn’t possibly catch it all but I gave it a damn good go. Fear of the Park published a fair amount of my photos along with a brief write up but I also had something “special” for them.

With the sun beating down on us during the day I hadn’t had chance to use my current favourite toy; the PocketWizards ad flashes. I hadn’t brought them all the way to Norwich to sit in a bag so I hatched a plan with a few of the riders. After the sun had gone down and the slope had emptied we headed to the slope to try and get a few photos others wouldn’t have got that weekend. The staff at the slope were very co-operative and although we didn’t get to use any rails, they did let us use the kicker for a while. Over an hour or so, with a handful of riders I managed to get a few “different” shots for the weekend’s collection. The flashes performed quite well in the low light and no one ended up in A&E which was a bonus!

A trip to the other side of the country wouldn’t be complete without a few tourist trips though. I stopped behind for a few extra days with a friend and as you do when you’re in a “strange” place, we went to the zoo. We spent a day over at Banham Zoo, wandering around, cameras in hand. As a day out, it was good but I really love some of these photos so I had to share. My favourite? The one of the Meerkat, laying on his back sunbathing who looked up just before I took the picture as if to say “You looking at me?!”.

#ThrowbackThursday

Thursday again so I guess it’s time for another Throwback to a time when I spent most of my time in the snow. Or at least, the “snow” of the UKs indoor slopes.

It’s just over 4 years ago when these photos were taken. Back in August 2009, Burton Snowboards held two freestyle camps at my local slope of Tamworth Snowdome. I managed to book the evenings off so instead of working behind the counters I took my camera on the slope to snap away. The summer weather had affected the slope again and created a horrible dense mist for both camps; not ideal for taking photos but it didn’t seem to bother the riders.

It’s always a mixed bag of talent for a Freestyle Camp. However, Burton Snowboards, armed with an array of new kit to demo and a handful of their UK team can easily cope with the challenge. They coach people of all levels from the very basics of staying upright on rails and kickers to complex tricks to push your limits. For me the camps offer a good variety to shoot and it seems people are far more interested and grateful of the photos on a night like this. It’s always nice to be appreciated.

My favourite photos of the nights actually came from one of my friend’s who wasn’t actually taking part in the night. Ben was a bit of a demon in the quarter pipe so not wanting to miss an opportunity I set up around that feature. It was the first time shooting the quarter pipe with the Pocket Wizards and I felt it worked beautifully. He was gradually getting higher and higher and when a couple of the Burton riders decided to perch on top of the feature it made an even more interesting shot. It would have been a perfect promo shot for Burton….if it wasn’t for the K2 snowboard 😉

Next on the hit list for that summer was the next leg of the FBBB (For Boarders By Boarders) tour. It was being hosted up at Castleford Xscape. I’d heard good things about Cas and their slope setups so combined with the creative ability of the FBBB team I was looking forward to the trip. It was going to be another shoot for Fear of the Park so I spent the whole night snapping away.

Riders from all over the country had made the journey for the “jam” style event and the vast array of features gave me lots to work with. When I stepped on the slope and saw the size of the kickers I was thankful I had the Pocket Wizards for flash triggers. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to explore the different angles the slope and capture what the riders had to offer. I was impressed with the tricks being thrown and I could only hope I could do them justice with my camera.

It was a long night of shooting but I came away with a good amount of shots for FoTP to publish. The FBBB team pulled off another awesome night and honestly, they were really raising the standard of UK competitions and jams.

The next stop, another new destination for me, kept up the high standard. It wasn’t a FBBB event but a charity jam thrown by Subvert at Manchester’s Chill Factore. I was teamed up with FoTP rider Sean Miller for the SubJam event; Sean with the words and me with the images. 3 hours of “work” lay ahead of us.

Chill Factore and Subvert really impressed me and it sparked a love for the slope. The slope was full of big features that offered up countless photo opportunities. It wasn’t just the layout that impressed me though. The whole event was well structured and “user friendly”. From spot competitions on the slope features to a small olly competition, everything seemed to focus of friendly fun. I hadn’t really experienced an atmosphere like this at any other slope before; it was refreshing. The riding lasted for around 3 hours before everyone left the slope for the warmth of the bar.

That wasn’t the end of my summer of shooting though. I still had plenty more dates in the calendar and a lot more to learn but with every shoot I did I felt my knowledge base was improving and the photos were looking more and more “professional”

#ThrowbackThursday

Photography is the focus of this weeks Throwback Thursday. It starts with a trip to Hemel Hempstead. For Boarders By Boarders were holding the second competition in their series at the newly built “The Snow Centre”. If my memory serves me right, this event was the first freestyle evening on this newly built slope so I was looking forward to seeing what a completely modern slope could do. I still didn’t have my PocketWizards and I was shooting for Fear Of The Park again but I was feeling positive for the night ahead.

The new building looked spectacular. Compared to my home slope of Tamworth it felt like I was stepping into a Royal Palace; so clean, comfy, luxurious. The slope wasn’t bad either but I was a little disappointed as they had only sectioned off half of the slope to use. This caused problems later on when the mass of competitors hit the slope. Everything had to flow; there was no room for stopping between the features in case you got were hit. Even if you wanted to slow down between features it was difficult. With everyone using the same line and speed check area, patches of ice had soon built up and made stopping difficult. It was their first freestyle night though so a few issues can be expected.

Photography wise I found it quite awkward. The slope was nice and bright and had plenty of angles to use but sticking to the confines of the tightly packed features I found it quite difficult. Picking a spot for my flashes that wasn’t going to interfere with a feature or a landing but keeping the line of sight for activation was a little frustrating. There were only certain spots I could find to work with and even then I couldn’t get the image on the cameras display to match the one in my mind. I stuck it out and snapped away for the entire night walking away with a few good shots. It wasn’t my best by any amount but things were going to get a whole lot better for the next shoot.

I was back at my home slope of Tamworth and For Boarders By Boarders had joined us again. A FBBB night at Tamworth always attracts the big crowds and the slope is always full; It was going to be a good night! However, the summer weather had affected the UKs oldest indoor slope in it’s typical way. The mist had set in. Often when the warm weather hits Tamworth, the slope heats up and all the warm air condenses creating a layer of mist over the slope. It can look pretty interesting but when it comes to taking photos it’s a complete pain. I’d finally got hold of my PocketWizards too so the mist is not what I wanted but I worked with it and got some cracking shots.

At first I stuck to the usual features and the usual shots while getting used to the new range the PocketWizards gave me. The lighting was great, even with the mist. I could finally place flashes in places I wanted to get an even amount of light over a subject. I could move freely, wherever I wanted to, to get the best shots I could and I racked up hundreds of shots. The thing I enjoyed most about these new “toys” was that I could place them behind a feature and still the flash would activate. This was used to my full advantage to get creative on the wall ride feature! I fancied dicing with death and standing at the end of the feature armed with my fisheye, one flash to the rear, and one to the side. It was a bit hit and miss getting the right timing to get the photo without loosing and arm but it gave me some good action shots. It was worth the “danger”. Later on in the evening, after the mist had become heavier I wanted to try out another idea I had. I figured the heavy mist would muffle the light from my flashes so I could, in effect, create a silhouette by turning the flashes power up and allowing it to light up the background. It worked, dare I say it, perfectly (or at least as perfectly as I saw it in my head). The combination of the mist and the over powered flashes created a stunning atmosphere to the photos. I would have liked it even more if I could have picked out a bit more detail in the faces of the rides but to this day, these are still some of my favourite shots.

After that epic night and another publication I took a trip up to the exposed slopes of Halifax for a Westbeach competition. I was on a high from the shoot at Tamworth but the weather soon put a damper on that. Starting off as a glorious sunny day the clouds and wind soon set in. I tried to use my flashes still but to no success. The overcast skies were causing havoc with my exposures and I wasn’t getting the shots I wanted. Photo after photo was wasted so I only ended up with a handful of “useable” shots. It only turned out to be a big air competition too (from my memory) so finding creative angles was become quite tedious by the end of the day. Not to worry though, it was an experience and I learnt a thing or two from the awkward conditions. You win some, you lose some!

Big things were coming next. I’ll have to dig out some scans for the next instalment. Keep following for more content!

#ThrowbackThursday

Again with the rewind, back to April 2009, and back to photography. I’d just got back from Morzine so things were pretty good. I was hyped up and ready to take more and more photos. The trip had left me with a new shopping list but non of that gear had arrived just yet. The winter season was just coming to an end so the summer indoor competitions were about to start but the first bit of camera work I did wasn’t anything to do with Snowboarding.

I received a small request asking if I could help out and take some photos for a college project. An “Alice In Wonderland” style dress had been made and, well, I needed to take some photos to showcase it. It was something different so I gave it a go. We headed into the woods for the shoot. It gave a nice backdrop and the way the light was coming through the trees in different patches created some nice effects. I’d never really shot anything like this before so, unsure on how to direct the whole thing I just picked out and spot and let someone else work on the poses. The random sunbeams and the thick foliage really worked (in my opinion – others will probably disagree). Ok, they’re not as perfect as shots you’d see in a magazine or anything like that but I was impressed by them and it was fun to try something different.

It was back to my usual routine after that, back to the Snowdome. I had one or two nights to practice before a big competition. The Snowdome were celebrating their 15th anniversary so I was expecting lots of people to turn up. I wasn’t disappointed. “Now 15” was pretty full on. The slope was packed full of skiers and snowboarders alike, all dressed in gear from 1994 (or that was the idea anyway). It was a constant barrage of tricks for anyone trying to take photos and you had to have your wits about you to make sure you weren’t hit. It was still pretty awkward to get what I’d class as a decent shot because the PocketWizards hadn’t arrived. My flashes still had to be triggered from a relatively close line of sight and so there was limited potential. However, one set of shots I loved from this night were the C-Box shots. I’d set up both my flashes on the inside of the box, aiming to create a high intensity of light on that side vs the darkness of the outer. I wanted to pick out just the outlines of anyone hitting the box so that they were almost silhouetted against the light. Any snow sprayed of was also picked up by the flash so it gave a sense of movement rather than looking like someone stationary on the box. The shots got mixed reviews, some liked them, some didn’t like them, but I thought they were amazing.

It actually turned out that the shots from this night got hosted on Snowdome’s website and Fear of the Park. Fear of the Park had also given me a big opportunity, the photos and review from this night were thought to be good enough that I could be “rewarded”. I’m very proud to say it was more first paid shoot, the first of many.

So my high from Morzine, had now got even higher. I wanted to do more, practice more, shoot more, try different things again. One of my friends had an old VW Golf and wanted some photos so I was happy to oblige. I’ve got a soft spot for older cars. They have their individuality unlike many of todays cars that all look the same and, in my opinion, the Golf is one of the better looking ones. It was a nice sunny day when we did the shoot. I’d found an old, rarely used petrol station which I thought might work quite well with the old car so we headed there. Unfortunately, it was locked so we didn’t get in, but the road outside was quite so we played about there. I tried a few different things, dabbling with a bit of the HDR merging and managed to get some decent shots. They were all taken with my favourite lens, the 50mm so I could get a bit (lot) of depth into some of the photos. It seems to have clicked in my head to also shoot in RAW for these photos and for every set after so I’ve been able to re-edit them slightly. Shooting in RAW = much easier editing!

And that’s it for this week!  More photography coming soon!