Japan-o-rama part 2

The crew at Black Diamond Lodge in Niseko have been awsome, and we have been getting shots daily just driving around and taking short walks off the highway! We did however decide to go do a day of riding up on mountain on the Niseko United resorts. The snow was fun, and the Apres' at the huge all you can eat Buffet in the Hilton hotel in Hirafu was outstanding.

With some warm weather hitting Niseko we geared up and drove North to a resort that I cannot mention right now.....

We arrived late to the Gondola... 2:30 pm to be square.. and there were a whole 5 other cars in the parking lot. ( Considering at least 2-3 were for employees.... you can imagine how many people were on mountain.

Stepping off the gondola, we rode knee deep blower powder through steep trees.....Yes, thats right... UNTRACKED, BLOWER at 2:30 in the afternoon... AND THE MOUNTAIN TO OURSELVES!!!!

The little town is celebrating a sort of "ice festival" with huge sculptures built in the river valley just below town, It was an amazing site, after 3 of the best runs of our trip.

Today was the crews last riding day, we are just now in Sapporo for an evening, then off for 3 days of excitment and tourist activities in Tokyo!

Are the Olympics almost over???

We have all decided that the last little resort Gem will need a bit more attention on our next visit to Japan....

Turning Japanese

I'm in Niseko Japan right now with a small crew for Snowboard Canada Magazine.
There is more snow on the ground here than almost anywhere I have ever seen.
We have been driving and looking for roadside features to shoot. So far we are just settling in to Black Diamond Lodge as our base. ( www.bdlodge.com )

More to come......

COP - Burton Canadian Open Slopestyle

After a week of waiting for good weather around Whistler, I was pretty happy to get a call from Liam @ Burton to come shoot the Canadian Open up in Calgary. The weather for Friday and saturday was unbelievable. With the Olympics just days away I was excited to see some of the worlds best throwing down on the slopestyle course, and in COP's 22 foot superpipe.

Canadians had strong representation in both events:

- Justin Lamoureux placed 2nd in the pipe finals with crazy technical runs.

On his 2nd semi finals run he took my new GOPRO HD movie camera for a run strapped on his chest... check it here: www.justinlamoureux.blogspot.com you'll notice on his first hit the screen goes black...doing the exact same trick pictured in the shot above.....

- Sarah Conrad and Mercedes Nicholl both earned spots of the podium for the girls with great runs!

- Dustin Craven qualified in 2nd but just couldn't hold it together in the finals to make a top spot.

- Jon Versteeg from Pemberton took 2nd in the slopestyle, and I have to say he is one of the most stylish and talented jumpers I have seen in a long time.

- Canmore's own Robby Balharry claimed 3rd in the slopestyle with very impressive style and a bag of tricks! Robby opened a few eyes through the week making his way in from early pre-qualifiers, semi finals, and into finals against the heavy hitters!

On a plane back to Vancouver.. a few days at home.... then off to Japan with a crew from Sandbox films

Inside the newest Snowboard Canada Magazine...

SO last issue of SBC saw the article I did in alaska last season with the "Deeper" movie crew. I hope you all had the chance to check it out!

The newest Snowboard Canada Magazine hit shelves this past week ( Sweet Mikey Rencz Cover by Serfas) .. inside you will find a piece I did with a great crew ( Jonaven Moore, Scott Shaw, Murray Hodgson, and Ryan Johanessen in to Island Lake Lodge near Fernie BC. If you ever have a chance to get there... DO IT!

(SCOTTY SHAW @ ISLAND LAKE LODGE)

Also inside is the annual 24/36 photo competition, where one of my shots of Pete Navin won "Best Portrait", as well as a couple of sweet Gallery images!

Planning a trip to Japan right now with a crew fromSandbox to escape the Olympic MADNESS.. and escape to Powderland!
Jeff

New Website

click this ----> GO PEEP THE NEW WEBSITE PLEASE! <----click here

...and here is a Shot of Kevin Griffin...

let me know what you think about the new site.
Jeff

SBC Deeper slideshow

Just a few more shots on a slideshow from the Deeper trip to Alaska last spring.

Watch it here...

enjoy
Jeff

Playtime!!!!

I can't wait to get out and shoot some more snow shots like this one of Cody Borchers jumpin' over Scotty Shaw slashin'

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you all get some deep pow this year!
Jeff

Is it really November?

...because... It feels like its more like mid-season.....

Whistler opening has been epic.

RISE of the INFIDEL

Banff Alberta - November 26th 2009 - 7pm at the Paddock Pub.

The Art of Mark Carroll, should be amazing... Along with a bunch of other great people, and amazing art.

Stoked to have a bit of wall space...
Added to the Giant Canvas' will be this Gem..

"Dust from a Dirtbag' - Dustin Craven off Old Man's @ Cardrona New Zealand. ( Stretched Canvas 24"x36")

and...

"The hard way down" - Jonaven Moore riding spines along his bootpack up!!, Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska during the filming of "Deeper". ( Stretched Canvas 24"x36")

Along with the 5 Canvas' I may have a few smaller prints as well...

Please come out and check out all the art / artists involved!
Jeff

ART SHOW - Banff November 26th

Its been awhile since I've had a visit back to Banff. My old buddy Mark Carroll and a few others are having a show at the end of November. Mark has some amazing art - so click the link and check it out!!!

If you are around Banff on the 26th of November watch for posters, facebook, and right here for the location and more info.

I'm stoked that they had some space for me, so I will be doing up 5 big Wall-art style stretched and mounted Canvas prints for the show... Still working through what I will have there.. but to preview the couple I have already picked...

All prints will be Gallery wrapped, printed on heavy canvas, 1" stretcher bars, archive quality inks... please email me with any requests, or if you may be interested in purchasing one of these prints for your wall!

"WISE EYE" - Thailand 2007 (36"x28")

"CLOUD ISLANDS" - West Coast BC 2009 (36"x36")

"SUNSET AT REI LEH" - Thailand 2007 (36"x28")

A couple more coming soon......
Thanks
Jeff

Christmas is coming...

...and I'm making room on my walls and in my home. Sooo.. I'm going to be posting prints for sale off and on for the next while. The first one is a shot of Golden BC's Justin Baun, high speed powder turn in the alpenglow @ Chatter Creek Lodge BC. ( 2001 ). This shot is printed 24" x 36" on stretched canvas over a 3/4" wooden frame for hanging on your wall. Originally this image was printed for an Auction / door prize for a great buddy and somehow I lucked out getting it back when all was said and done - it has been on my wall for the past year or so, but time to mix it up.

I've only made one print of this image - after it appeared in a Snowboard Canada Feature years ago, and do not plan on printing another. I will email photos of the actual print if you would like to see.
$500.00

The print is located in Squamish BC - being that it is large... it may be best for someone located nearby, but I can possibly arrange ship/delivery.

Please send me an email if you are interested in this print!

More to come soon...
Thanks for looking
Jeff

eye-phone phun

Yes, my original iphone bit the dust on a recent trip.. so I dropped in on a new "old" 8gb Iphone. Its nice to be able to hit the app store and play with all the gadgets and add-ons the phone apps offer.

First I uploaded a program called Tilt Shift Gen.. makes some cool "tilt-shit" camera effects - so far my favorite application.

Here is a shot from my garage - an old painting by TJ Schneider

Here is one of our neighbor Jess, and her dog electra.. Electra does not like cameras, and runs when they come out.. but I snapped one of her with my phone snapper... TILTSHIFTGEN

Next up on the apps was Quadcam --- pretty cool "lomo - esque" style images in rapid fire.. Now I would say my 2nd favorite Iphone Camera application... This shot and the next, just out for a walk / bike ride with my wife in some great Fall Colors of Squamish.

More images and application reviews to come!

Michalchuk

All the "latest" and "greatest" of halfpipe riding had me thinking about the way its progressed the past few years. Then I started to remember a few standouts that may have been ahead of their time. Its a common thought that a person can only get out above the lip of a halfpipe as high as the wall.. so a 14 foot pipe highest air would be 14 feet. This shot was taken in during the last held Westbeach classic contest on Blackcomb. The pipe was 12 feet high. Mike went higher than 12 feet that day, and did a double backflip. this is a frame on his second of the rotations.. on his way back down.How he did that?? I dont know. He somehow mastered transitions I suppose. The sequence of this was one of my first published shots....

Pretty sweet... wonder what Mike thinks about todays pipe antics?

Trouble at the Airport... almost.. whew!

Well, I was about to write a long blog about how I ALMOST didn't make it on the plane due to my Elinchrome Ranger lighting kit looking suspect. It was opened and then the security staff in Auckland decided that the battery contained was not proper for flight, and to their knowledge had to be a Panasonic battery to be safe for flight...
Anyway long story short, I convinced them otherwise, and they let me on. I googled the issue, and the first thing up is a great write up by DAN CARR - READ IT HERE where he went through the EXACT same thing at the same airport. But he had it sorted. You could benefit if your a photographer flying with a light kit.
Jeff

- winter is on its way... are you ready?

Inventor = Craven

Dustin Craven is an Inventor. Like the title states. Saw 2 new tricks invented in this trip. some kind of chikane 900 in the pipe... weirdness, and a handplant you may see soon that was dubbed the Warlock by Craven and Bridges...
huh?

Sunset @ Snowpark

The other night up at the Snowpark Resort outside Wanaka I was witness to one of the most epic sunsets ever. The lead up to the full epic was also quite amazing. Unfortunately due to one snowmobile blowing a belt, and a second crew coming to session. Things got complicated. Too many people, not enough sleds.. Too much camera and flash gear. My elinchrome Ranger setup was popping for the hour lead up without any issues. Suddenly when a second flash setup from the other photographer was put up directly beside mine, both my setup and his started mis-firing, or just not firing at all. FRUSTRATING.. different channels - still no reason why. Changed batteries, still not working. Possibly was due to distance, but since Pocket Wizards advertise that they should work at a range about 5x longer than where I was standing (AND HAS NEVER ACTUALLY WORKED FOR ME AT ANYWHERE NEAR THAT RANGE) and absolutely nothing between me and the receiver - there was no real reason for any of the issues.

Anyway, missed some amazing shots. Bummed as its been one of the only times I have had a shoot work out weather wise in 5 weeks.

Getting ready to head back home.