EPIC powder round-up with Great Northern Powder Guides.
28 Feb 2011 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: action sports photography, British Columbia, cat skiing, commercial photography, epic planks, Extreme sport, Fernie photographers, Great Northern Powder Guides, Keith Davis, Photography, Recreation, Search and rescue, Ski, ski photography, Slope, snow, United States, Whitefish Montana
This time the trip is a photo shoot for Epic Planks Skis in Whitefish, Montana. The mission, drive down to Whitefish with Swedish skier Teodor Day, check in to our room at the Lodge at Whitefish, meet the rest of the crew, spend two days with Great Northern Powder Guides catskiing and take Epic photos all day long.
To be totally honest, I was really worried about this trip. The Tuesday before I had woken up to severe back pain. I hooked up an appointment with the crack-a-back doctor and he gave me the bad news that my hips were completely out of line. I took a few days off but I was committed to work at my main gig at Fernie Wilderness. When I came home from work on Friday the pain was excruciating, I could barely sit or stand up. My hopes for the Epic shoot were fading away. I woke up Saturday feeling pretty sore but managed to work all day, it’s funny how skiing didn’t seem to bother it. By Saturday night I felt I was strong enough to make the trip, I had to, it was a great opportunity that I couldn’t possibly turn down. I cleared my head of all doubts, picked up Teodor and we were on our way.
Sunday Night February 20th…. When I went through the doors of our suite at the Lodge at Whitefish, I almost melted into the luxury… stone fireplace, granite countertops, glass shower and a soaker tub and the best thing of all, white robes with slippers! I have to say it made me feel like the rich and famous and ultimately spoiled rotten. Finally meeting the crew was great, hugs all around and already I had an initial feeling that we’ll all be good friends by the end of the trip.
Monday February 21st…. I woke up feeling the pain in my back but refusing to acknowledge it’s existence. After popping a few ibuprofen with my morning smoothie, I was ready to give it my best go. I think the excitement was almost too much for everybody, barely a word was spoken all the way to the base of Great Northern Powder Guides… the stoke was building. After a quick intro and beacon practice we were cruising up the cat roads at an amazingly fast speed. I am sure this has something to do with the brand new cat, which increasingly showed us her prowess as she tackled insanely steep roads which felt from inside the cabin as though we were on a rocket ship to the moon. The access to our first run didn’t have a cat road so we were towed in three at a time behind a snowmobile. It was difficult to decide where to set up, mainly because after two turns the slope dropped away to unseen lines. I took a wide line to the right in hopes of finding a way to traverse to the fall line of the skiers, after a few hops here and there I found a way across to a nook by a big tree to shoot from. It was a steep exposed slope to be sitting under but next to the tree I felt safe. ”Send the first skier” and away we went with run number one.
Regan Teat
I could go on and on with details of each run, but instead I will just post a few images.
Evan the guide
Teodor Day
Teodor Day
Tuesday, February 22…. As you can see the second day we were blessed with insanely deep powder. There were a few sketchy moments with slough management as I was in the line of fire a few times. To combat that problem I anchored my poles into the slope and used them to hold on as the slough tried to take me with the raging skier, it worked awesome. As we finished off the day, the snow continued to fall, quietly covering our tracks and bomb holes, making a fresh canvas for the next lucky clients of GNPG.
Erik the local
I have to say this was my best shoot yet, whether the images get bought or even if they don’t, I had an amazing time with this crew and with GNPG. Thanks to everyone a million times over!
Promotional and marketing photo shoot with K3 and White Grizzly Catskiing
26 Jan 2011 1 Comment
Rider: Scott Martin
I finally have edited the last of the images, I have been uploading and downloading for two weeks now, and hooray! now I can blog all about it! Honestly the whole trip feels like a dream. I have flashes of extreme mountain driving up and down (and sometimes side to side) on icy roads. Flashes of hotel rooms that looked as if a ski photographer bomb had exploded all over it. There are flashes of powerful snowcats creeping through snowstorms to take us to the candy store of the snow world. Flashes of white frothy powder billowing over my shoulders, and large powder clouds surging toward my lens with a rider peaking through behind it. And finally the flashes of steaming hot tubs filled to the brim with happy smiling, wind burned faces with recollections of this sick line and that sick line.
Part one of the trip started in Sicamous, B.C., a small town on the Trans Canada Highway, best known for it’s houseboating on the gorgeous Sushwap Lakes. Most people wouldn’t know that just over yonder hills contain some amazing cat skiing terrain, where K3 Catskiing has a huge tenure. We spent three incredible days with fantastic powder conditions. My day started at 6:30 every morning, cleaning lenses and organizing my pack, gulping down a protein shake and bagel and then hopping into the K3 truck for the drive up to where the cats were parked. After chugging up to the top of of our first run, I would rush out to the line, pick out the best place to shoot from and our day would officially begin. The conditions were fantastic for skiing/riding but definitely challenging for photos. Fog and heavy snow falling were the tricky parts, but the snow was so deep, I ended up getting lots of shots with powder filling the frame and only a helmet sticking out! At the end of the day our priorities were hot tubbing with cold beers. We would soak our bodies for at least an hour and then the guilt factor would set in for me… and I would head back to the hotel room to upload and edit all the amazing shots of the day. My heavy head would hit the pillow by midnight, with hopes for another smooth operation the next day.
Rider: Ashley Longshaw
Skier: Carl Salter
Rider: Scott Martin
On the fourth day Scott and I said goodbye to the K3 team and then began the seven hour journey to White Grizzly Lodge. The drive was sketchy to say the least but the views were awe-inspiring. I felt so fortunate to be traveling into the seldom seen nooks and crannies of the West Kootenays. When we finally pulled up to the lodge, a feeling of warmth, welcome and friendliness overtook me immediately. White Grizzly Lodge is built with love from the hands of owners, Brad and Carole. This is one of the amazing things I learned about this sweet couple as they pretty much run the entire operation from mechanics to guiding to cooking gourmet cuisine.
White Grizzly Lodge, Meadow Creek BC
Welcome!
White Grizzly Lodge is a cat ski operation where everything is planned and organized in an awesome way. It’s ideal when your brain gets overtaken with sweet powder snow, where images of your day keep reeling in your head and it becomes hard to think of where you put your goggles. They have you place out your gear every night so it’s dry and handy the next day, which keeps the day rolling, which means more powder turns… I love this!
Our two days were surreal. The skies were clear and cool and there was belly button deep snow. This makes a ski photographer very happy, no fog, no blowing snow, blue sky and the fresh lines were surrounding us. Some runs were 2000ft of vertical so the oppurtunities for great photo locations were endless.
Skier: Shanne Pyrcz
Skier: Michael Young
Rider: Scott Martin
Skier: Mark
During the 14 hour drive back to Fernie Land, I had lots of time to contemplate life and the career choices I have made. I am a very lucky girl to be given such fantastic oppurtunities and to experience a lifestyle that others can’t imagine. At the end of a hard week of work…which it was with the 12 hour days and shooting in -15 weather… no matter how much I loved it, I really missed being with my sweet boy Ben. At this point I want to thank my family for taking care of Ben for me, so I could push my photography career to yet another level.
Huge thanks go out to Scott Martin, all the styley ski and snowboard models and of course to K3, White Grizzly for an epic adventure I will not soon forget!
The Shoulder Season
12 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: fred syversen, Insect, Mantis, Shoulder season, Ski photographer, Skiing, snow, winter
There is a devil sitting on each of my shoulders. I call one Summer Devil and the other Winter Devil. These two make the “shoulder season” so freakin hard! My Summer Devil is whispering in my ear… “Flip-flops, skirts, bbqs, cold beer on a hot day, climbing hot rock on a steep overhang and photographing kiters as they arc through warm breezes across a lake.” It tells me “come on Lisa, you know you miss it and winter is so cold and long.” My Winter Devil will then chime in and say…”Powder, sick tree lines, steep untouched goodness couloirs, down booties, hot-tubbing with huge fat flakes falling from the stars, and cat ride after cat ride leading to beautiful adventures.” It tells me “come on Lisa, you know you are so excited for the winter season to start, forget about summer, winter rules!”
In order to cut out all the devil talk, I find myself being super creative in what I do with my time. Last week I hadn’t used my camera in awhile so I decided to take some shots of my son’s new pet… Buddah, the praying mantis.
- Mmmmm yummy cricket!
It’s kinda a funny story really, a few days after Buddah came to us, she hatched a large egg sack on the side of the cage. We should be the proud parents of a few hundred mantids in the next week! I think we are up to the challenge, after all, I can’t think of a better way to spend a shoulder season!
P.S. I figured I would throw in a ski photo to help us all get into the winter season mood! And if you are looking for more ski photo eye candy check out my website at lisadawnphotography.com
Fred Syversen at Fernie Wilderness Adventures
Hello world!
26 Oct 2010 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: action sports photography, British Columbia, commercial photography, Extreme sport, Fernie, Fernie photographers, Kitesurfing, Landscapes, Photography, portrait photography, Rock climbing, Skiing, Snowboarding, Southern Alberta, sunsets, wedding photography
Wow! Here we go with my very first blog. I really want this blog to give an inside look into my world as an action sports, commercial, portrait and wedding photographer. Every single time I have my camera in my hand it is a unique and amazing experience, and I go to great lengths to get that perfect image. Whether it’s hanging hundreds of feet in the air, chasing skiers with my lens across powder slopes, or doing a wedding shoot at 7000ft in -15 degree weather…. it’s all part of my daily work and I am completely in love with my job.
My latest project is kitesurfing photography. During the last month I have taken over two thousand kitesurfing photos and here are a couple of my favorites.
This is a totally new sport for me to photograph and it’s taken a little time to get used to the right angles and basically how the sport works. It’s a great challenge to take on a new action sport for my portfolio. As you know Fernie is pretty darn far away from any coast, but there are two amazing windy secrets in Southern Alberta. Alex Paquin was kind enough to show me the sport and delight my camera with his monster airs and sick kitesurfing. After all the beautiful and inspiring photo sessions, I couldn’t help but get myself a trainer kite, for one it will help to me understand the moves, and two…. I want to learn how to fly… doesn’t everyone?
At each photo shoot I found myself really enjoying the atmosphere of the whole scene. Standing on the shores of a nice lake with a stunning backdrop, feeling the wind in my hair, watching Ben skipping stones across the water and unreal sunsets lighting up our cheeks. Life is good. To see more images check out my website http://lisadawnphotography.com
