The East was good.

I was heading to my parents house for Christmas but before I left I had a few spare hours between packing, shopping and driving.  With the forecast calling for a warm-up and rain, Kubas and I decided to make the most of the December powder and took a little tour to shoot some fresh.  The afternoon light was fading fast, but we managed to snap off this fun sequence.  With Kubas new red suit, he almost looks like santa? 

Merry Christmas.

The East is Alive and Good.

Someone once told me "when the East is skiing good, it's just as good as anywhere".  Now I might debate that a little, but today was one of the days the "East" was good, very good.  In total I would say 24-30 inches over the last 4 days and it's been cold and dry.  The snow was as light and blower as anywhere, even Utah. (to all my Utah friends, I swear it was just as light) Kubas and I received an early-up complements of Chris D. at Killington.  It was mine and Kubas' first time shooting this season and it took a few turns for us to get synched up.  It didn't take long and we managed to get a few fun pow shots before we both had to bail.  Hope to get back out tomorrow for a little touring around Killington and grab a few more pow shots before the holidays.

here are a few:

The Stash.

I was back up at Killington this past Thursday.  This time it was to shoot the new Burton Snowboard sponsored terrain park named "The Stash".  The Stash is a little different from other terrain parks in that all 34 features are organic and all-natural.  The place is full of very cool features like tree-jibs, a curved wall ride, and Killington even built a Vermont sugar-shack for riders to jib on.  The addition of this Stash park makes it the fifth of its kind around the world and the first on the East coast.  We had the park all to ourselves as it wasn't opening for the general public till Friday, which made shooting easy and the riders were psyched to pre-session the Stash.  A whole bunch of thanks to Eddie from KMS Snowboarding for his help assisting, the Eastcoast Snowboarding magazine crew who were riding for the camera, and Chris D. from Killington for putting the whole thing on.  I'll have a link to the video from the day soon.  Watch the video HERE, it's very cool and worth a look.

Killington turns 50.

This past weekend was spent shooting up at Killington. It was their 50th anniversary weekend. It was great to see all the old ski photography from the late 1950s and great to hear speeches made from the old timers. One old timer was Killington's first ever employee. This man cut the first trails from the peak and installed the first poma tows. All and all a fun weekend and celebration.

Snapped this one off during the torchlight parade Saturday night.

My girlfriend grabbed this shot of me in high action shooting the shot above.  It was 2 degrees outside and very icy where I was standing.

Men's Journal Magazine.

This September, I got a call from the photo editor at Men’s Journal, Jennifer Santana, wondering if I wanted to shoot a story at the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Craftsbury, Vermont. Hmmm, I have nothing planned, a big NYC magazine… “Uh yep, I’d love to.” The writer assigned was the boss himself, not Bruce Springsteen, but Brad Wieners, the editor of MJ. Holy Smokes!

Anyway, the shoot went great, (almost sinking a chase boat notwithstanding) and the article is fantastic—I suggest you read it if you get the chance. Brad suggests everyone find a sport for life, one you can go back to not just for nostalgia, but also for the sheer delight in knowing something forward and backward. For me, that would be snowboarding. I have been riding since 1985, and it's just what I do when it gets cold. Sure, as I get older, I'm not racing for the last chair at 3:59, nor do I understand the youth culture that goes along with the sport these days. But just yesterday, I cruised around Killington, Vt. on my old, beat-up snowboard, just to get outside and do something that I know... just because.

You can read the article HERE or view the slideshow HERE.

On the cover was one cool hand.

New York Times.

A phone call came in last Monday from New York.  One thing I've learned is always pick up when you get a 212 or any other NY area code, 9 times out of 10 it's going to be a good call to take.  This call was the New York Times looking for images from ski areas in Northern Vermont.  What started as your basic stock sale ended up with me receiving an assignment to shoot skiing.  So last Saturday, fresh off turkey leftovers, I headed north on I-89 and spent the day shooting at Stowe.  The skies started out cloudy and grey, but just as the forecast promised, the grey blew out and the afternoon was full of sun and great light.  You can read the article HERE and see a few extra shots as well.   A special thanks to Karen at the Times who was a big help and even gave me a heads up that one of my images was on the home page at www.nytimes.com.

screenshot of the homepage of the NYT with my shot front and center.

even managed to get a pic of Kubas in the Times.

Funny Mount Snow

A few months ago I had one of my images published in SKI magazine as the East Coast opener. Well, I was flipping through the new December issue of SKI and there I was again, right on the East Coast opener. The funny thing is I didn't take the photo but was skiing in it. What makes it really funny is that I'm a snowboarder first and skier out of necessity. Anyway, the story goes like this, 2 years ago I got a call from a fellow photographer, Rob Bossi,  who was in dire need of some models for a photo shoot down at Mount Snow. With nothing going on I loaded up the car, grabbed the girlfriend and headed south. The day was fun and relaxing, mostly because I was riding and skiing without 25 pounds of camera gear on my back.

A view of my best side.

Thats my girlfriend Renee and me in the background wearing the blueberry suit.

Renee and I doing the walk and smile thing.