Deep Winter Photo Challenge

Last night, Whistler/Blackcomb and ARC'TERYX hosted the 2nd annual Deep Winter Challenge at the Fairmont Chateau Hotel in Whistler. http://www.deepwinterphoto.com/.

What an event!!! This happening brings together 6 pro photographers and gives them a window of three days to go out and shoot skiing and riding on Whistler Blackcomb (W/B) Mountains. These Fotogs can choose the theme of their slide shows and the athletes they work with. In the days that the fotogs were working to gather images, the weather and wind turbulently stirred, and 120 cm of snow fell in these mountains. This makes for a tough conditions for a photographer. Photographers need light and there was none to be seen during these three days. Some of the guys resorted to artificial light and other used the ambient light available. In the end 6 great slideshows were created by these guys, and each of them had their own style and flare. 600+ people filled the ballroom of the Fairmont and all were treated to 6 truly inspiring slide shows. This year’s winner was Jordan Manley of Vancouver. In my opinion he was the most creative in his use of both the flashes, and the little ambient light. His images were greatly composed and they told a story of great skiing, amazing terrain and deep winter. His use of the flashes was by far the best and he filled the subjects of his images from all angles, creating some really dramatic imagery. Second place went to the cagey veteran Paul Morrison who again brought out his consistent compositions and techniques. There was also a bit of a narrative to Paul's show. He featured Mike Douglas, Mike's Son, and an older gentlemen. Each of them letting us in on their passion for living in Whistler, and the pursuit of gliding through bottomless snow. Great dialogue and images inspired all to get out and rip. Third place went to Bryan Ralph who dazzled all with the nature of his images, but also the technical quality of his slide show. He used a series of images of the same scene and rallied a bunch of exposures of subjects working their way through a scene. The result was movie like sequences of riders blasting through a run, or scenes of chairlifts hoisting skiers up into the dramatic skies. This show was unique in that it really gave a sense of time and motion. Phil Tifo, Dano Pendegras and Ian Coble were the other shooters and each of them gave incredible renditions of three hard working days in very challenging conditions. Congrats goes out to all of them or being a judge and trying to decide on the three best shows must have been a real challenge.