Don't try this at home.

Who am I kidding, Genny and I tried it ourselves as soon as we got home. It was 100% unsuccessful. Let's face it, I have enough trouble balancing myself on my own two feet, so I can pretty much forget about balancing someone else on them.

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This past week, I spent my time in Salt Lake City trying to promote myself as a photographer at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. I was officially there on a Backpacker Magazine press pass, and there for I took some pictures, checked out some gear, and did a little blogging for them, here and here.

While there, I ran into a few members of the YogaSlacker team, who I had met at the Teva Mountain Games. They are a talented group of people who have combined yoga, slacklining, acrobatics and a general spirit of adventure to create something very cool, and very difficult.

After running into them a few times throughout the show, I decided to ask two of the team members, Jason Magness and Chelsey Gribbon, if they would be interested in trying to find time for a photo shoot before we all left town. They had originally planed on leaving town Friday after the show, which meant it would be a no go, but then plans changed, they stay the weekend and agreed to head out saturday for a day of shooting. Score!

Since I was already in Salt Lake, Genny took the opportunity to drive in with a friend. That way we could hang out together for the weekend. Last year on our honeymoon, Genny and I had swung through SLC on our way home. While we were there, we had hiked and climbed at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon at a spot called Cecret Lake, which phenomenally gorgeous. We figured why not go somewhere we already know is beautiful and do the shoot there.

I ran the plan by Jason and Chelsey and we decided a morning of shooting in Little Cottonwood, followed by an afternoon of climbing together sounded perfect. It was great to have Genny on the shoot with me. This was one of our first major shoots working together as a team and I think it went amazingly well. Here are some of the shots from the day, and the rest are here. Enjoy!

Movie Premiere

by Genny
We've been busy with summer, and neglecting the blog. Don't think we haven't been thinking of you though. We spent yesterday with K-Life and Flatirons Church helping the City of Boulder with a tree project. Thought it would be a great opportunity to try out time lapse photography and share it with all of you. Here's a little preview which will become part of a larger movie about the project. Thanks to Travis and Laura who gave us the inspiration with their amazing time lapse wedding movie.



And stay tuned for more about K-Life. Ben spent a week with the high school students serving in Kansas City and has lots of photos to share.

Move aside world, it's Team Backpacker!

One of the most enjoyable aspect of my four days in Vail shooting the Teva Mountain Games, was hanging out with the Backpacker magazine crew. They were there to give the Ultimate Mountain Challenge a try. The team was, Shannon Davis on foot, Kris Wagner on mountain bike, Mark Harrison on road bike, and Ted Alvarez on... purple inflatable kayak. Shannon, Kris and Mark are all experienced in their event. Ted is the hero who bravely stepped forwards when no experienced kayakers were to be had.

I was unfortunately only able to shoot Shannon, Mark and Ted. I had to miss Kris's event because it happened right before the Bouldering World Cup finals, was in a very different place, and I already had my light gaffer taped to a fence post in a very sweet location. With such a scenario, I had three choices:

1) Leave my lights where they were while I run to try and catch the start of his race. This runs the chance of losing my lights.

2) Take my light down, pack them up, and then run over to try and catch the start of the race. This runs the chance of losing my aforementioned sweet position.

Or

3) Camp out until the beginning of the World Cup Finals. This secures my lights and position but means I lose out on shooting Kris's race.


I guess no matter what, I lose something. So I employed a rather modified theory Occam's Razor: All things being equal, the laziest solution is best. I stayed put. Sorry Kris, I do wish I had shot your event!

Great job Team Backpacker.




















More photos here.

Check out this video made by the BP team.

Genny's Turn in California

Two quick peeks...

Saturday at the Games

Yeah I know, that was a week ago. My bad. I got caught up in editing all the pictures, and I forgot to post more of them. To make up for it, I'll post an extra large dose of sensory overload. By the way, the above photo is what I would call 'Not a bad place to work.'

No time to talk!

But here are a few of my faves from yesterday. This morning I all ready shot Ted from the Backpacker Magazine Ultimate Mountain Challenge team. It was pretty classic. Today is the Bouldering World Cup semi-finals and finals. All the top folks will be here. I'm pretty excited. Stay tuned for more Teva Mountain Games action.

Teva Mountain Games - Quiet Night

So I pulled into Vail last night, and thought I would check out the event grounds in Vail Valley. It's was surprisingly serene. Just the quiet, determined hustle and bustle of the people preparing for the event. I just wanted to post up a few pictures from last night, before the action begins today. I'll be trying to post up the best shots from each day, so stay put!