So you've hopefully seen the cover of Snowboard Magazine of Devun Walsh already? If not scroll down to check it out. The hardcopy of this issue just arrived and inside is the interview of Devun Walsh and Iikka Backstrom. Tons of photos and sequences from last winter.

Here is the opening spread which we shot while in New Zealand last month for the DC 2013 Catalog shoot. Check out some of the 'B' roll shots that didn't make the cut for the article. I've had this idea for a while so was glad to finally have a chance to shoot it.

 

 

 

 

Here's a few things that I've had in the vault for a couple weeks just waiting for the right time to drop.

It's Friday so hopefully you've got big plans for the weekend. Go to the beach if it's not too cold and crappy in your area, go to a concert, go camping, whatever............enjoy it.

I recently shot a TV on the Radio show for LiveNation. I have shot some live performances before but this is the first real official one. Press pass, the whole nine yards. When shooting live shows you are generally restricted to shooting the first three songs only. No flash. The stage lighting is usually bright enough and you can definitely get some dramatic images depending on the performer(s). It's not rocket science and you're not inventing the wheel but you have to be quick and have a gameplan. Those three songs go by quickly. I'm shooting Broken Social Scene this Saturday for LiveNation again so I'll post those shots a little later. Here's a few samples from the TVOTR show.

Get there early and scope the venue. Get a gameplan. Maybe an adult beverage.

 

The Commodore Ballroom is a tough space for angles. The don't have a "pit" (area in front of the stage reserved for photographers). Luckily my friends had a booth sidestage so I was able to steady my long lens for this shot.

This is a close as I could get sidestage right beside the giant speakers. Need to remember earplugs next time.

 

This is a shot from backstage. I got yelled at for taking this shot by the bands stage manager and quickly left the scene so as not to get my credentials taken away. Oddly enough this is the shot they used on the Live Nation site.

A full house. Shot from the balcony.

Next up is a couple animated gif's/timelapses from the KNOW?MAG shoot a couple weeks ago

I made these as an afterthought during the shoot. When the art director and stylist were putting the products in place and taking them down I thought it would be cool to shoot and create this timelapse. The idea sort of came about half way through so it's not complete from start to finish but still you can see how much tinkering and tweaking is done by the AD and stylist to get everything in the perfect position and arrangement. We did four set ups in total and it took the entire day.

A day at the beach................

 

What to bring for a music festival/outdoor concert.......

 

 

And now last but not least......................a cover shot of SNOWBOARD Magazine! This time it's Devun Walsh and once again it's the Whistler Backcountry. There will be a huge 15 page feature interview with Devun and Iikka Backstrom so keep your eyes out for that issue.

 

 

A while ago I was in NZ. Still need to post some photos from that trip but the editing has been slow. Sorry.

When I was there I scoped an issue of Australian and New Zealand  Snowboarding Magazine. They had asked me for some shots of Australian and DC team rider Ryan Tiene and some shots of Devun Walsh and Iikka Backstrom for an interview. It's pretty funny. Not sure you can read any of it with these small jpegs tearsheets but search it out online if you want.

All the photos are mine except the very last spread shot.

 

 

 

 

 

The latest issue of the KNOWMAG? is on the streets. They were lucky enough to have me shoot something. I'm very busy. And important.

They are very cool guys/girls and all talented on their own but as a group they really produce a great mag. I was happy to get the call again this year.

The assignment was "Always Be Preprared". Well, as a young lad I was in Beavers and Cubs so I know that motto well. A combo of studio product photography and location shots to accompany each product theme was the task. I was on my own in terms of the accompanying shots and I was able to somehow convince them to let me shoot them on film with my beloved Hasselblad. The studio shoot had a very specific direction and look. I worked with stylist Tanus Lewis again this year as well as Daniel Curtis who I have worked in in the past (see Young Ones post).

 

 

Just received my digital (read: environmentally friendly) copy of TWS Snowboarding. Hard to believe it's that time of year again and magazines are hitting the virtual newsstands.

Some of my shots of Lonnie Kauk are in there as well as the "teaser" DC ad to launch the new campaign.

A while back I did a shoot for my old employer SBC Media. It was for one of their trade magazines called SBC Business. The assignment was to shoot a group of ex pro snowboarders who have moved into various roles in the snowboard industry. The article is called "Shred to Cred" and discusses their transition from snowboarders to "business" people. I have known and shot with all these people when they were still riding professionally so it was a lot easier than shooting someone you've never met. The hard part was co-ordinating all their schedules and matching the art director's vision with the layout restrictions. All in all a great assignment.

Here are some scans from the magazine pages.

I've been on the road for a while now and have not had internet for a large part of that time. Makes it kind of hard to update the blog.

I'm up in Terrace, BC now. Shooting at a place called Northern Escape Heli Skiing. I was here two years ago and we had 11 days of sun in a row. This time we have had about 4 hours of sun combined over the last 11 days. You just never know what you are going to get. The plus side of this is that the snow is amazing and we have been able to shoot almost every day. Lots of pillows and powder and hanging out in the forest. I'm here with a crew of riders for the latest Standard Films project. This year they will be releasing a special "20 years of Standard Films" aka TB 20. It should be an amazing video.

For now, here are a few of my recent photos to be published out in the wide world of snowboarding.

I had a full feature article in the latest Frequency mag. It is their annual Photo Book and I am really happy with how it turned out. Frequency is a really great mag and captures a completely different side of snowboarding than any other mag out there. Check it out if you can. The cover shot is not mine but a damn good one.



Here's a spread from the recent issue of KingSnow mag. It's a couple shots of Devun Walsh for the article "Rad Dads".



Lastly, TWS online ran this shot of Jussi Oksanen from winter 2010. This is post Olympic powder north of Whistler. I am really stoked on this shot. Kind of reminds me of a surfer getting spit out of a barrell.

It took me a couple days to get this post done. I could not get through the door to the office due to the swelling of my head after seeing the SNOWBOARD MAG Photo Annual. Two photo annuals have come out this year so far and both have my photos gracing the pages. Quite an honour for them! My fingers are crossed for the Snowboarder Photo Annual to make it a trifecta. Actually it will be a quadfecta or quadruplecta because I know the Photo Issue of Frequency has a portfolio of my images coming out as well very soon.

I think my head is starting to swell again so before I get trapped in the office with my fathead, here's a few scans of the shots from the SNOWBOARD MAG:

The 2011 issue of Transworld Snowboarding Photo Annual has hit the newsstands and internet. This is always an exciting time for us photographers because it is a showcase of the best images of the year. Kind of like Christmas. You just can't wait to see what's in there. If your photo is chosen it's like getting that new bike you wanted or that special sweater you've had your eye on. With more and more photographers entering the arena every year and shrinking magazing budgets, it's much more difficult to get your photos into an issue like this. I won't go into details here, but these days the major magazines are using their staff photographers more predominantly while page counts are shrinking. What this means for us company hacks and freelancers is a lower chance of getting published. It's just the new reality of being a photographer these days. Across the board, whether it's editorial or fashion, clients want more for less. Hopefully 2011 will bring some bigger budgets and increased ad revenues for the magazines. Transworld Snowboarding has always been a leader in snowboarding and this past year they have been doing an amazing job with their photo selection and content.

So I was really stoked when I saw my photo of Devun Walsh on one of the spreads (left page). I would say this is probably my favourite photo from last winter. It has a very classic feel to it. I like the crisp look of it which comes from the fresh, clean snow, the clear blue sky, the slight back lighting and of course the effortless style of this huge cab 3 by Devun. I personally think they should rename the cab 3 in snowboarding to The Walsh. No one does it better.



FYI : No one has been able to correctly answer any of the questions related to the previous post about my pro model AirHole facemask, The AdairHole (unofficial name). I'll give it another week and then probably come up with some easier questions or some other way of giving these away.

The models are on their way over and we are poppin' bottles over here at colinadair.com! Just received the new issue of SNOWBOARD MAG and could not help but notice my photo of Iikka Backstrom on the cover. We are pretty stoked. I even gave my office staff the rest of the day off. Inside this issue there are a few more of my photos so we are counting our chickens and spending money like crazy!

Iikka Backstrom in the Whistler Backcountry



Devun Walsh with Iikka Backstrom in the Interior, BC



Lauri Heiskari in Argentina



Eiki Helgason in Utah