Magic Places | Adventure Lifestyle Photographer

What's left of the East Coulee Bridge
Today I had one of my last group of students out East of Drumheller for what will be the first of my last two Evolution Photography workshops. Again our photographers shot some great stuff and figured the lighting out easily. I will post about that here in the next few days.

While the crew was busy being creative I threw on my fisheye lens for some fun. I didn't have to go far to find an interesting perspective. The lens is fun but this area has always been magic for me. I have been coming to these locations along the Red Deer River for 10 years now and I just can't get enough. Like the dinosaur bones that lay beneath the dirt and mud in these badlands, the old bridges and building are just a skeletal rendition of a society that moved along these parts way before my time. I always wonder, what life was like then and who these people were that lived in the valley. Just a memory that will eventually fade away.

Go Light | Canadian Adventure Lifestyle Photographer

Steph Davis explaining the finer points of minimalist gear and climbing light at the Stronghold, Calgary, AB.

On Sunday morning I shot my last few images for the Calgary International Mountain Film Festival. I stopped down at the Stronghold in Calgary to get some action shots of world class crack climber and BASE Jumper Steph Davis. Unfortunately Steph did not get on the wall but instead chose to talk to about 20 climbers who are new to the sport about their gear and going light.

Steph is well known for going ultra-light and even to the point of using BASE Jumping for an exit point instead of just rapping off a climb. I watched her new film - "A Perfect Circle" on Saturday night which was about a few towers in Moab that she free-soloed and then Jumped from. It was a beautiful piece and the footage was great.

I was also impressed with Steph's psychology regarding risk and reward and I am beginning to suspect that with all the research I am doing on the subject, I am going to find that it is a very universal concept for every extreme-sport athlete.

Connections | Adventure Lifestyle Photographer

Maria Coffey and Dag Goering at their workshop during the CIMFF

On Tuesday night I was fortunate enough to sit in on a workshop at the Calgary Mountain Film Fest hosted by Maria Coffey and Dag Goering. Maria and Dag run an International Eco Tour Company and were in town to give a brief writing and photography primer.

I first heard of Maria during an interview on the CBC in about 2008 (from what I can remember) when they were talking about her book "Explorers Of The Infinite" which focuses on the spiritual and supernatural experiences of extreme athletes. This book has been a huge influence on how I view risk and pushing my limits even long before I was in the plane crash.

During Maria and Dag's workshop on Tuesday I had the chance to talk to them both in person and interact with the lessons. They are both extremely personable people and clearly passionate about telling a story whether it is through words or images. As we were wrapping up Steve Bommer (Spirit West) suggested that I should have had my camera on me for a shot of the couple for the Festival News. As any good photographer should always their gear within quick reach, I ran 3 blocks back to my van where I had left it after a long day of 6 editorial assignments for the magazine. Maria and Dag were very gracious to allow me to (very) quickly pose them with a little directional light as the location was being locked down.

If your interested in what Maria and Dag are doing, check them out at hiddenplaces.net or their Elephant project at elephantearth.org .

Skybolt | Canadian Adventure Photographer

Nathan and his dad going vertical in the Skybolt

On Friday I joined a good friend of mine Nathan for a few hours of flying in his new Skybolt. I haven't been up since the crash yet and wasn't sure about how I felt about going up again so I took some time to mount a camera above the wing and get some good POV stills.

Nathan had a great time and is an excellent pilot. It is very cool to see him fly this plane and see how well it performs in various acrobatic manoeuvres. I'm looking forward to getting up. Soon...

Review | Adventure Lifestyle Photographer

Behold! - The Stangen!!!

I just finished the final draft of my Pubs and Patios review that will be running in the summer issue of Airdrielife Magazine. It was fun to write and this will be one of the largest pieces (800+ words) I have written to date. But it was way more fun actually test-driving the patios that we visited in Airdrie with two of our good friends. There is some very classy and high quality patios in Airdrie if you haven't been to them all yet.

Make sure you check out the review in this summer's issue!!!

Keep Looking | Spindrift Photography

Tonight our yard in town lit right up around 7pm and I could see the chinook arch off to the west. I knew I didn't have much time and even though I have been shooting everyday for the last 3 weeks I just had to go. I figured I would have about 20 minutes tops so I drove part-way to Madden to work this spot I have been at for the last few nights. It never gets dull and with the different weather each day the look of the place can keep changing.

I am impressed with this area. I never moved to Crossfield for the photography but these last few years I have learned to see things in a new way, to look deeper and see things that most people do not see. Maybe it's time you got out of the house. Now that its nice out and the days are longer and warmer, why don't you go for a walk, somewhere you have never gone before and look around a little. I guarantee its the difference between having your eyes closed or open. We all remember what our surroundings look like but it's important to stop looking at the backs of our eye-lids and see things again.

The Hidden | Adventure Photographer

Last Night was a trip to be sure. I think it could have been stranger but as it was I got my daily dose of adventure.

To start with Oliver Du Tre' and I decided to head out around 8pm to K-Country for a little Aurora activity (which never did present itself) but while on route my wind shield in the van got caved in by debris from a passing bed-truck. Like a shot gun, all I heard was a loud bang and I was hit in the arm by what I thought was something gone through the wind shield (later found it was my rear-view mirror). 20 minutes later I was on the road, having settled up with the rig moving company.

Oli and I finally made it out the K-Country and decided that the nearby "Yamnuska" would be better location to shoot. At Yam we parked and hiked out to the beaver ponds and scouted our location for the Aurora event (did I mention it didn't happen?). We were there for about an hour discussing our next project when we thought we heard voices. Now it is 1:30 am, dark with only a full moon to go by when again voices; and we heard someone actually say, "hey, is Kurtis with you"? Whoa! this was weird - until we recognized Paul Zizka's voice stating that it was the "Mountains in Motion" film crew on their way back from Abraham lake. Really cool to run into these guys and getting to meet Doug Urquhart in person (who is up from Atlanta for some footage for his project).

And finally as the MIM guys were setting up for a timelapse shot, Oli and I decided to head to a nearby location I have been looking at for years. I brought my light-painting equipment just in case and so glad that I did. Before us stood a dull decrepit building bathed in bright moonlight. Really nothing to write home about. But once we got inside it was eye candy. Some other artist had been there before us and left some amazing Tag-Art. I was so inspired I threw on the 8mm asap as I knew it was the only way to capture the eerie uniqueness of this spot. A couple takes later we had the images you see above. Really, the evening was worth it. If we couldn't get something dramatic from the skies we were going to pull something from the abstract.